Isle Royale National Park
| Isle Royale National Park | |
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IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
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An aerial view of Isle Royale
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| Location | Keweenaw County, Michigan, USA |
| Nearest city | Thunder Bay, Ontario |
| Coordinates | 48°6′0″N 88°33′0″W / 48.10000°N 88.55000°WCoordinates: 48°6′0″N 88°33′0″W / 48.10000°N 88.55000°W |
| Area | 571,790 acres (2,314.0 km2) |
| Established | April 3, 1940 |
| Visitors | 18,684 (in 2015) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Isle Royale National Park |
Isle Royale National Park is a U.S. National Park on Isle Royale and adjacent islands in Lake Superior, in the state of Michigan. Isle Royale National Park was established on April 3, 1940; designated as a National Wilderness Area in 1976; and made an International Biosphere Reserve in 1980. The park covers 894 square miles (2,320 km2), with 209 square miles (540 km2) above water. At the Canada–US border, it meets the borders of the Canadian Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area.
Isle Royale, the largest island in Lake Superior, is over 45 miles (72 km) in length and 9 miles (14 km) wide at its widest point. The park is made up of Isle Royale itself and approximately 400 smaller islands, along with any submerged lands within 4.5 miles (7.2 km) of the surrounding islands (16USC408g).
In older times, large quantities of copper were mined on Isle Royale and the nearby Keweenaw Peninsula by the indigenous peoples. The region is scarred by ancient mine pits and trenches up to 20 feet (6.1 m) deep. Carbon-14 testing of wood remains found in sockets of copper artifacts indicates that they are at least 5700 years old.
In Prehistoric Copper Mining in the Lake Superior Region, published in 1961, Drier and Du Temple estimated that over 1.5 billion pounds (630,400 t) of copper had been mined from the region. However, David Johnson and Susan Martin contend that their estimate was based on exaggerated and inaccurate assumptions.
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