Isle Royale National Park – Lake Superior, MI v1.0
Isle Royale National Park – Situated in Lake Superior
While one of the least visited National Parks in the United States, this island located in Lake Superior is steeped with natural beauty. The main reason for the low visitation numbers lies to the fact that you can only get to the island by boat or by Seaplane! There are no vehicles on the park so this is a hikers paradise. The park closes to visitors during the winter months (November through April) which helps to preserve the island and it’s wildlife. This location is a bucket list item that I hope to visit some day!
As this is an island reachable by seaplane, I have attempted to make it such that we can fly float planes here in the simulator. Currently as of 2021, commercial seaplanes are operated by Isle Royale Seaplanes flying out of Hancock, MI and Grand Marias, MN (KCKC). I have uploaded scenery enhancments for both of these locations previously. A couple notes about how to “legally” fly here based on FAA rules.
#1 – It’s a National Park so no overflight lower than 2000′ AGL unless taking off or landing
#2 – Seaplanes may only land in certain locations within the park. These are spelled out by the Park Service as:
– Windigo – Washington Harbor on the west side
– Mott Island – Towards the NE side of the island
– Tobin Harbor – Even further up the NE side of the island.
Instructions can be found here: https://www.nps.gov/isro/planyourvisit/private-seaplane.htm
Scenery enhancements:
– Docks! – Lots of them. Not only at the designated landing points but also around the island at the numerous campsites sprinkled around the park.
– Boats – Lots of default boats added to make it more realistic. Boating is another way to reach the island and the fastest way for most people to get around from one side to the other
– Terrain fixes – There are many water “ridges” in the area harbors due to some odd terriain changes. I have tried to smooth them out, at least around the primary landing locations.
– Lighthouses! – Dating back to the 1800’s, numerous light houses were added to Lake Superior for shipping purposes. While they are all closed or automated now, I have added lighthouses to Rock of Ages on the west, Rock Harbor, Blake Point and Passage Island on the east side. This will require the EDHK Light and Object library found here.
Installation:
Extract the scenery folder from the zip file to your Community folder.
Note – I did not make this an airport so there are no parking locations anywhere on the island. Ideally you can fly from one of the seaplane bases from MN or MI. If that doesn’t work for you, you can spawn above the island and I believe the sim will start you at 1500′. That would be the fastest way to the island.
As always, enjoy flying in Minnesota!
GPS Coordinates: 48.03069658405344, -88.7948457692808
