The Best Islands In The Midwest You Should Consider For A Vacation, According To Travelers

Think of islands, and images of swaying palm trees, silky sands, and turquoise seas might come to mind. Your imagination might take you to a tropical paradise where life is just an endless montage of sun, sea, sand, and serenity on a plot of land moored in the ocean. You might picture the kinds of places like the world's 10 best islands for snorkeling. But islands don't have to be off the coast of a mainland; they can also be in the center of a country. A case in point is the Midwest, a vast region in the U.S comprising 12 states that is home to countless bodies of water large enough to accommodate islands.

The Great Lakes, for instance, are home to about 30,000 islands alone. Some are tiny blobs, little more than a mass of rock, while others are vast enough to support their own thriving economy. The choices of islands in the Midwest are indeed plentiful, but among these spots of land surrounded by water, a number of destinations stand out. That could be because of the resplendent nature, the tourism infrastructure, or the ability to let travelers fully escape daily life. To find the best of them, we've relied on travel intel and blogs.

A grouping west of Mackinaw City, the Beaver Island chain appears like fragments scattered across the top of Lake Michigan. Beaver Island is the largest of them by some measure, but that doesn't mean that it is a hotbed of commerce. Roughly the size of San Francisco, it has less than 1,000 residents year-round, and is a place of tranquility, with much nature to explore and admire. The island is big enough that it has lakes within, the largest of them Lake Geneserath in Beaver Island's southeast. Travelers can get in a canoe or kayak and paddle its tranquil waters; while around its shores, look for wild turkeys, hawks, turtles, and the beavers that give the island its name. 

This destination is also home to some slices of waterfront, as the blog Shalee Wanders notes. "The 13-mile long island is home to some of the quietest, bluest, and translucent beaches on the Great Lakes. Yet even on a picture-perfect summer day, the main street holds a sense of stillness." The main settlement of St. James, which wraps around a curving harbor in the north of the island, is where the ferry docks. This is where to find places to eat and lodging where visitors can book a room for the night, but it remains a calm hamlet. That said, for a few days in the summer, the island pulses with the Beaver Island Music Festival when hundreds of groups play all manner of music over a July weekend.

This island in the Detroit River is right by Detroit (the best new art city thanks to its affordability) and so close to the border with Canada that it almost touches it. Officially known as Belle Isle Park, though many remove the "park" reference when speaking about it, this 982-acre plot is a mix of nature and facilities and a fine spot for a day trip while on vacation. In fact, as the blog Boxy Colonial on the Road outlines, there is "plenty to do ...and that was with icky weather that kept us from exploring outside as much as we might have liked. We were all totally charmed by Belle Isle; it made it onto several of our top travel memory lists at the end of the year!" You can find the Belle Isle Aquarium there, which has a striking interior ceiling with gleaming green glass tiles.

At the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, visitors can learn about the region's rich maritime history, reaching back more than three centuries. And the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory is a dream for lovers of plants. There are 13 acres to explore, with glass conservatories housing flowers like orchids, seasonal beds, a section full of lily ponds, and a general sense of peace. Elsewhere on the island, travelers will find a marble lighthouse and the Blue Heron Lagoon Trail, an easy hike that takes in river views, and the chance to see the island's resident deer.

There are a number of ways to reach this island that sits due north of Sandusky. The regular Kelleys Island Ferry service allows visitors to bring their cars, motorcycles, bikes, and themselves onto the island. It can even fit RVs, and leaves from Marblehead in Ohio. To get to the island from Sandusky or Cedar Point, one of the oldest amusement parks in the U.S., travelers will need to book passage on Jet Express, though this seasonal option only allows people to travel, with no option to bring bikes or motorized vehicles. Visitors can also arrive on a private boat, or even fly to the island. Despite the many points of access, the island has managed to keep its unique charm and serene, protected environment. Outside firewood, for instance, is banned from the island, in order to ensure that invasive insects don't ravage the local ecosystem. 

Fans of the great outdoors, like the author of the blog Cornfields and High Heels, are sure to enjoy time on the island. "If you are looking for a place to camp and swim, Kelleys Island State Park is a great option! In addition to camping spots, two furnished yurts and two camper cabins are available for rental." Vacationers will find a good deal to keep them busy. They can see some fine examples of glacial grooves that are hundreds of feet in length. Historic homes on the island allow travelers to step into the past, while wineries let them enjoy the present with a tipple in hand. Venture on to find hiking trails, a sculpture garden, and even a lighthouse.

This is one of the most famous vacation spots in the Midwest, a perfect, dreamy destination where cars are banned. For many months of the year this island is a sedate spot, with only a few hundred people living through cold days and long nights. But come summer, the place transforms, as if emerging from a deep hibernation. During the warmer months, Mackinac Island can see 15,000 visitors per day. They come to experience a slice of yesteryear, to visit a place where four-fifths of the land falls within the confines of a state park and the longest porch in the world can be found at the Grand Hotel. There is certainly something nostalgic and unique about Mackinac Island, with visitors and locals reliant on bikes, horse-drawn carriages, and their feet to get around.

The island also boasts a rich vein of fudge shops, with five tons of the confection made every day during the high season. But travelers can get away from the commercial activity by exploring the 70 miles of trails that crisscross the island. There are also a couple of forts to wander, one of which impressed the author of the blog Cinders Travels. "I highly recommend going to historic Fort Mackinac for an hour or two...The fort is where you can learn the most about Mackinac Island's history. Also, the views from up there are some of the best on the island!"

Like pebbles gently tossed onto a backdrop of blue, the Apostle Islands push out from Chequamegon Bay and out into Lake Superior. There are 21 islands in all, and only one of them — Madeline Island — is inhabited. The islands are beautiful, full of greenery, and craggy shorelines where sea caves seem like mystical realms hovering just above the water. Explore them by kayak to fully appreciate how the erosive forces of wind and water have shaped the coastline. You can also paddle through natural rock arches. Visitors can also hit the beach, spin around the roads on a bicycle, and even play a round of golf.

The island is quiet for much of the year, with only a few hundred residents calling the place home, but swells in the summer, with travelers arriving via the ferry from Bayfield. Visiting during the wildflower season is especially alluring, as the blog Adventuring Woman notes. "We were sooooo lucky we just happened to be traveling during lupine season. The incredible quantities of these wildflowers lining the roadside, often covering entire fields, completely captivated me."

Being outdoors is one of the highlights of the island. At Big Bay State Park, travelers can wander along miles of hiking trails and boardwalks or stroll on the 1.5-mile lakefront beach. The Madeline Island Wilderness Preserve combines forests and wetlands intersected by trails, and is open for visitors who want to hike, snow shoe, pick berries, or cross-country ski.

A sparsely inhabited island shaped a little like a mannequin's head, this destination allows visitors to stay overnight. There is a campground on the northeast cusp of the island, though it's not large, restricted to eight sites which can each hold up to four people. For travelers who do make their way to the island, either as overnight guests or day-trippers, the reward is undiluted nature. Fans of floral splendor who can't visit California to see the state's iconic wildflowers can certainly see some beautiful colors here. Just note what the blog Mi Northern Soul says about the island. "The route to the village was mostly wooded and interspersed with pretty patches of wildflowers—Indian paintbrushes, buttercups, daisies, and purple cow vetch." 

The village is a small settlement near where the ferry docks, with a handful of houses where National Park Service staff live (the island is part of Sleeping Dunes National Lakeshore). Otherwise, there is little sign of any human impact, with an endless sweep of forests, fields, beaches, and dunes broken only by the waters of the inland Lake Manitou. This is definitely a destination where visitors are expected to be fully self-reliant since there are no public facilities on the island at all.

Ok, so technically Pelee Island isn't in the Midwest — yes, we know it's in Canada — but if you see it on a map, it feels like it almost could be, it's that close. The island forms one corner point of a vague rhombus with Sandusky, Detroit, and Toledo, and sits a short distance north of Kelleys Island. What travelers, like the author of the blog Hike Bike Travel, will experience on the isle is a study in quietude. "Pelee Island is not a place to come looking for nightlife and excitement. Instead think birds (it's a globally important bird area) and beaches, vineyards, quiet forest trails, and friendly locals. And the three R's – reading, relaxation, recharging." There are just over 200 residents on the island, and about the same number of endangered species of flora and fauna. 

This is an island where nature reigns, with most of the land covered by forests, wetlands, vineyards, and beaches. Trails in Lighthouse Point Provincial Nature Reserve and Fish Point Provincial Nature Reserve allow hikers to explore the coast and the interior. Winged wonders will excite guests at the island's butterfly sanctuary, open from May to October. Access to Pelee Island is most easily via ferry from Ontario, though there is also a route from Sandusky, Ohio.

Travelers heading to this plot of land on Lake Michigan will be going back to basics. The 900-acre island, served by a seasonal ferry, is only a mile from Washington Island. As the name suggests, the island is parkland, one with many miles of trails primed for hiking, and some fine beaches. For anyone looking to get away from the rhythms of daily life, this is a perfect escape, as the blog Office to Outdoors notes. "Rock Island State Park, located off the Door County Peninsula and about 10 minutes from Washington Island via ferry, is one of the most remote and primitive spots in Wisconsin. I loved my experience on Rock Island, enjoying a hike along the shore, checking out the games and puzzles at the boathouse, and disconnecting from technology." 

In addition to the varied opportunities for hiking, visitors will be able to go fishing, camp, and swim in the lake's calm waters. They will also be able to see the oldest lighthouse in Wisconsin, the Pottawatomie Lighthouse. Located on a headland on the north of the island, the lighthouse can trace its genesis back almost 200 years. The original lighthouse, built in 1836, was leveled and rebuilt in the late 1850s, and its lamp, when lit, can be seen from more than 10 miles away. Visitors can take tours of the lighthouse, offered by docents during the season, and even climb to the light room.

A neighbor to Kelleys Island, this destination is also an easy trip to make for travelers who have visited the area to experience Cedar Point theme park. Ferries depart from Catawba, at the tip of a peninsula east of Toledo, and the trip takes less than 30 minutes. As the island's name suggests, this is the southernmost of the Bass Islands, and is perhaps the most popular thanks to its main town of Put-in-Bay. Unlike some of the sleepy destinations on this list, this island has plenty to keep night owls engaged. Put-in-Bay has a wide range of bars (more than 15) with one serving drinks to patrons seated around a decommissioned fire truck. The town also supplies a variety of accommodation choices, from condos to traditional hotels to private rental homes, and plenty of shopping options too. 

Away from Put-in-Bay, the island has outdoor adventures to offer, including some great hiking, an option praised by the Gleason Family Adventure blog. "[The hiking] is one of my favorite things to do on the island. I had no idea there were so many preserves there until I arrived. Each one is unique and has a different feel." Bird spotters can spy shorebirds and a host of migratory winged wonders at the Scheff East Point Preserve. For another aerial treat, book a helicopter ride or a scenic plane flight on a restored World War II, open-cockpit aircraft, at the island's airport.

The blog A Mom Explores neatly sums up the appeal of this island in Lake Michigan. "With beaches, lavender fields, history, bike trails, and small-town charm, you'll find that there's no better place to calm your racing thoughts and disconnect from the stresses of everyday life than this slice of heaven off the tip of the Door Peninsula." Access to the island is available all year, with transfers via the Washington Island Ferry, which transports people and cars, and the trip is only five miles. Some visitors come without a car, but the island is surprisingly large, more than 30 square miles in size, and there are 100 miles of paved roads that weave a web across the land. While farming, logging, and fishing are all practiced there, tourism is the biggest business, and Washington Island is a beloved summer haunt for many travelers. 

Even with a year-round population of less than 1,000 people, the island still has a fully functioning town, with medical facilities, a library, fire and police departments, and an array of shops and lodging. There is even an indoor swimming pool at the Mosling Recreation Center, but fans of refreshing water can always hit one of the beaches. For some more relaxation, a visit to Fragrant Isle lavender farm is sure to calm the senses. One of the largest lavender farms in the Midwest, it features 14 different types of lavender and special gardens where visitors can learn about the inner workings of this intoxicating plant.

For travelers, one of the best things about a vacation on an island in the Midwest is that they don't have to worry about salt water when they go for a swim. But thankfully, that is not the only bonus. To find the best islands in the region for a vacation, we pored over maps and looked at blogs from official tourism sites, chambers of commerce, and businesses like the real estate firm SVN Northco, based in the Midwest. While there are tons of islands in the Midwest, many of them have little to offer the leisure traveler. We narrowed down the list by scouring blogs of travelers who had been to the islands and provided first-hand testimony of the appeal of these destinations. That way, you will know what to expect and what to look forward to on your next visit.