Much closer to Canada than the US, the 45-mile sliver of ISLE ROYALE NATIONAL PARK , fifty miles out in Lake Superior, is in a double sense as far as you can get in Michigan from Detroit. All cars are banned and, instead of freeways, 166 miles of hiking trails lead past windswept trees, swampy lakes and grazing moose. The park is open from mid-May until the end of September. Aside from other outdoors types the only traces of human life you're likely to see are ancient mineworks (thought to be two millennia old), shacks left behind by commercial fishermen in the 1940s and a few light houses and park buildings. Trekking, canoeing, fishing and scuba-diving among shipwrecks are the principal leisure activities. Camping is free, but visit the park headquarters at 800 E Lakeshore Drive (tel 906/482-0984) in Houghton before you leave the mainland, for advice on water purity, mosquitoes and temperatures that can drop well below freezing even in summer. You can also stay in a self-catering cottage or a more expensive lodge room (including all meals) at the Rock Harbor Lodge (PO Box 605, Houghton, MI 49931; tel 906/337-4993, Oct-April tel 270/773-2191; see ; $130-160). The lodge rents canoes and motorboats for $22 and $48 per day, respectively, and offers cruises for $11.

Ferries leave from Copper Harbor ($40 one-way; tel 906/289-4437), Houghton ($47 one-way; tel 906/482-0984) and Grand Portage, Minnesota ($32-52 one-way; tel 715/392-5551). If there are enough in your party, it may be just as economical to charter a plane from Isle Royale Seaplane Service in Houghton (tel 906/482-8850).

Isle Royale National Park

• Isle Royale National Park

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