Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure

A comprehensive travelogue and guidebook exploring island adventures on many of the 135 islands accessible by ferry or bridge in the Great Lakes Basin.

The Great Lakes Basin is the largest surface freshwater system on Earth. The more than 30,000 islands dotted throughout the basin provide some of the best ways to enjoy the Great Lakes. While the vast majority of these islands can only be reached by private boat or plane, a surprising number of islands--each with its own character and often harboring more than a bit of intrigue in its history--can be reached by merely taking a ferry ride, or crossing a bridge, offering everyone the chance to experience a variety of island adventures.

Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure explores in depth over 30 of the Great Lakes Basin islands accessible by bridge or ferry and introduces more than 50 additional islands. Thirty-eight chapters include helpful information about getting to each featured island, what to expect when you get there, the island’s history, and what natural and historical sites and cultural attractions are available to visitors. Each chapter lists special island events, where to get more island information, and how readers can help support the island. Author Maureen Dunphy made numerous trips to a total of 135 islands that are accessible by ferry or bridge in the Great Lakes Basin. On each trip, Dunphy was accompanied by a different friend or relative who provided her another adventurer’s perspective through which to view the island experience.

Great Lakes Island Escapes covers islands on both sides of the international border between the United States and Canada and features islands in both the lakes and the waterways that connect them. Anyone interested in island travel or learning more about the Great Lakes will delight in this comprehensive collection.

Maureen Dunphy teaches writing workshops for Springfed Arts and, through Dunphy Consulting Services, coaches writers and provides editing services for individuals and institutions. She has taught writing courses at Oakland University, the University of Windsor, and Oakland Community College and facilitates writing workshops on islands and on the mainland. She has published poetry in Beyond the Lines: Writing What You Couldn’t Say, fiction in Bear River Review, and nonfiction in Peninsula: Essays and Memoirs from Michigan. She lives on the lower peninsula of the ＂Mitten State＂ but frequently escapes to Great Lakes islands, including to her cottage on Ontario’s Pelee Island.