City of Superior Beaches
Barker's Island Inner Beach
Highlights:
- 6.74 acres, with 2 3/4 miles of beach
- 1,750 feet of raised boardwalk
- Bird watching, hiking, and beach use
- Near the SS Meteor Maritime Museum
- Mini-Golf
The Barker’s Island Inner Beach is 6.74 acres of public recreational area owned by the City of Superior. It is made up of 1,400 feet of Lake Superior shoreline access located near public boat launches and the marina.
This beach was restored in 2018. The restoration project was a collaboration with the Wisconsin DNR, City of Superior and Area of Concern partners. The project was designed to reduce levels of E. coli bacteria by optimizing the beach characteristics, managing runoff, enhancing wetland areas and deterring wildlife. Other improvements included additional parking, a raised boardwalk and restroom facilities. The project utilized low impact design principals and green infrastructure to achieve greater infiltration and storm water treatment at the recreation area. Approximately 1,750 feet of pedestrian trail was replaced with a raised boardwalk to maximize the ecological aspect of the area to improve water quality.
A long-term monitoring and maintenance plan has been developed for the beach. This plan emphasizes the important steps to keeping the beach clean and open for recreation. The City will maintain the area by protecting plantings, deterring waterfowl, and routine sand grooming. It is important that users of the park stay on designated paths and follow all rules including NO feeding of wildlife and putting all trash in trash receptacles. The area will continue to be monitored for E. coli levels.
Rules
- Glass beverage containers are prohibited
- Fires may not be started closer than 10 feet from the nearest plant life
- Camping is not allowed except during the spring smelt run
- Horseback riding is not allowed on beaches
Wisconsin Point Beach
Highlights:
- 229 acres, with 2 3/4 miles of beach
- Bird watching, hiking, beach use, and duck hunting
- Watchable Wildlife area
- Historical marker for a sacred Chippewa burial ground
- Superior entry lighthouse
Wisconsin Point, along with Minnesota Point, is one of the largest freshwater sandbars in the world.
Wisconsin Point was named as Best Strolling or Swimming Beach by Lake Superior Magazine in 2019!
Rules:
- Motor vehicle traffic and parking is prohibited between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. on Wisconsin Point Road, including any parking areas, beyond Lot #1, and also all of Moccasin Mike Road and Lakeshore Drive, except during the spring smelt run season as defined by the Parks and Recreation Department
- Glass beverage containers are prohibited
- Fires may not be started closer than 10 feet from the nearest plant life
- Camping is not allowed except during the spring smelt run
- Horseback riding is not allowed on Wisconsin Point (see Superior Municipal Forest page)
Protecting Dunes And Restoring Piping Plover Habitat On Wisconsin Point
Wisconsin Point is an important wildlife habitat, migratory bird stopover and historical site with great cultural significance. One project on the point led by the city of Superior protected sensitive dune habitats and historical sites while also improving public beach access. Another project created 14 acres of new habitat for the endangered Piping Plover at the DNR-owned Wisconsin Point Bird Sanctuary. This project, in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, placed clean dredged material from the Duluth-Superior Harbor at the sanctuary to build sand and cobble beach for the rare shorebirds’ nesting and foraging habitat. It’s a great example of beneficially using material that needed to be dredged out of the commercial shipping channel.
Photos courtesy of Tom Bridge
Additional information about Areas of Concern (AOC)
Harbors and waterways are being cleaned up around the nation. Learn how an Area of Concern transforms and get involved locally by checking out the Area of concern website.
Here is an area of concern videos made by the Wisconsin DNR, entitled AOC 101 Wisconsin.
Please consider checking the website Wisconsin Beach Health to see if there are any advisories/closures of the beach areas prior to your visit.
Cigarette Butt Disposal
Did you know cigarette butts are toxic microplastics that are not biodegradable? Butts that are tossed on the ground often end up in our lakes and rivers, affecting fish and wildlife, and even our drinking water!
Read more about tobacco waste and the impact on our environment here: https://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/sites/default/files/resources/Tobacco-Product-Waste-Toolkit.pdf
Algae
As of July 12, 2023 algae was collected at the Barker's Island Beach. Benthic bottom-dwelling mat material that is growing in small patch on the bottom, and are also washed up on the beach. Dogs are the highest at risk if they consume the concentrated mat material. The mats are large enough to see, so people should be able to avoid contact with them. As always, the safest practices for people are to keep water out of their mouth, wash hands before eating, and to shower off after swimming to remove any algae that might have been trapped under clothing.
Keep your pets safe! Dogs won't instinctively know if the water is safe when they jump in, so keep them out of unsafe conditions and prevent them from drinking untreated water. Dogs are especially susceptible to blue-green algae toxins because they swallow more water than humans while swimming. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has a dog fact sheet that shows you the blue-green algae conditions to watch out for and to avoid.
Choose the clearest water possible for dogs to swim in, and keep dogs out of areas with accumulations of blue-green algae or any dense particulate matter:
- Do not let pets swim in, or drink, waters experiencing blue-green algae blooms or noticeably green water.
- Keep dogs out of shallow, stagnant waters where blue-green algae may be growing on the bottom and dislodged by disturbance. If people shouldn’t swim there, dogs shouldn’t either.
- Always offer fresh, clean water for pets to drink instead of lake water.
- Always wash dogs off with clean water immediately after they swim, so they don’t lick any algae from their fur.
- Supervise pets when they are outside, so they don’t eat algal scum accumulated on the shore, floating mats of algae, or drink lake water.
- If your pets eat grass, avoid using lake water for lawn irrigation if blooms are present.
- If there’s any doubt about what is in the water, keeping your pets out is the safest course of action.
Water intoxication (from swallowing too much water) and heat stroke in dogs share the symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, and loss of coordination with blue-green algae poisoning. Give dogs plenty of breaks from swimming and retrieving in lakes, avoid having dogs bite at splashed water as a game, and use flat objects for retrieval instead of balls. Always provide shade and fresh, clean water to drink.
There’s more information at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/lakes/bluegreenalgae and https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/water/bg-algae/index.htm. You can also view a 2021 Wisconsin Water Week DNR presentation on blue-green algae here.
For information on algae, visit the Wisconsin Department of Health's Algal Bloom Toolkit