Field Trips

We are pleased to offer 4 exciting field trip options to Martes Symposium attendees. Field trips will allow participants excellent opportunities to explore some of the region’s beautiful natural areas.

Space is limited and reservations will be taken on a first come, first serve basis. To reserve a spot, please fill out the Field Trip Reservation form (https://goo.gl/forms/KQKILZbANtfYMbC22).

Spouses, partners, and other family members of symposium attendees are welcome to participate in the field trips, but symposium participants will be given priority. Field trip reservations will be open to symposium registrants only until June 17. Starting June 18, spouses and other family members will also be able to reserve remaining spots.

Each person making a field trip reservation will need to fill out the field trip reservation form. For example, symposium registrant and spouse/partner must each fill out and submit a separate field trip registration form.

Final field trip costs will depend on the number of participants. Once trips are finalized, information on final amount and payment options will be sent to field trip participants.

Field Trip 1: Apostle Islands Cruise

  • Date: Thursday, August 2nd
  • Time: 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
  • Minimum participants: 30
  • Maximum participants: 60
  • Cost per person will be approximately $60 to $70, depending on the number of participants. Price includes transportation from Northland College, cruise, and lunch.

Come explore the beautiful Apostle Islands. This field trip will offer extraordinary views of the Apostle Islands from aboard a chartered cruise ship as well as ample opportunity to get off the boat and walk around several islands. The cruise will depart Bayfield, WI mid-morning, docking at Stockton Island for brief presentations about ongoing marten research on the Apostle Islands, traditional ecological knowledge of the island, and the importance of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands to the Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa. Participants will enjoy lunch on Stockton Island before visiting Manitou and Raspberry Islands. This field trip will be led by Martes Working Group president Jon Gilbert.

Field Trip 2: Bayfield Peninsula

  • Date: Friday, August 3rd
  • Time: 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
  • Minimum participants: 6
  • Maximum participants: 14
  • Cost per person will be approximately $18-28, depending on the number of participants. Price includes transportation from Northland College and lunch.

Join us on this field trip to tour the Bayfield Peninsula. As we drive around the Bayfield Peninsula, we will stop to explore Houghton Falls, Frog Bay Tribal Park, Myers Beach, and other sites of interest. Participants will enjoy hiking and site-seeing in a beautiful landscape. This field trip will be led by Northland College professor Erik Olson.

Field Trip 3: Lake Superior’s Scenic North Shore

  • Date: Friday, August 3rd
  • Time: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
  • Minimum participants: 6
  • Maximum participants: 13
  • Cost per person will be approximately $16 to $32, depending on the number of participants. Price includes transportation from Duluth and state park admission fees. We will stop at a restaurant where participants can purchase lunch.

This field trip will offer an opportunity to explore Minnesota’s scenic north shore of Lake Superior, including stops at Two Harbors, Gooseberry Falls State Park, and Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. We will take a different route back to allow participants to experience the transition from the rugged, deciduous-dominated landscape of the north shore to the boreal ecosystem of interior northeastern Minnesota. On the way back we will stop at sites of interest in the Superior National Forest near the study area of a recent project on fisher and marten ecology. This field trip will be led by University of Minnesota Duluth graduate student Michael Joyce.

Please note that this trip will depart Duluth, Minnesota instead of Ashland, Wisconsin. We will do our best to help ensure participants have transportation from Ashland to Duluth.

Field Trip 4: Marten Study Area in Iron County, Wisconsin

  • Date: Thursday, August 2nd
  • Time: 8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
  • Minimum participants: 8
  • Maximum participants: 27
  • Cost per person will be approximately $8-20, depending on the number of participants. Price includes transportation from Northland College.

Deep in the heart of Iron County in Northern Wisconsin, the Iron County Land and Water Conservation Department, along with local high school students, are investigating the linkage between forest types, soils, water, and wildlife.  Through hands-on research the team has been studying Wisconsin’s State endangered American Marten and its habitat, home range, and behavior. This field trip will take participants to a Northern hardwood, Cedar, and Hemlock forested area that has been the main study area for 5 different radio-collared Marten. The trip will be led by Iron County Conservation Specialist Zach Wilson.

Prefer to explore on your own? 

Download a list of  National Parks and Wilderness Areas (PDF, 157 kb) of the region or Things to do in and around Ashland (PDF, 149 kb).