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Today, the lake continues as a place of difficult and dangerous work for many individuals and industries, while also providing all manner of recreation and exploration for residents and tourists alike. Lake Superior covers approximately 31,700 square miles, making it the largest lake by area. Even if taking depth into account and, thus, measuring by water volume rather than surface area, Lake Superior would still be the third largest lake on earth containing 29,000 cubic miles of water. That’s enough to cover, at one-foot deep, the entire land mass of both North and South America. Countless islands, peninsulas and rocky outcroppings decorate her shoreline. None are boring or without fascinating history, but it is the areas that have been deemed worthy of governmental protections within the National Park System (NPS) that draw the most visitors and offer the easiest access. One such area is known as the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (AINL), located in northwestern Wisconsin on the southwest shores of Lake Superior.
Gateways to the Great Northwest
The grouping of the seven northwestern-most Wisconsin counties is referred to as that state’s “Great Northwest” region. Here, there are several airports that can act as gateways to the Apostle Islands. In fact, the western shores of Lake Superior, both in Wisconsin and Minnesota, have a nice variety of airports that can (and frequently do) support King Air operations. However, most lack one key ingredient to terrestrial tourism – rental cars. One exception is Duluth International (DLH), located at the extreme western tip of Lake Superior at the bottom of the “arrowhead” of Minnesota (the triangular northeastern tip of the state which separates Lake Superior’s northern shore from the Canadian border). Easily the busiest airport in the area, it also offers the greatest amenities for flight crew and passengers alike. Monaco Air is a top-notch FBO with clean, efficient, and modern facilities. Hangar space is available (important in the winter), as are ample parking aprons, pilot lounges and flight planning rooms. A variety of rental car companies offer their vehicles for pick up at either the FBO or the adjacent airline terminal.
The airport itself is impressive, as it is equipped to support Minnesota Air National Guard and Coast Guard units, regional airline operations, and to act as an alternate for major airline operations into Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP). Its long runways are served by multiple approaches, from modern RNAV approaches with LPV minimums to Category I and II ILS’s, to old-school VOR approaches. Add in a typical number of corporate and charter operations and flight test and training operations associated with Cirrus Aircraft’s primary factory on the field and it can get busy at times. However, even at that, it’s still laid back enough to merit only a standard control tower and Class D airspace (albeit with a dedicated approach control and excellent radar services available).
AUGUST 2020
Beyond Duluth, the natural wonders of the area are all within reasonably short driving distances. While a drive into the Arrowhead and along the north shore is popular, what’s to be seen and done up there merits an article of its own. A number of routes could be used to reach the AINL area in northwestern Wisconsin, but the most common would be to simply take Highway 2 almost to Ashland, then head north on State Road 13.
There are two notable alternatives to DLH. The first is Superior, Wisconsin’s Richard I. Bong Airport (SUW), named for the Superior native who went on to become America’s Ace of Aces flying a P-38 Lightning fighter in World War II. SUW has standard services and RNAV (LP) approaches to each of the four runway ends. Rental cars there are through Enterprise. While this airport is adequate in every way, it’s only a few miles closer to AINL than DLH is. Thus, the more realistic alternative to DLH is Ashland’s JFK Memorial Airport (ASX), named for the 35th President of the United States, who visited the city twice. First, while campaigning for president in 1960, he gave a speech at and dined with students from Northland College. He returned to the city by helicopter Marine One in 1963 and delivered a speech to a huge crowd right on the airport. Today, ASX is a well-maintained, full-service airport that hosts King Air sized aircraft regularly. Its main runway (02/20) is 5,197 feet x 100 feet and is equipped with a Localizer approach into 02. Its second runway (13/31) is 3,498 feet 75 feet and is
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