Tombolo

A boardwalk crossing of a notable dune and bog ecosystem and a splendid beach walk. Ask most visitors to the Apostle Islands how the lake shapes the shoreline and they would point to the sea caves. Those sandstone caverns are a clear example of waves, ice, and time nibbling away at rock with grains of sand washing away. Waterborne sand, perhaps even the same grains, is also an element in the landscape of this hike. Here, however, the process adds to the shoreline, forming sand bars that mature into vegetated dunes as the lake recedes. A tombolo, a spectacular example of these creative powers, is a land bridge (connection) that forms between two previously isolated bodies of land. In this case, rocky Presque Isle, once a mile off shore, became a part of Stockton Island. The story of that transformation unfolds as you walk this short loop hike.