Charter Opportunities

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Have you ever wanted to visit South Fox Island? This may be your summer.

Here’s the opportunity:

  • A trip takes approximately 5 hours: 1/4 hour load, 1 1/4 hour transit, 2 hours “on island” and 1 1/2 hour return/disembark.
  • The boat departs from Leland and can take up to 10 passengers and costs $1500
  • Trips are weather dependent. The island is 17 miles offshore and lacks a dock. It’s best to plan on being in the area for several days to allow for weather variability. The captain determines whether conditions are safe enough for travel.
  • We’ll do our best to coordinate your trip so the buildings are open for tours
  • The trip requires a reasonable degree of fitness and agility: while the below shows a relatively rough landing, travelers should be prepared for such conditions. Visiting the 1867 lighthouse requires walking a stretch of uneven ground followed by an uphill via sidewalk. A sidewalk connects the two lighthouses.

If this sounds interesting, email us at southfoxisland@gmail.com with your contact information.

This offer is available as a charter only.  If you are willing to be the contact, we’re happy to advertise additional seats on Facebook but as a small, all-volunteer non-profit, we lack the ability to organize individual passenger rides.

 

Volunteers Featured in Leelanau Enterprise article

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The June 25 Leelanau Enterprise featured the light station and our early season volunteers.

Reporter Brian Freiberger volunteered multiple times during the 2021 season and remains a great supporter. Thanks Brian!

 

South Fox Exhibit at GTL

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On clear days, South Fox Island is visible from the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Lantern room. Visitors inquire about the island.

Through a collaborative effort with Grand Traverse Lighthouse, there’s now an exhibit. The left panel chronicles the history of the South Fox Light Station. The middle panel interprets lighthouses of the Manitou Passage. The final panel includes photos of each of the station’s buildings and highlights ongoing restoration efforts.

Our thanks to Catherine Allchin who designed the panels, Karen & John Wells for project funding and Stef Staley of Grand Traverse Light for hosting and coordinating installation.

DNR Partnership Match Success

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The DNR recently notified us of our successful grant application. We’re to receive $10,203 to be matched by $17,543 in volunteer labor.

The largest item is $3700 toward the vent ball and lantern room restoration. Smaller yet significant funding will help purchase a framing nailer and supply items for the Boathouse wood replacement project (the needed hemlock was purchased under a prior year grant); materials for Assistant Keeper’s window & door projects; paint & related supplies for multiple projects: additional grounds maintenance equipment; and an allowance for materials transport.

We are grateful for the ongoing support from the DNR and their Partnership Match Program.

Lights featured in Traverse Bay Lifestyles

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Read more

Author Brendon Baillod & FILA at Shipwreck Festival

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Author and presenter Brendon Baillod stopped by our table at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Festival yesterday and shared information regarding his planned book about the shipwrecks around the Foxes and Beaver Island.

Photo shows Jackie & Tom McBride who volunteered at the FILA booth with Brendon Baillod (far right.) Photo credit Sandra White who also represented FILA at the event.

South Fox Display at Great Lakes Shipwreck Festival

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Volunteers from South Fox Island Lighthouse will be manning a table at the 44th annual Great Lakes Shipwreck Festival in Livonia on Saturday.  For more info, please visit https://www.greatlakesshipwreckfestival.org/

If one looks at a map of routes coming down the lake from the Straits to either Milwaukee or Chicago, major ports of the day, most traffic took protection amongst the NW Michigan islands before crossing over to the Wisconsin shore. There was also an active “wooding” business on various islands, providing fuel to early steamers. Ships later transitioned from wood to coal, allowing them to remain further offshore. Still, the islands remained hazardous because of the shoals.

Ironically, the northeast side of the island was also noted in ship’s publications as a safe harbor from southwest winds.

It remains a challenging place to visit.

Grants Submitted

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One of our “off season” activities is seeking out grants. As we get farther along in the restoration, many of the projects have greater resource requirements. We’re also trying to improve public access and interpretation — having teams available to give tours and provide signage when we’re not present.

Two grants have been submitted recently. One is our near-annual DNR Partnership grant that pays for most of our restoration materials, to be matched by volunteer hours. We’ve had good success with this grant in past years. We submitted an America250 grant this past week for interpretive signage: a set of signage to interpret the station that would reside in the lantern room of Grand Traverse Light and a second set of signage for each of the station’s buildings. This is a very competitive grant; the outcome is highly uncertain.

Transportation remains our largest expense; we contract a landing craft out of Leland. It eases the delivery of materials, gear & equipment but is considerably more expensive than our prior volunteer boat arrangement. Contracted labor is also challenging. While we have and continue to investigate grants, the difficulty finding contractors willing to work in the island environment and uncertainty of transportation timing adds complexity to both estimating and project delivery.

Fall 2025 Newsletter

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Our Fall newsletter should be hitting your mailbox soon. A print newsletter has been sent to all current members. If you don’t receive it, did your postal address change in the last year? If so, please contact us at southfoxisland@gmail.com

We value your support and want to keep you informed of the ongoing restoration progress.

 

 

 

 

New Board Member Barb Falkenhagen

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Please join us in welcoming Barb Falkenhagen to our Board.

Barb is a dedicated lighthouse volunteer with experience working on multiple offshore lights. She began volunteering with South Fox Island Light Station in 2023 was part of the lantern room restoration team. She also assists in restoring Frankfort’s North Breakwater Light.

Her academic experience includes attending Skive Gymnasium, a Folk School in Skive, Denmark, and Saginaw Valley State University. She and her husband own Don’s Welding, LLC in Saginaw.