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4 Ways to Experience
Plum Island

  1. Book a cruise about the Friends of Plum and Pilot's charter boat service, NorDoor Cruises by The Shoreline.

  2. JOIN US & Volunteer - Transportation is FREE to our volunteers!

  3. Attend one of our Field Days, or a Special Event, and learn about Plum Island's history and natural beauty.

  4. Private boat (See below)

Plum Island is open to public use during daylight hours Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend for hiking, wildlife observation, and nature photography on designated trails and beach areas only.  ​Foot travel only on the island (no motorized vehicles or bicycles) and use of boot brush station is mandatory to prevent the spread of invasive species.  Dogs are welcome but must be leashed and pet waste picked up and removed. 

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Plum Island facilities are quite rustic.  There is no potable water available on the Island, so please bring your own so you don't dehydrate while hiking. Vault toilets are available behind the Lifesaving Station Crews' Quarters.

Private Boat Docking:  The water depth on the inside of the dock is 11 feet on the far end and nine feet near the boathouse.  On the outside of the dock, the depth varies from 12 feet to 13 feet to about one-half the length before an obstruction brings the level up to about six feet.
 
NOT PERMITTED: overnight docking, motorized vehicles; bicycles; fishing from the dock; swimming from the dock or other structures; collection of plants, berries, seeds, mushrooms, rocks, fossils, antlers, or other artifacts; fireworks; camping; campfires; geocaches and drones.

​To learn more about the historical and beautiful features that make up Plum Island, view our Interpretive Signage page.


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Printable Map

Right click and "Save Picture As" to your computer or download to your phone.

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Pilot Island

CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC

"Pilot Island remains closed to public access to meet the primary conservation purpose of the site for migratory and colonial nesting birds, and as related to the State of Wisconsin’s terms for the 2007 lands transfer."
- About the Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge

2 buildings on a rocky, barren island. Dead trees dot the island, most of which is white and gray from bird guano. The center of the island is green with weeded vegetation

Friends of Plum and Pilot Island works under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS)  Friends Policy  (633 FW 1), and within the 2022 Friends Partnership Agreement with the Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge.


For the purposes of historic preservation, our partnership is maintained  to meet National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requirements, and with its implementing of regulation 36 CFR Part 800. All work that we conduct in partnership with the Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge follows  The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties  and  The Secretary of the Interior Professional Qualifications Standards.


Plans for treatments on all structures on the National Register of Historic Places found at Plum and Pilot islands are, at minimum,  preservative  in nature as defined in the Standards. This will avoid any “Adverse Effect” determinations while consulting with Wisconsin's State Historic Preservation Office and the USFWS.


 For information regarding plans and strategies for historic preservation at the refuge, please contact  GreenBayRefuge@fws.gov.

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