Rock Island to stay closed for the rest of the year

Virus concerns come on top of dock problem

Rock Island State Park, off the tip of the Door County peninsula north of Washington Island, will remain closed for the rest of the season.

The park is open year-round, but the passenger-only Karfi ferry to the island only runs from Memorial Day weekend through the second Monday in October.

The ferry will not run at all this year, and the park will remain closed to all visitors through the end of 2020, according to Missy VanLanduyt, recreations partnership section chief for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

VanLanduyt said the closure is due to a number of factors, including concerns about the ability to maintain social distance on the ferry, and the fact that the island’s dock is underwater and would require a $50,000 upgrade for the ferry to be able to dock.

VanLanduyt also said the Friends of Rock Island group, which usually runs tours of the island’s Pottawatomie Lighthouse, was not comfortable doing so this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The island will be closed to all use, including people visiting in personal watercraft. VanLanduyt said DNR conservation wardens will be patrolling the area to enforce the closure.

Other DNR staff and contractors will be working on projects on the island while it is closed, including repairing the historic pagoda.

VanLanduyt said the DNR will monitor lake levels and the island’s dock over the winter and repair it next year if necessary.