Bayfield, WI

Bayfield is a small Lake Superior city on Wisconsin’s Bayfield Peninsula, and its waterfront is the mainland launch point for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Highway 13 is the main road through town, but the harbor gives the place its real orientation. Bayfield was named for British hydrographer Henry Bayfield after his Lake Superior surveys, and a post office has operated here since 1856. Lumbering and commercial fishing once shaped the city; the county seat moved to Washburn in 1892, leaving Bayfield with a civic history that still sits beside its working waterfront.

Today the waterfront and museums keep that history visible. Bayfield Maritime Museum interprets the nautical story of the city and the islands, while Bayfield Heritage Museum and local galleries fill in the settlement and arts side. The Apostle Islands Sled Dog Race brings teams to town each February, and the ferry from the city dock connects Bayfield with Madeline Island. The local scoop is a very small city with a regional role: harbor, island gateway, museum town, and former lumber-and-fishing center in the same few blocks.