TYPE
TOPIC
Relax, play and learn while celebrating local fresh water at Lake Superior Day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, July 19, on Barker’s Island in Superior. Enjoy free activities for all ages, including children’s activities, stand-up paddleboarding demonstrations, Lake Superior education booths and vendors, including Superior Cubans, all focused on appreciating the Great Lake.
Attendees can ride a free shuttle bus between the Superior Public Library and the event on Barker’s Island. Buses begin running at 10:45 a.m. and will operate approximately every 30 minutes throughout the event.
Lake Superior Day attendees can visit the Lake Superior Estuarium, open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; sign up for half-price tours of the SS Meteor, available from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; visit the new Twin Ports Community Market; navigate a water cycle obstacle course as a water droplet; create puppets representing plants and animals that live in and around the water; test water quality at the “Test the Estuary” station; and chat with scientists and other freshwater champions.
To receive the SS Meteor discount, guests can purchase tickets in person and receive the discount at the time of sale or book online in advance using the discount code LAKESUPERIORDAY2026. Tickets can be reserved online.
Lake Superior gives people plenty to celebrate. It is the cleanest, coldest and clearest of the Great Lakes. As the world’s largest freshwater lake by surface area, it supports local shipping, commercial fishing and recreational industries while providing clean drinking water and a high quality of life. Every day, the 600,000 residents of the Lake Superior basin rely on water from the lake. It is also essential habitat for countless fish, birds, plants and other living things.
The Lake Superior Day event will take place outdoors along sidewalks and on grassy areas near and inside the Lake Superior Estuarium, 3 Marina Drive, Superior, Wisconsin, on Barker’s Island. Restroom facilities include portable toilets and accessible single-user restrooms inside the Estuarium. The shuttle bus is equipped with a lift, seating and space for up to three wheelchairs.
The event is free to attend, except for optional purchases such as food and SS Meteor tours. For more information, including accessibility details and free accommodation services such as translation, visit the website or contact Luciana Ranelli at 715-399-4085.
There are also opportunities to care for and enjoy coastal areas before the main Lake Superior Day event. Join a stewardship project on Wisconsin Point from 9:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 18, to help remove invasive spotted knapweed by hand. More information and free registration is available online.
Those looking to get on the water can participate in the Paddle for the People 4K recreational paddle race around Barker’s Island, hosted by North Shore Stand Up Paddleboarding. The free race begins at 10 a.m. Sunday, with mandatory check-in from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Participants should register online.
This year’s Lake Superior Day event in Superior is coordinated by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, operated by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the following partners: the City of Superior, North Shore SUP, Paddle It Forward, University of Wisconsin-Superior, Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve, Minnesota Sea Grant and Douglas County 4-H.
Special thanks to businesses supporting the event through logistics assistance or donations for the free prize drawing, including Twin Ports Community Market, Love Creamery, Superior Historic Properties, Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center, Epicurean, Whole Foods Co-op, Carla Brink, Wren Works, Lake Superior Zoo and Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad.
Come enjoy the festivities and celebrate Lake Superior.