Barker's Island

Barker's Island, Superior, WI 54880

Parks

About Barker's Island

Barker's Island is not a natural island. It was built up in the 1890s out of material dredged from Superior Bay so that larger ships could reach the harbor, and a century later the city turned the spoil into its principal recreational waterfront.

Today it holds the marina, boat launches, picnic grounds, a hotel and event space, and the Inner Beach, about 6.74 acres of public recreation with roughly 1,400 feet of Lake Superior shoreline (City of Superior, accessed 2026-08-13). The eastern end of the Osaugie Trail runs along it, which makes the island the natural start or finish of a flat five-mile ride or walk along the bay.

The anchor attraction is the SS Meteor, the world's only surviving whaleback freighter, built in Superior in 1896 and permanently berthed here as a maritime museum. For Superior residents, Barker's Island is the default summer evening: a beach, a walk, a boat, and a view across the harbor at Duluth's hillside.

Good to know: Inner Beach swimming, marina, boat launches, SS Meteor Maritime Museum, Osaugie Trail access, picnic areas, hotel and event space, mini golf.

Nearby

Neighborhoods it serves

Superior, Wisconsin

Superior, WI

Flat, affordable, and across the bridge: the working half of the Twin Ports.

East End

Superior, WI

Superior's original settlement: the oldest housing in the city, a Carnegie library that is now somebody's house, and the bay at the end of the street.

Sources

Where these facts come from

City of Superior, Beaches accessed 2026-08-13

Last reviewed 2026-08-13 by Guide editorial.