For links
to other Lake Erie island sites, go to the Lake
Erie Islands or
Lake Erie
Islands Summary links page. The latter of these clearly lists the four
unbridged Lake Erie Islands with regular ferry service.
The links to "unbridged"
islands with ferry service include only those islands with regular ferry
service plus some amenities for tourists. Islands such as Hog Island (RI) that
have regular but infrequent ferry service and no tourist facilities, or private
islands such as Rattlesnake Island (OH) with only "on demand" and very expensive
ferry service, are not in our scope.
This page focuses on "northern"
islands above the 40th parallel, which passes very close to Columbus, Ohio and
just south of New
York City. We made an exception and added a single "southern" island site
at the end because it is run by a close friend.
New England, New York and Northeast Canadian Islands top
I grew up in Rhode Island.
Block Island, Newport and Conanicut Island are the places where I fell in love
with islands. Many of my New England friends and acquaintances tend to turn up
their noses at the mention of any islands in Lake Erie or the Great Lakes, and
don't believe me when I tell them that in Lake Erie, they can have the same
beauty as in Conanicut, Martha's Vineyard and the other places listed below, but
at a small fraction of the cost.
Prudence Island, RI -
3600 acres, 100 year-round residents, 2500 summer residents, but no Web
site and no pictures. Even the ferry doesn't have its own site, but you
can
click here for the ferry address and phone number
Conanicut Island
(Jamestown), RI - quiet, accessible via bridges, and with great seafood
restaurants. The homes on the old estates are magnificent, but very expensive.
Niagara Falls Islands -
There are numerous small islands in the Niagara River above and below Niagara Falls,
and an incomplete overview of these can be found
here. It includes Goat Island, Green Island, Luna Island and the Three
Sister Islands. At one point five islands were connected by footbridges, as
described
here. The Three Sister Islands can still be reached via footbridges.
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Three Sister Islands Three Sisters Islands were
named after the daughters of Parkhurst Whitney, a hotelman and prominent
local citizen. The daughter's names were Asenath, Angeline and Celinda
Eliza
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Thousand
Islands Bridge System - This extends from Collins Landing near
Alexandria Bay, NY to Ivy Lea near Gananoque, Ontario and covers a distance
of 8.5 miles. It provides a direct connection between US I-81 and Canada
highway 401 and crosses the following islands: Hill Island, Constance
Island, Georgia Island and Wellesley Island.
Other Northeast Islands
Swan Island, ME (not the same as Swan's Island above)
Thimble Islands,
CT - A confetti-like archipelago of several hundred islands ranging from a few
feet to a quarter-mile in size, all of them teeming with seabirds and marine
life.
Alaska's Marine
Highway Ferry System - The main form of transportation to many outlying
towns in Alaska isn't car, plane or train, but ferry. Why take a cruise ship
when the local ferries are cheaper and introduce you to far more local scenery,
people and wildlife?
We originally started adding a
few links to some islands in the southeast, but then decided that since any
islands below the 40th parallel are "beneath" us, they really don't belong on
this site. (The 40th passes very close to Columbus, Ohio and
just south of New York City.)
However, I made a single exception
for Puerto Rico, but only because the owner and designer of the following site
is a close friend who also runs her site purely as a hobby, as I do. We exchange
ideas on improving our sites regularly. So
take a look at
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