I love little out of the way, off-the-beaten path places and Silver Bay Marina is just such a place. We didn’t actually go for the boating, nor did we go into the marina. We went for the rock crawl out to a small island and then a somewhat questionable climb up a hazardous ladder to take in the views. The marina was beautiful, clean and well-kept. There is an overlook and a picnic area, which we did not do since we had just eaten. It took us one hour and 20 minutes to go out and back.
I think the official term for this treacherous trail of rocks is a jetty. It’s a man made barrier meant to protect the boats. This one begins at the marina and connects to a small island. It is in no way an actual trail, and in fact, most places would probably ban people from getting on it. But not Minnesota, because this wonderful state will politely allow you to undertake whatever ill-advised adventure that you want.
View from the island – looking back at Silver Bay Marina on the mainland
things i think you should know
The rocks on the jetty to the island are HUGE and treacherous. You will literally be jumping from one huge rock to another, with many opportunities to fall and break a limb. Our kids, ages 9 and 11 on this trip, are like a pair of mountain goats so they did fine. However, there is no way I would try with smaller kids or anyone who was not able, healthy and extremely sure-footed.
It is much further than it looks
Assuming you make it across all the rocks without needing airlifted to the closest hospital, there will be a very questionable ladder extending up a sheer rock wall to the top of the island. Its probably about 20 feet tall. Chris declined to scale the ladder since it appeared held together with a few random nails and ropes of indeterminate age. He did stand at the bottom and prepare to catch the kids and I in case the ladder gave out. He’s a nice guy like that. The top of the island is fairly large and covered with wild grasses and shrubs. Its maybe an acre? Oh man, I am so bad at judging distances and amounts. There are a few small trails leading around to the best view points.
This was fun and the kids love climbing on rocks, but if we had to do it again, I would probably choose to spend the time at a state park instead