How to Classify Madeline Island Lakeshore Property by Bank Height and Shoreline Features

I've never seen anyone blog about this before, but I believe prospective Madeline Island buyers would find it valuable to be able to classify and differentiate between waterfront lots based on factors like bank height and beach type.

The vast majority of our Madeline Island real estate buyers are looking for either Lake Superior frontage, lake access or a water view. Most folks want to see the lake, to be able to walk the beach and wiggle their toes in the sand.  They want an affinity to the water.  That's all part of the cache and the "sizzle" which goes along with buying island property.

Madeline Island's shoreline offers such a wide variety of beach shoreline types, as well as tremendous variations in bank height.  Motor around the Island's circumference in a boat and you'll notice also that vegetation types can vary greatly, as a result of "micro-climates" influenced by prevailing winds, bank and shoreline characteristics, variations in soil types and so forth.

Here are some general classifications and characteristics of Madeline Island shoreline zones:

Low Bank (usually with sand beach frontage)

Shoreline with a low bank height (by that I mean shoreline lots where the elevation of the dwelling site is less than ten or fifteen feet above the lake level) is found in a few places on Madeline Island, including the area along Main Street in downtown La Pointe. For example, our office (located next to the Beach Club at 809 Main Street) has virtually zero bank and a stretch of sand beach which extends from the Beach Club dock to the east.  There is also some low bank adjacent to Big Bay Town Park (mostly to the north) and a fine example of low bank with sand beach in the Amnicon Beach area, as well as the end of Chippewa Trail.  Nebraska Row has some frontage which could also be described as low bank.

Low to Medium Bank

Shoreline that is between ten and twenty-five feet above the lake elevation would fall into this category.  Some of this frontage has sand beach, but it can often be more like pebble beach or may even be rocky.  Shoreline of this type is found on the west and southwest side of Madeline Island, from the Griggs ice road approach and continuing along Sunset Bay.  There is also low to medium bank shoreline in many areas to the north of Big Bay which runs all the way up to the tip of Amnicon Point. Another zone of low to medium bank is found between Capser Road and Islewood Road on the southeast part of Madeline Island.

Medium to High Bank 

I'd classify this type of shoreline as being 25 to 40 feet above lake level.  Medium to high bank lots are prevalent along South Shore Road, from the Raymond Road area north to Chebomnicon Bay.  There is medium bank in spots along Big Bay Road to the north of the Town Park and also in a few places along Hagen Road (on the way to Big Bay State Park), as well as on the north side of the Island.

High Bank (rocky or pebbly frontage, sometimes with either clay or brownstone cliffs)

High bank lots are fairly common along North Shore Road, but may also be found along South Shore Road south of Chebomnicon Bay.  These lots typically have steep clay banks and pebble beach in spots.  High bank is also found on the northeastern tip of Madeline Island at Steamboat Point and in the Devil's Cauldron area, as well as North Shore Road from Hidden Beach south much of the way towards Sunset Bay.  In particular, the high bank lots near Steamboat Point and to the north of Hidden Beach are typically brownstone boulders and cliffs, with no sand beach.  Some high bank lots on the Island may have building sites which are 40 to 50 feet above the lake level.  In some places around the Island, an expensive shoreline staircase or a shoreline "tram" powered by electricity or propane may be necessary in order to access the lake.  The brownstone frontage lots are generally not suitable for a crib dock or shoreline access, with very few exceptions.