Madeline Island is an island in Wisconsin. It is one of the most northernmost settlements in the state, located in Lake Superior, about two miles away from the town of Bayfield, on the mainland. Madeline Island is the largest of the Apostle Islands, a collection of over a dozen islands. It is the only island in the archipelago to not be a part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, and is the only one that is inhabited. Access to the island is by a ferry that runs from Bayfield, or by air travel to the island's general aviation airport. Because of the icy winter climate, the ferry to the island can only run part of the year. The island has basic amenities, including a post office, a library, a grocery store, and an elementary school. The economy of Madeline Island is heavily based on tourism, with the year-round population of around 300 multiplying into the thousands during the summer.
Despite Madeline's small size and marginal location, it still is apparently the only permanently inhabited island in Lake Superior (depending on how the settlements on Isle Royale are considered), one of only a two or three islands without road access in Wisconsin, and one of the few inhabited islands without road access in the Great Lakes.