Red Cliff sits at the top of the Bayfield Peninsula, where Highway 13 bends west along Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands start to line up offshore. The things to do in Red Cliff sit within a few miles of Buffalo Bay: a forest trail to a sand beach, kayak trips under red sandstone, a distillery, a fish market on the dock and the Band's own history told on a wall at the casino. This is the home of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and almost everything a visitor touches here is run by the Band or by Band members.
You come here for a quieter half of the peninsula. Bayfield, 3.3 miles south, has the ferry, the cruise boats and the restaurants. Red Cliff has the shoreline, the campgrounds and a slower pace, and the two pair well in a single trip.
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Where Red Cliff is and how to plan a day here
Red Cliff is the community and tribal headquarters on Highway 13, about three miles north of the city of Bayfield, at the northern tip of Bayfield County. In Ojibwe the place is Gaa-Miskwaabikaang, the name the Band uses for its pow wow grounds and in its own announcements.
Plan on a car. Everything below is spread along one road and a couple of gravel side roads. The casino, campground, distillery, fish market and kayak outfitter all sit within half a mile of each other, so a typical day is a morning on the water or the Frog Bay trail, lunch from the fish market or the casino grill, and an afternoon flight at Copper Crow. Cell coverage drops in and out on the north end of the peninsula, so download maps before you leave Bayfield.
Walk the Frog Bay trails to a Lake Superior beach
The Band reacquired this land and opened it to the public; the forest around it, the Frog Creek Conservation Management Area, is open only to tribal members, so stay on the marked trails and turn back at boundary signs. The park is open from sunrise to sunset, with parking and a toilet at the trailhead and nothing past that, so carry water and pack out what you bring in.
The trails range from a flat old road to a hilly loop through the ravine, and Frog Bay Tribal National Park’s three trails are worth choosing between before you go, because the beach boardwalk can be deep in mud after rain.
Paddle the red sandstone shoreline
The red cliffs that gave this place its name are low sandstone ledges and small caves along the water, best seen from a boat. Makwa Den is Native-owned and works by appointment, so book ahead rather than walking up. Expect weather calls: Lake Superior turns quickly, and a cancelled paddle on a windy morning is the outfitter doing its job.
If you have heard about the ice caves or the big mainland sea caves, those are at Meyers Beach, west along Highway 13 near Cornucopia, and not in Red Cliff itself.
Taste spirits made on the reservation
The vodka and gin are distilled from whey, the leftover from Wisconsin cheesemaking, and the apple brandy uses fruit from the orchards around Bayfield. The tasting room pours flights and a seasonal cocktail list; ask for the Apple Brandy Old Fashioned if it is on. Hours are short and shift with the season, with the room open Thursday through Sunday this fall, so check before you drive over.
Buy fish from the Band's own boats
Smoked whitefish is the thing to buy, for a picnic at Frog Bay or a cooler on the drive home. Fishing these waters goes back generations in Red Cliff families, and the market is where that work meets visitors. The Band also runs a fish hatchery focused on trout and walleye, which offers public tours, and the Mino Bimaadiziiwin Farm, whose name means return to the good life, which keeps a seasonal farm stand open to visitors.
See the history wall at Legendary Waters
It is also the front desk for the Band's campgrounds and marina, the place to check in at Buffalo Bay or pay for a site at Point Detour, and the venue for the Winter Pow Wow each January.
Launch a boat or swim at Buffalo Bay
Buffalo Bay is the working waterfront of Red Cliff, with a marina, boat launch and slips beside the casino and a small swimming beach. Kayaks and canoes launch straight off the beach, which makes it the easy start for a paddle along the shore if you bring your own boat.
The water is Lake Superior, cold even in August, so a swim here is usually a quick one. Fishing and gathering on Band land fall under the Band's Treaty Natural Resources Division, which issues permits and has its own conservation wardens, so check its rules before you cast from shore.
Drive the scenic byway north
The Wisconsin Lake Superior Scenic Byway follows Highway 13 right past Legendary Waters and on around the tip of the peninsula. North of Red Cliff the road runs through forest with glimpses of the islands, past the turn for Frog Bay and on toward the Band's Point Detour campground and, just past it, the Town of Russell's Little Sand Bay.
It is a good drive for fall color, which usually peaks around the second week of October on the peninsula. Take it slowly; the side roads are gravel in places and the shoulders are narrow.
Where to eat and get coffee
In Red Cliff itself, sit-down food means the grill at Legendary Waters or something smoked from the fish market. For a proper restaurant meal, people drive the 3.3 miles south into Bayfield, where Pier Plaza Restaurant serves fish fry and cheese curds by the water.
Bayfield also has the Landmark Restaurant at Old Rittenhouse Inn for a dressed-up dinner. Coffee drinkers who miss Ike's can head to Wonderstate Coffee on Rittenhouse Avenue, open year-round.
Where to stay in Red Cliff
Rooms at Legendary Waters cover the indoor option. For quiet, the rustic, no-reservation sites at Point Detour Campground sit on an overlook 8.2 miles north of the casino, and choosing between Buffalo Bay and Point Detour comes down to hookups versus solitude.
If you would rather sleep in town, Bayfield has inns such as Greunke’s First Street Inn, 3.3 miles south.
Come for the pow wow or Cultural Days
The Red Cliff Pow Wow runs the first weekend of July on the grounds at Highway 13 and Aiken Road, and it is open to the public. There is an admission fee, a Grand Entry each day, food and craft vendors, and a feast on the Saturday.
Red Cliff Cultural Days follow in September. Both are community celebrations before they are visitor events, so read up on pow wow etiquette and what is open to visitors on the reservation before you go, and check the Events tab for this year's schedule.
Red Cliff in winter
Winter here means deep lake-effect snow, snowshoe tracks on the Frog Bay trails and the Winter Pow Wow at Legendary Waters in January. The campgrounds close, the kayak trips stop, and the distillery and fish market keep shorter hours.
The cold is real, with January mornings near zero, so look at Red Cliff’s weather by season before planning a trip between December and March.
Frequently asked questions
Published September 7, 2026
