| Pushpin Map: | Wisconsin#USA |
| Gravel Island | |
| Location: | Door County, Wisconsin |
| Coordinates: | 45.2536°N -86.9629°W |
| Area Acre: | 4 |
| Elevation Ft: | 581 |
| Country: | United States |
| Country Admin Divisions Title: | State |
| Country Admin Divisions: | Wisconsin |
| Country1 Admin Divisions Title: | County |
| Country1 Admin Divisions: | Door County |
| Country2 Admin Divisions Title: | Town |
| Country2 Admin Divisions: | Liberty Grove |
Gravel Island is an island in Lake Michigan. It is located in Ellison Bay, in the town of Liberty Grove, Wisconsin.[1] [2] The Gravel Island National Wildlife Refuge is made up of Gravel Island, and nearby Spider Island. The island is uninhabited,[3] and a botanist who visited in 1999 was unable to find any vascular plants on the island.[4]
In 2022, a large number of dead Caspian terns were found on Gravel Island, which were part of a larger die-off on Lake Michigan islands due to avian influenza.[5]
A Native American name for the island is Mah-ko-me-ne-shine-me-nis or "Bear Island". A legend published in the early 1900s relates an incident four hundred years prior where a spirit bear was seen crossing the lake from the east shore. The Potawatomi beckoned him ashore. Since then they call the island Old Bear Cub island.[6]