Craig Berg, 70, was found injured and hypothermic before a Coast Guard helicopter carried him from the remote Lake Superior island.
HOUGHTON, Mich. — A 70-year-old hiker who had been missing for a week in the rugged wilderness of Isle Royale National Park was found alive Saturday and hoisted to safety by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, authorities said.
Craig Berg of Royal Oak had been expected to leave the remote Lake Superior island aboard a ferry Sept. 5 but did not return as planned. His family reported him missing the following day, setting off a search that eventually brought together National Park Service personnel, Michigan State Police, the Coast Guard and other agencies from across the region.
Authorities said Berg was injured and suffering from hypothermia when he was located Sept. 12. The Coast Guard said Michigan State Police troopers and K-9 units found him with help from backpackers. The National Park Service separately said backpackers located Berg. Officials agreed that he was alive and alert when rescuers reached him after days of searching the island.
An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City hoisted Berg from Isle Royale and flew him to Marquette Regional Airport in Gwinn. Emergency medical personnel waiting at the airport then transported him to a hospital for further care. The Coast Guard has not released a detailed medical assessment or described the full extent of his injuries.
Berg’s son, Evan Berg, told Upper Michigan television station WLUC that his father was able to speak after being found. “He was in rough shape, but he’s okay,” Evan Berg said. He said his father asked for food and water and expressed gratitude to the agencies and members of the public who helped with the search.
WNMU-FM later reported that Evan Berg said his father had become lost during the hike and lost his phone and wallet in a marsh. The younger Berg said his father had spent days trying to find other people before he encountered the backpackers who helped bring the search to an end. That account came from Berg’s family; authorities have said additional details about how he became lost remain under review.
The search had intensified late in the week. On Sept. 11, a Coast Guard 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Station Portage and an Air Station Traverse City helicopter transported Michigan State Police troopers, K-9 teams and equipment to Isle Royale. Other agencies participating included the National Park Service, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office, Wisconsin State Patrol, Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Isle Royale Seaplanes and No One Left Behind K9 Search and Rescue.
Michigan State Police Lt. Ben Eckola said officials were thankful Berg had been found “alive and alert” and credited the combined work of public agencies, search teams and hikers on the island. Senior Chief Petty Officer Wendy Janson of the Coast Guard’s Sector Northern Great Lakes command center also said the rescue demonstrated what coordinated efforts between first responders and members of the public could accomplish.
Berg had been hiking alone on Isle Royale, an isolated national park in northwestern Lake Superior. Family members said during the search that he had planned a multi-day trek along the Greenstone Ridge Trail. The island is about 45 miles long and 9 miles wide, and much of its interior is reached only by trail. The park has no network of public roads across its wilderness, making searches heavily dependent on teams traveling by foot, boat and aircraft.
Before Berg was found, his family told reporters he had failed to catch his scheduled ferry back to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. National Park Service personnel had been searching for him after the missing-person report, while information from other hikers helped authorities narrow their efforts. State and federal resources were later added as the search expanded.
The successful rescue ended a week of uncertainty for Berg’s family. WNMU reported Sunday that his son had picked him up and brought him home after his hospital treatment. Authorities have not publicly released a complete account of where Berg spent the days he was missing or the precise circumstances that led him away from his planned route.
The Coast Guard said further details about Berg’s condition and disappearance were still unknown after the rescue. The National Park Service likewise said information about what happened would take time to investigate and release.
Author note: Last updated September 14, 2026.