[8] During the spring, summer, and fall, the island is inhabited or regularly visited by the owners of camps located on a small number of private inholdings, commercial fishers,[8] and clients of a commercial outpost camp.

In the winter, due mainly to reasons of remoteness and difficulty of access, the island is usually uninhabited.

Michipicoten Island has plentiful wildlife (notably beaver, woodland caribou, and birds).

[10] The island is made up of ancient lava bedrock related to volcanism of the Midcontinent Rift System[3] and is heavily forested, with over 20 inland lakes.

[14] Mishipeshu, a powerful creature in the traditional beliefs of some Native American tribes―particularly Anishinaabe tribes, the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi, of the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States―is traditionally said to make his home on Michipicoten Island.

[15][16] Michipicoten Island played host to an indigenous caribou population until the herd's extirpation, as a result of overhunting, in the mid-1800s.

The 2017/2018 wolf population count is anticipated to reveal approximately 20 wolves present on the island.

[21][needs update] The caribou population of Michipicoten Island is scientifically significant because it manifests an opportunity to apply A. T. Bergerud's proposed test to assess the viability of the range hypothesis versus the predation hypothesis[22][17] for providing a credible explanation for caribou population decline.

Should these population trends emerge, it would indicate conclusively that wolf predation, and not a lack of lichen as forwarded by the range hypothesis, was a key factor in the decline of caribou throughout North America.