It rises to 65 meters above Lake Michigan, making it the highest in elevation out of all the Potawatomi Islands.

[2] It is almost entirely owned by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which maintains Rock Island State Park.

European explorers and missionaries used it as one of several stops along the Grand Traverse route between the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin.

The first settlers of European descent on the island included John A. Boone, James McNeil, George Lovejoy, David E. Corbin, Jack Arnold, and Louis Lebue.

His large boathouse, which is decorated with characters from the Norse Runic alphabet, is open to the public.

Today the only other landholder on the island is the US Coast Guard, which maintains an automated navigation light near the old lighthouse.

The Pottawatomie Lighthouse was one of several the government had constructed at the time, and the woodworking around the door frames and windows are from these plans.

The lighthouse has been restored to its 1910 condition by the Friends of Rock Island State Park including obtaining a replica of the Fresnel lens used in the original light.

Rock Island has flowers such as Trillium, Jack in the pulpit, and lady's slipper in abundance, as well as other plants, such as cow parsnip, Indian paintbrush, and poison ivy.