The Apostle Island ice caves are closed, but you can still explore frozen Lake Superior formations
Feb 20, 2022 05:38AM ● By EditorWatch the KARE 11 News report here
By Jennifer Austin from KARE 11 News - February 18, 2022
While hiking on frozen Lake Superior with tour guide Jon Michels, it is hard to miss the striking silence.
"The idea of having silence in nature is really important. I think it's pretty healing," said Michels, who owns Wolftrack Guides. Michels brings small groups of up to eight people out to see ice formations along the south shore of the lake in northwest Wisconsin.
It's a noticeable contrast from the thousands of visitors who walked on the frozen lake to see the ice caves at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in 2014 and 2015. On the busiest days back in 2015, 10,000 people visited. But those caves haven't opened since then due to unsafe ice conditions.
"Ice formations are forming all winter long on the islands [and] along the mainland," Michels said. "The question is, can you get to them?"
For the past seven years, the answer to that question pertaining to the Apostle Islands ice caves has been "no."
Wolftrack Guides' Jon Michels. Photo: KARE 11
But the caves Michels explores are along a different area of the shore, near the Red Cliff reservation. The nearby Apostle Islands work as a buffer between the shore and the open lake, often breaking big waves before they can reach the shore and shatter the forming ice. This allows these caves to be accessible while the more well-known caves along the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore are not.
"It's just a matter of the conditions coming together for good, safe ice to form. It's never the same from year-to-year. It's always different," Michels said.
Michels doesn't share the exact location of the caves publicly, both because he makes his winter income off bringing visitors to the locations he scouts, and because walking on the ice without an experienced guide can be dangerous. Michels also is aware of reservation boundaries, while many visitors may not be.
The ice caves form when waves off the lake hit the cave walls and freeze. Groundwater seeping through the sandstone cliff creates chandelier-like icicles.
Tour lengths can vary, but Michels says plan for two to three hours. More information on Michels' tours can be found here.
Other ways to see the caves, as recommend by the Bayfield Chamber and Visitor Bureau:
1. Hike the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Trail at Meyers Beach, which extends from the Meyers Beach parking area off Highway 13, above the mainland ice caves.
2. In Washburn, WI, walk on the ice when conditions permit from Memorial Park on the east end of the town. There are some formations along the lakeshore between Memorial Park and Houghton Falls State Natural Area. This is at your own risk, as ice is never 100% safe.
Check out this guide of other winter activities from the Bayfield Chamber and Visitor Bureau.
To watch the original report and see related stories, follow this link to the KARE 11 News website. https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/kare11-sunrise/ice-caves-red-cliff-wisconsin-apostle-islan...
