Are Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands Ice Caves Really Closed For The Season Already?

UPDATE 10:00 am 2/18/26: Powerful winds destroyed the ice at the Apostle Islands Ice Caves, essentially ensuring they will not reopen this season, as it is very unlikely we'll see the conditions necessary to reform ice. Y

You can see a timeline of photos showing the ice from when visitors were on it Monday through Wednesday morning, when it was pulverized in this story about that.

Original story 2/17/26:

After announcing over the weekend that they'd open on Monday, the Apostle Islands Ice Caves on Wisconsin's Lake Superior shoreline welcomed huge crowds through their first day open in over 10 years.

The ice in this area on Lake Superior rarely gets strong and stable enough to allow crowds to make the journey out to the spectacular ice caves along the shoreline, which makes it a rare treat when the National Park Service determines it is safe enough to open the caves to the public.

A busy day at the Ice Caves on Monday

The news that the Apostle Islands Ice Caves would be open to the public got the attention of people from around the region, with huge crowds overwhelming the designated parking areas and county-operated shuttles for visitors.

The timing of the ice caves being opened to the public is always tied to cooperative weather, namely a stretch of cold to freeze ice in place, then a lack of wind to avoid breaking that ice up against the shoreline or blowing it away.

Monday's opening day was beautiful, with a little fog early, but warm and calm conditions to make it a pleasant visit, but that was sadly short-lived. This was something that was hidden in plain sight on the NPS's website.

A change in the weather, and permanent closure for the season?

On the Apostle Islands' official NPS website, there was a note on Monday morning about a gale watch for Tuesday and Wednesday along the coastline in the area. This gale watch warned of gusty winds set to whip up during the day on Tuesday and persist during the midweek winter storm.

As soon as I saw this, my immediate reaction was that the ice caves would be a one-day affair this year. While not official, that is shaping up to be the case so far.

READ MORE: Effort Underway To Make Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Into A National Park

At the end of the day on Monday, NPS officials made the determination not to open access to the public on Tuesday due to concerns about the wind kicking up during the day on Tuesday, making for unsafe conditions on the ice, which is open to Lake Superior, not shielded by anything.

Park officials officially closed access for Tuesday (February 17), saying the caves may remain closed "for several days while rangers evaluate ice conditions after the storm."

Gale-force winds are expected until at least 10 pm on Wednesday, with less-severe, but still breezy conditions persisting on Thursday and Friday.

The concern is that these strong and persistent winds (and the associated waves) could break up or destabilize the ice, making the ice caves no longer accessible.

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While we won't know for sure until the weather system moves through, park officials are maintaining at least a limited level of optimism by saying they will reassess after the storm, also saying they will honor any paid ice cave access fees "at a future date".

The forecast doesn't look very promising for that "future date" to be after the storm is over, but odds are very high that this week's winter storm will make this year's Apostle Islands Ice Caves season a one-day affair.