Another Record-Breaking Weekend At Apostle Islands Ice Caves

14,000 people visited the Apostle Islands ice caves Saturday, besting the previous one-day record of 11,000.

In nearby Red Cliff, Legendary Resort and Casino manager Kevin Lien compared the weekend to what’s usually the busiest weekend of the year.

“We got a big rush,” said Lien. “The hotel is usually booked. Last weekend was as busy as the Applefest weekend is.”

The Bayfield Apple Festival draws 50,000 people over a three-day weekend.

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Resources Manager Julie Van Stappen said last weekend’s 20,000 visitors came from all over the world. “I’ve never heard as many foreign voices in the park,” she said. “I actually was on the ice this weekend and talked to a number of folks. A lot of them are from Wisconsin or local. Quite a few from the Twin Cities. I talked to one couple who had come from southern California just for this.”

She said that put them over 100,000 to about 120,000 visitors in less than two months.

The warming weather means that visitors must take more care when visiting the ice caves. “There have been ice formations that have fallen down and columns that have broken up, so there’ll be increasing amounts of that,” Van Stappen said. “We want to make sure that people really are conscious of not standing directly under some of the big ice formations.”

Van Stappen says satellite shots show Lake Superior with increasing amounts of blue but ice in and around the sea caves remains thick. Night temperatures will continue to be below freezing this week.