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Winter Activities Articles

Discover the Park – Activities

Christmas at Little Sand Bay – a poetic take on an Apostle Islands adventure

Christmas at Little Sand Bay – a poetic take on an Apostle Islands adventure

Dec 26, 2025 |

The holidays are a time for family, friends, faith and food. And for time outdoors if you love the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Friends of the Apostle Islands board member Neil Howk took some time on Christmas Day to explore early winter at Little Sand Bay. Click on the photo gallery to see the photos that go along with Neil's poetic description of his adventure.T’was about 10 o’clock on the morning of Christmas Day, I put my camera in the car and drove out to Little Sand Bay. I stopped briefly on Old County K to take in a lovely sight. I looked out across the...

Love our Lakeshore: because sometimes you can walk on water to the islands

Love our Lakeshore: because sometimes you can walk on water to the islands

Mar 6, 2025 | ,

During this challenging time of change for our nation and for our national parks, Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore wants to shine a bright light – a lighthouse beacon if you will – on this very special place and on the people dedicated to protecting the national lakeshore for future generations. That’s the goal of our series entitled “Love our Lakeshore.” (You can tell us why you Love Our Lakeshore by filling out our simple form at this link.) In this report, Neil Howk shares the intersection of a late winter adventure and the rich history of the Apostle Islands National...

Beauty from above: A winter hike on the Lakeshore trail

Beauty from above: A winter hike on the Lakeshore trail

Jan 17, 2024 | , ,

It has been a winter of extremes: the warmest December on record in many parts of the northland, historically low ice coverage on Lake Superior, and then the plummeting temperatures of mid-January. There were windless days on end with the lake barely rippled and then a storm bringing gusts up to 53 miles an hour at Devils Island churning the lake into waves of 12 to 15 feet.There is beauty in extremes, the kind of beauty that can turn a hike into a journey through a landscape of enchantment. Recently, our Executive Director Jeff Rennicke ventured into that enchanted landscape and sent back...

Thin ice: How historically low ice coverage affects Apostle Islands, Great Lakes

Thin ice: How historically low ice coverage affects Apostle Islands, Great Lakes

Jan 10, 2024 | , ,

It's open water - not ice - as far as the eye can see. Not only in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore but across all of the Great Lakes. As of New Year's Day, less than 1% of Lake Superior was ice-covered - a tiny percentage but still the largest percentage of any Great Lake. Combined, ice covered roughly one-third of one percent of the surface area of all of the lakes as of the first of the year; that's the lowest level in 50 years and the percentage is growing very slowly. As you can see on the map from the US National Ice Center, ice on Lake Superior is now mostly confined to the bays...

Cross Country Skiing to Oak Island

Cross Country Skiing to Oak Island

Mar 10, 2022 | , , ,

Thick ice and deep snow made for perfect conditions to explore a bit of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Three local cross country skiers with significant island experience skied from Frog Bay Tribal National Park to nearby Oak Island early this month.National Park Service MapThere, they found several sets of wolf tracks, confirmed by a wildlife biologist who said wolves have been sighted offshore of Red Cliff and the Apostle Islands this winter. Under clear blue skies, they also found some nice ice formations along the shoreline.Like the snow and ice beneath their feet, the wintery...

And the sky danced – northern lights put on a show in the Apostle Islands

And the sky danced – northern lights put on a show in the Apostle Islands

Mar 15, 2021 | , , , , , ,

CRACK! The lake ice is restless tonight, crackling out in the darkness like old bones, weakened by wind and warm spring days. But I am safely on solid ground along the mainland portion of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. It is nearing midnight. The stars overhead are as bright as sparks from a campfire. But it is not lake ice or campfires that have me out this late, alone and in the cold. It is what is happening just above the ice: here in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore the northern lights are out.    Northern lights over York Island with a meteor tail on the left - Jeff...

Apostle Islands ice caves remain closed

Apostle Islands ice caves remain closed

Feb 18, 2021 | , , , ,

BAYFIELD, WISCONSIN (National Park Service) – Public access to the mainland ice caves in Apostle Islands National Lakeshore remain closed due to unstable ice conditions. As recently as February 4, there was open water at the caves, and ice cover on Lake Superior was at record lows. In spite of the recent cold temperatures, most of Lake Superior remains open water and the ice that has formed near the caves is unstable, jagged, and rough, creating high risk conditions. “Ice at the caves is so unstable and jagged that it will not allow safe access by rescue teams using snowmobiles," said Chief...

A promise of spring in the sounds of chickadee

A promise of spring in the sounds of chickadee

Feb 18, 2021 | , , , , ,

Nothing. No tracks but my own stitched into the dusting of fresh snow that fell last night, white as birch bark. No flittering shadows in the trees, not a sliver of bird song in the air. Winter in the Lakeshore. What sun there is this time of year shines weakly, halfheartedly through the white gauze of clouds, offering not even the slightest pretense of warmth. For nearly a week temperatures in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore have barely risen above zero. The mercury seems painted to the bottom of the thermometer. A shiver runs through me as I stomp my feet for warmth and then listen...

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