In Towne Marina Lake Waconia Ice Report - 12/29/18 - Pay Access open for Snowmobiles, ATVs, Side by Sides and Single-Axle Wheel Houses

First things first we are allowing Snowmobiles, ATV’s, Side by Sides, and Single-Axle Wheel Houses to use our pay access again! Lake Waconia survived the rain/snow event late this week! Despite a few inches of snow and lots of rain, the lake is in good shape! Most of the water and slush that was left behind at storm’s end has now frozen to the existing ice. We were hoping the cold after the storm would completely heal the ice, but there are still some areas scattered all over that have some layered ice (usually under the white drifted areas). Since we had good ice pre-storm, the layered ice isn’t as dangerous as it sounds. As we mentioned in our last report on Wednesday, aside from springs or previous late-freezing spots (which are few and far between), the minimums we had found on the most popular locations like Waconia Bay, Center and Pillsbury Reef was 9 inches. Today we checked a couple of those locations and found 10.5 to 11 inches. As for conditions on the ice, there is minimal snow left, so with continued cold we should gain ice thickness more quickly! However, because we didn’t gain as much ice as we hoped so far, we have decided that we are not allowing car and truck traffic at this point in time. Check back here for continued updates. We’ll see you on the ice!