Despite the mild mid-week temps, we have gained about an inch of ice since our last report on 1/18/21 thanks to some colder overnight temps. With another cold night tonight, we expect a little more growth. Because things are improving, we will be opening our access tomorrow (Friday, 1/22/21) to cars and trucks (up to 1-ton in size) and tandem wheel houses for use to Waconia Bay. Those not wanting to drive out can park on the ice, but if you do please spread out. As always drive at your own risk. Access rates are $5 per vehicle on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and $3 per vehicle on Monday thru Thursday. If you plan to park and walk, it is $2 per person every day. A winter season pass is $35.
Current conditions in the bay are between 13 to 18 inches. We are not recommending going further than Waconia Bay with cars or trucks at this time due to lesser ice still existing past the bay heading north towards Center Reef or behind the island. East of the marina on the “hump” and out to Cemetery Reef and beyond is also less and not advisable for driving. Most of those lesser ice areas still have between 8.5 to 11 inches of ice. Wagener’s Bay has similar ice to Waconia Bay, but if you’re driving in that bay, we still advise to not drive out of the bay itself as the ice around parts of Pillsbury Reef and east towards Center Reef is still not thick enough in our opinion.
We feel very good about side-by-side, ATV and snowmobile use all over the lake (aside from the active springs we marked and reported earlier today).
As always, ice is NEVER safe. We report what we find, but also cannot cover every area on the lake, so we advise those of you looking to go to areas less-traveled to check ahead of yourself.
With predicted measurable snow on Saturday afternoon, if a road needs to be plowed, we will only be plowing (when the snow/wind is done) to Waconia Bay at this time due to ice thickness beyond.
We’ll see you on the ice!
