Ice Volcanoes

While they're not really volcanoes, these ice mounds are formed by similar physics, but instead of heat and pressure, these are formed by crashing waves and freezing temperatures. As Lake Michigan freezes and high winds churn up the water, the waves crash into shore. Slowly the ice begins to build up on the shoreline and as it builds, more an more floating ice is piled on top until a mound is created. Then the process begins again at the foot of the mound, and after time goes by, the mounds begin to form further into the lake. Some of these mounds form in a more of a circular way, where the water and ice chunks are tossed up in the center of an area, and the chunks begin to form a cone as the ice is deposited around a central point.

   

Ice mounds and cones line the beaches for miles, and can often extend hundreds or even thousands of feet into the lake. As the winds calm, ice forms on the outer edge of the cones, then, when the waves kick up again, mounds can form on the outer edges of this ice, extending the ice shelf further and further off shore. This is one of the main reasons these mounds are dangerous to walk on, the holes in the cones can be hidden by drifted snow or thin ice. Also, the ice between the mounds can be very thin as well.

Shelf Ice Stretching Along the Shore

It's that time of the winter again, when the surface of Lake Michigan is covered in ice, and the ridges of shelf ice form parallel to the shore. These ice formations are created by cold weather and waves pushing up the water and ice chunks onto the layers of ice on the beach. After a bit of time, the ice builds up into mounds that can reach a height of 15 feet, and stretch for hundreds - or thousands of feet into the lake.

The history of the winter's weather can be told by viewing the ice on the lake. The tall mounds form when the weather is windy, while the flat areas form when there is no wind or when there is a gentle breeze that pushes the floe ice toward the shore. The ice is then frozen in place until the next wind event when mounds once again form at the outer edge of the ice. This creates the familiar hills and valleys often seen on the lake in winter. The lakefront changes as often as the weather in all seasons, but it's especially noticeable in winter when the ice can build, crack, fall, or float, changing the appearance considerably.

In addition to the changes in the ice, the beach changes as well. Wind mixes the sand and snow creating beautiful drifts and layered patterns on the dunes and on the beach. These features change even more quickly than the ice, and these alone are worth a trip to the lake front.

In the image above, the snow and sand mix in the foreground, while the ice on the lake extends almost as far as one can see. If you look closely at the horizon on the right side of the image, you can see the Chicago skyline some 35 miles across Lake Michigan. It's a common thing to see, but not a guarantee on every visit.

Morning at West Beach

Finally, the sun came out after a couple of weeks of very cold weather, warming things up to 18°F which feels very comfortable with no wind and strong sun. Arriving at West Beach, the western-most property of the Indiana Dunes National Park, the clouds parted and the sun bathed the foredune. The foredune is the first dune from a body of water, so in this case, the first dune from Lake Michigan. These dunes hold a bit of heat, at least a bit longer than the surrounding land, so the sand is often free of snow, and once the sun comes out it quickly melts off even more. 

The low, morning sun washes the sand with warm light, in great contrast to the dunes closer to me, which were still in the shadow of taller dunes. The almost always overdone theme of "fire and ice" still captures my attention, and here the warm sand and sun against the cool snow and shade make a good example of this theme.

 

Heading closer to the beach, other dunes come into view before the walk to the top of the dunes which consists of 474 stairs - up most, but down quite a few at the end. This type of winter hike brings to mind another "fire and ice" theme - the one where your body is hot like fire and sweating, while your face is ice cold. A backpack full of gear doesn't help either! 

Once you finish the more strenuous portions of the hike, you begin to cool down and now that your body is wet, you begin to freeze. This is why I never bundle up unless the wind it blowing 30 or 40 mph and the temperature is below 0°F. I'm not pretending to be warm, I'm trying to stop from heating up too early - warm early on means cold later on, so cool early, warm later on.

Arriving at the Outer Lighthouse

After the decision was made that it was safe to pass the inner lighthouse on the pier - it can be narrow, slippery, and dangerous to do so at times - we were greeted by the view of the outer lighthouse, covered in ice from the recent winter storms. 

The waves churn up Lake Michigan, and they pound the breakwater and pier, sending water and ice chunks onto the pier and lighthouse, where it quickly freezes in -8°F weather.

 

Most every item on the pier is coated in thick ice; depending upon how high the waves were, and how far the winds carried the spray, the entire lighthouse was covered from top to bottom. The ice chunks thrown onto the pier actually help visitors walk in relative safety, they provide a deeply textured surface where sliding is almost impossible. The crevices accept shoes and boots perfectly, keeping them from slipping, and keeping the visitors from sliding into the freezing water. It may be a bit difficult to keep your balance with the uneven surfaces, but it's much safer to walk slower anyway.

The Frozen Sisters

Seen from beach level, the St. Joseph, Michigan range lights appear completely covered and surrounded by ice, but seeking a higher vantage point shows the lake is just beginning to ice around the pier. Winds pushed the thin sheets of ice toward the pier, as lake currents pushed submerged ice perpendicular to the surface ice, all making an eerie scratching sound as we explored the frozen sentinels. 

By now, with temperatures dipping to 0°F at night, and rarely rising above 12°F, the pier and lighthouses are probably surrounded by now, and with the forecast calling for more and more cold weather, it appears they'll be frozen for a long time to come.

 

Investigating some of the details of the ice covered lighthouses is always worth some extra time. The ice changes almost hourly as the spray from Lake Michigan freezes to the structures, but once the winds stop or the lake is covered with ice, the waves no longer spray water up onto the pier and the ice building stops. It's interesting how the back side and under sides of parts of the lighthouse don't always get covered in ice, it all depends on how the wind and waves acted while the lake was still liquid.

The Trek to the Frozen Lighthouses

I'm often asked about the dangers of visiting the Lake Michigan lighthouses in winter. Yes, at times conditions can be extremely dangerous, but at other times, they're only mildly dangerous. I say mildly dangerous because any time someone walks out onto the frozen piers on Lake Michigan, bad things can happen, and in winter, the likelihood of events happening is tenfold, even with good hiking conditions. One misstep can lead to an accident where a person can fall and hit their head, or fall into the freezing water. Falling into the water isn't as trivial as you would think. If there is a layer of ice on the water, body weight will likely break through; if there is floe ice or pancake ice floating, a person will likely fall into the water, and these ice chunks will simply float back covering any way of escape. The lake also has currents, especially by the rivers (where lighthouses are often built), you will simply drift under the ice or away from where you fell. There is really no place to climb back out, the ladders along the pier are completely hidden under ice often several feet thick, swimming to the beach is impossible with the 15 foot tall mounds of shelf ice blocking the way. The freezing water will quickly zap the energy from someone's body, but if you do manage to miraculously get to shore, in such cold weather, your clothing will actually freeze, making it difficult to impossible to move after just a few moments.

This isn't to say those of us who do venture out to the frozen lighthouses are super special, but we do know how to read the conditions correctly to decrease the chances of an unfortunate event occurring.

 


I would estimate the width of the breakwaters to be around 25 feet, so actually pretty wide. If the surface is covered in smooth, clear ice, I'm not taking the chance of going out - even with long, metal ice cleats on my boots. The path narrows next to the lighthouse, and one mistake could mean a fall into the lake. I have in the past, walked on the pier in these conditions, and have captured some interesting images, so with age and experience, I won't do it again - don't need to.

Conditions like the ones seen in the images from yesterday, are almost perfect. The waves of Lake Michigan churned up large chunks of ice and froze them into mounds on the pier, and often the way they form, they are taller on the edges, so they kind of keep people from just dropping off. The smaller mounds give your feet a place to settle in and not slide, so while things can be bumpy, they actually help your feet get traction and keep you from sliding.

 

As John and I arrived yesterday, I stated I wouldn't bother going out to the end of the pier. But as I looked closely - not at the other visitor, but at the conditions - I decided it was actually one of the better days for surface conditions, and there was a very small chance of any danger providing everyone took necessary precautions. Precautions such as not walking close to the edge, not climbing any piles near the edge, and always looking first before moving after taking a photo. Photographing in these areas and others with a fall potential has drilled into my mind to remove the camera from my eye, stop, look down and around before moving an inch. One can get so involved in what they're photographing that they can simply take the photo and begin moving, completely forgetting that they are inches from a drop-off or hazardous area.

If you do decide to explore the winter shore, just use caution and common sense, along with some tips from people who have been heading out there for decades.

The Deep Freeze of 2026

It didn't take too long for a deep freeze to take hold in 2026, even if this was a couple of weeks behind the freezes of years past. Often the lighthouses of southern Lake Michigan would freeze up in December, but this year, things waited until bitter cold hit the area. Temperatures of -8° Fahrenheit (-22° Celsius) descended on the Great Lakes region on January 23, following several days of below freezing and windy weather. This weather system kicked up the Lake Michigan water into a spray of water that landed on anything along the shore, and almost instantly froze. This happens most every year, but depending upon the temperature, winds, and duration, some years are "better" than others. 2026 ranks up there among the better years, with plenty of thick, intricate ice formations.

For the past couple of decades, I've visited the Lake Michigan shore in all seasons, but especially in the winter, when the ice transforms the shoreline into a wonderland of interesting ice patterns. During the first few years, I was often alone on the shore, photographing the lighthouses, shelf ice, and dunes, and most times did not see a single person for miles. Then, a few years later when social media began taking hold, people began to flock to the shore to see these formations in person. It's about time people visited the beaches and dunes in winter - things here are awesome!

 
The outer lighthouse of the St. Joseph Michigan range lights is one of the most spectacular in winter. The absence of rip-rap rocks at the end of the pier, allows waves to crash into the pier, and the spray to land on the lighthouse, creating these ice-covered spectacles almost each winter. While a wonder to behold, they can be dangerous to explore, and one should take extreme caution when doing so - especially if they've never visited the area before ice was formed. One step in the wrong place can spell disaster, and an almost certain recovery by the Coast Guard.

To visit the outer light, one must pass by the inner lighthouse. Looking a lot like the lighthouse 40 miles to the west in Michigan City, Indiana, this lighthouse doesn't receive the same amount of ice buildup as it's outer lighthouse sister, but still is a wonder to view. Passing by this lighthouse can be dangerous in certain weather, specifically if the path is covered in smooth ice. The walkway between the side of the lighthouse and the drop into the lake is between 2 and 3 feet wide, with nothing to hold onto. A fall into the 33° F water can end things quickly, with almost no way to climb up the ice covered sides of the pier. On this day, the ice chunks thrown up onto the path allowed visitors to walk by in relative safety, with little danger of falling into the water.

The next few days of sub-zero weather can only make the lakeshore more and more interesting, and I plan on visiting many more times before the next thaw.