LAKE GENEVA — With the weather getting colder, it’s the perfect time for a memorable outdoor activity. For the third year, the picturesque Ice Castles will open to the public starting at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan 22 at Geneva National.

Spectators who explore the Ice Castles this year can expect an interactive experience that features ice-carved tunnels, fountains, slides, frozen thrones, and towers of ice embedded with color-changing LED lights.

The Ice Castles are built entirely by hand using hundreds of thousands of icicles hand-placed by professional ice artists.

The daily process consists of growing 5,000 to 12,000 icicles that are harvested by hand and individually sculpted into existing ice formations. Newly placed icicles are then drenched with water.

The blend of icicle placement, temperatures, water volume and wind result in an astonishing and ever-changing variety of ice formations.

This season, Ice Castles partner Destination Geneva National will also have a sledding hill, ice skating, a lantern-lit snowshoeing trail, igloo dining, and an Ice Princess Brunch in addition to overnight lodging just steps from Ice Castles.

Visitors to the icy attraction can also expect COVID-19 safety precautions this year, including mandatory masks, limited capacity, increased sanitation of high touch surfaces, and one-way markings on tunnels and crawl spaces.

Tickets are on sale now and can be found here.