Cool Photos of Ice Castles Starting to Take Shape in Lake George

One benefit to the cold weather - the Ice Castles are starting to take shape in Upstate New York.

Work has started on the magical Ice Castles in Lake George. The water lines have been laid. The bases have been set up. And the freezing is underway.

Opens in Mid-January

The coolest winter walk-through is expected to be ready in the Festival Commons by mid-January if Mother Nature cooperates.

How Far Castles Have Come

Ice Castles actually started in Brent Christensen's front yard. He built his first one for his kids, but it ended up bringing out all the children in their town.

Ice Castles Today

Today, Ice Castles has turned into an internationally renowned tourist attraction with locations across the country, including Upstate New York where it opened for the first time last winter.

25 Million Pounds of Ice

It'll take several weeks and 25 million pounds of ice to build the hundreds of thousands of icicles that will turn Festival Commons from an open field into a winter wonderland of LED-lit sculptures, frozen thrones, ice-carved tunnels, caverns, slides, fountains, and a new ice bar this year.

Bigger Castles

Ice Castles will be going bigger in 2023 too. Warren County Tourism director Al Snow said more water will be pulled for Lake George to create larger castles that will be less likely to melt if there's a stretch of warm winter weather.

Ice Castles Come to Life

By day, the frozen fortress glimmers a natural glacial blue. By night, the color-changing lights embedded inside the ice twinkle and dance to whimsical music.

Crawl Tunnels

Visitors can squeeze through passageways large enough for children and adults adventurous enough to crawl.

Ice Maze

Get lost in a maze of ice tunnels.

Ice Caverns

Icy caverns are big enough to walk beneath archways of massive icicles dangling overhead like a winter chandelier.

Ice Slides

There are even ice slides to glide down.

Arctic Alcove

VIP experiences in a private alcove within the castle are perfect for proposals or other special occasions.

2023 Tickets

Tickets for the 2023 Ice Castles are on sale at Icecastles.com/newyork. Let's hope this season lasts a little longer than the previous one when Mother Nature brought a stretch of warm weather, melting all the ice.