Take a magical walk through awe inspiring Ice Castles this winter. The must see phenomenon is built by hand, using hundreds of thousands of icicles, creating a story book experience that includes breathtaking LED-lit sculptures, frozen thrones, ice-carved tunnels, slides, fountains and more.

Each ice castle take months and thousands of man-hours to create. 5,000 to 12,000 icicles are individually sculpted then drenched with water. The mix  results in an astonishing and ever-changing variety of ice formations.

LED lights frozen inside the ice light up and twinkle to music adding a magical ambiance to the breathtaking interactive sculptures.

The towering, walk-through structures are made entirely of ice and each castle weighs more than 25 million pounds.

The concept was created when founder Brent Christensen attempted to build an ice cave for his daughter in his yard. The project drew crowds who wanted to visit and tour the unique creation. Ice Castles has since turned into an internationally renowned tourist attraction with locations across North America, including, Wisconsin, Colorado, Utah and North Woodstock, New Hampshire, that's only a five hour drive from Utica.

Ice Castles is weather dependent but usually opens in late December or early January and remains open until early March.

Tickets are $19.99 Monday through Thursday and $24.99 Friday through Sunday. Children aged 4-11 are $14.99 and $19.99.

Several safety precautions will be in place this year including frequent sanitization of high touch surfaces like the sliding mats and tables at ticketing and concessions. Crawl spaces, slot canyons, and tunnels will have one-way traffic and will be marked accordingly. Masks and social distancing are required.

Step Inside Awe Inspiring Ice Castles


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