Featured image: Dancing under an ice arch at Ice Castles (photo credit: @argenel on Instagram)

Enter a breathtaking world built with hundreds of thousands of icicles by professional ice artists. Explore castles filled with frozen sculptures, thrones, slides, fountains, tunnels—all illuminated with colorful LED lights.

Ice Castles founder, Brent Christensen, created his first icy work of art at his home in California to bring happiness and joy to his kids. When his family moved to Utah, he built an ice cave in the yard to cure his kids of cabin fever during the long winters. The neighborhood kids noticed, and eventually the word spread across town, and his work turned into a winter playground. The kids called this special place the “ice castle”.

Christensen started Ice Castles in 2011, and it’s now located in six cities in the U.S. and Canada during the winter:

• Dillon, Colorado
• Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)
• Excelsior, Minnesota
• Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
• Woodstock, New Hampshire
• Midway, Utah

Hours and admission vary by location. Get more information at the city links above or at icecastles.com.

Exploring an ice tunnel at the Ice Castles (photo credit: Ice Castles on Instagram)