Ice Out On Maine Lakes And Ponds Begins

The ice on Maine's lakes and ponds has been rapidly disappearing, and The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands Boating Division has been keeping track, with your help!

Even with this weekend's cold spell, over the next few weeks or so, the ice on Maine's inland waters will become dangerously thin.  The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands "consider "ice-out" to be when you can navigate unimpeded from one end of the water body to the other. There may still be ice in coves or along the shoreline in some areas but when a person can traverse the entire water body without being stopped by ice floes, we will consider the ice to be out."

There are three ways that you can keep track of Mother Nature's progress:

While at your favorite Maine lake or pond, view the situation yourself, in person, and then REPORT YOUR FINDINGS to the Bureau by emailing timothy.thurston@maine.gov.  You along with others will populate data at the Bureau of Parks and Lands' web page.

Look at Ice Out Dates from last year and previous years!  For instance, ice was officially out at Alamoosook Lake in Orland on March 12th, 2016.

View the Bureau's webcams while sitting in your favorite chair!  The webcams available are listed to the left of the page.