This is another fun hike across the ice, this time from the shore of Lake Superior out to Caribou Island. The views are great and there are always some interesting ice formations to be photographed.
Trail Difficulty: Difficult
Trail Distance: 10 km loop
General Location: Thunder Bay, ON
Click here for Google Map and GPS tracks.
From Thunder Bay drive East on Highway 11/17 about 30 km to Amethyst Harbour Road. Turn right onto Amethyst Harbour Road and follow it for about 1 km to an intersection where you will turn left. Follow this road staying right for about 350m until you see the sign for the Amethyst Harbour Government Dock just before a hill. If you get to Lambert Lane you have gone too far. Turn right into the government dock area and park in the parking lot.
Disclaimer: I will say it again, going out onto the ice is not for beginners. You need to be able to determine if the ice is safe and know what to do if someone does go through the ice. You will also need to use a compass or GPS to navigate across the ice if it begins to snow or if the wind comes up and you can no longer see the shoreline.
From the parking walk out onto the ice and head toward the Lambert Island bridge that you will see to your left. The ice is often very thin here so use caution or go along the road instead. From the bridge continue straight ahead to Caribou Island. If ice and weather conditions are really good you might be able to go all the way around the island.
Hi Superior Hiking, Certainly a nice idea to hike to Caribou Island over the ice. You do point out the ice is sometimes thin near the bridge to Lambert Island, but you might want to really emphasis there is a lot of current through that channel leading to extremely unsafe ice conditions at all times. It can change hourly and is often open.
I should point out too that the dock at Amethyst has not been a government dock for many years but is owned and maintained by Amethyst camper volunteers. No small job with the yearly ice damage.
I’m sure your members take their garbage home, but any message you could include towards that end might also encourage the general public to do the same and help keep Caribou pristine.
Thanks.
The ice under the bridge is ALWAYS unpredictable and would never be considered safe. Take the extra time to go around Lambert Island.