Lava Island

Ice Harvest

Thursday, February 5, 2026 · 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM

Ice Harvest is on! Thursday, February 5~ 1:30-3:30 Friday - Sunday, February 6-8~ 10am-11:30; 1:30pm-3:30 Freezing temperatures have given us thick enough ice to harvest! Join us out on the ice to help cut blocks of ice for us to store in an ice house to use over the summer. Getting to Timber Ridge Pond requires a bit of a hike through frozen, snowy fields- wear good, sturdy snow boots and winter gear! Durable gloves, snowpants, and ice cleats are all helpful too. Once you walk past our Visitors Center & wooden gates, turn left and walk through the fields, all the way past the tree line on the South end of the fields. In the 1890s, dairy farmers in DuPage County would have worked together out on frozen ponds to harvest ice to fill everyone's ice houses. Ice was crucial to the success of all the dairy farms out here to keep milk from spoiling before it could get sold. These days, we use the ice over the summers to freeze and make ice cream!