Well, I’ve been waiting for the snow to go explore the Midland Ice Caves, and I definitely got what I’ve been asking for! As I’m writing this, I just cleared about 50 cm of snow from my driveway. :/ The white stuff definitely did make the trip more beautiful though :)
A few friends and I headed out towards Norton from Moncton and met up with my sister in Sussex to make the trek to the caves!
I forgot to time the way into the caves, but I think it was about an hour. When we arrived at around 11:00, there had already been a pretty obvious trail made and the snow was patted down. The first 2/3 is through a field that gets pretty steep by the end. It will make you want to lose some layers, and we each lost at least one on the way up - some we left in trees with notes in the snow, and others we carried. :) Besides the grade, it's a pretty easy hike. At the top of the hill you can either go straight or turn left, you turn left into a wooded area.
The last third in the wooded area is quite easy and beautiful.
Once you go in about 10 minutes, you take a right at the sign. The sign was broken, so we tried to fix it for ya!
You go down this "trail" for under 10 minutes and come to the small valley where the caves are!
Every year there are holes in the ice so you can actually go in and explore the "cave" and get your perfect photo op!
It's slippery, so be careful! You can climb in and slide out! (But that really hurt my butt)
Someone was nice enough to set up these ropes to help you get up and down!
The way out is pretty much all downhill, so it only took about 40 minutes. We did walk pretty fast though. It was hilarious to go down this field and see 19, NINETEEN cars lined up of people going to check them out. I love the Maritimes, but clearly we could use some more winter entertainment. haha.
So after this week of blizzards, I'd probably pack some snowshoes, but go check it out!
For great directions, check out Hiking NB, as usual. Also, this is private land, so let's be kind and considerate so we can enjoy them for a long time!