When Does Lower Hay Lake Freeze? Typical Ice-In Dec 4, Ice-Out Apr 20
Lower Hay Lake in Crow Wing County, Minnesota usually freezes over around Dec 4, and usually has ice-out around Apr 20, based on Minnesota DNR ice observations recorded between 1983-2024. That works out to roughly 228 days of open water a year. These are typical dates across many winters, not a forecast — individual years swing by weeks in either direction.
Ice record for Lower Hay Lake
| Typical freeze-up (ice-in) | Dec 4 |
| Typical ice-out | Apr 20 |
| Earliest freeze-up on record | Nov 3, 1983 |
| Latest freeze-up on record | Jan 9, 2024 |
| Earliest ice-out on record | Apr 7, 2021 |
| Latest ice-out on record | May 25, 1989 |
| Open-water season | ~228 days |
| Winters observed | 114 |
| Location | Crow Wing County, Minnesota |
These are dates, not an ice-safety reading
A typical freeze-up date tells you when Lower Hay Lake has usually iced over — it does not tell you the ice is safe, and we hold no thickness measurement for this or any lake. The Minnesota DNR is explicit that no ice is ever completely safe: thickness varies across a single lake, and current, springs, aerators, and insulating snow all weaken it. Ice that held a truck last week may not hold a person today.
Read the ice-thickness guidelines before going out, and check current conditions with the Minnesota DNR ice-safety page and local bait shops, which track conditions lake by lake.
How much the timing varies
Ice-out on Lower Hay Lake has landed as early as Apr 7, 2021 and as late as May 25, 1989 — a spread of weeks around the Apr 20 median. Freeze-up has ranged from Nov 3, 1983 to Jan 9, 2024. That year-to-year swing is why a median date is a planning tool, not a schedule. Freeze-up is driven by accumulated cold after the lake turns over in fall; ice-out by late-winter air temperature, sun angle, and how much snow sits on top of the ice reflecting it. The full nutrient and algae breakdown for Lower Hay Lake is on the lake report.
Source: Minnesota DNR Climate Office ice-in / ice-out records, observations from 1983-2024.
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