How many inches of ice is safe on a lake?

This general gauge gives safe ice thicknesses to support different types of activities: Less than 4 inches: Stay off the ice. 4 inches: Walking, ice fishing, ice skating, or other activities on foot are permitted. 5 to 7 inches: Snowmobiling or riding ATVs are safe.



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If you can see the ground through the ice, then there's going to be warmer water under it. Out in the middle, the ice grows thicker over the cold dark depths. Also, ice always melts away from the shore first.

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AIce floats on a lake's surface until it is melted. Although it sometimes floats low in the water, it does not sink to the bottom, as some mistakenly believe. Water is heaviest at 39 degrees, lighter at higher or lower temperatures.

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Lake ice freezes first at the surface starting at the edges or shoreline for two reasons. Water near the shore is typically shallower and contains less heat than deeper water so it can reach the freezing point faster than deeper water.

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The thickest lake ice on Earth has been observed on permanently frozen lakes that are covered by glaciers, where the present record of 295 m is from Lake Vostok in Antarctica12.

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Since water is good at holding heat, the more water there is, the more heat it will hold. This is why large deep lakes take longer freeze and melt than small shallow lakes. Water freezes from the perimeter of the lake to the center.

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