Eben Ice Caves makes improvements for visitors

EBEN JUNCTION, Mich. (WLUC) - The Eben Ice Caves near Munising see hundreds of visitors during the winter. With winter underway, visitors are returning in droves. One visitor said she drove up from lower Michigan to see the caves.

“We were wanting to see the U.P. in the snow,” said Mary Scott, a visitor from Reed City. “It was a dream of mine and we saw on Facebook about this place here. So, we decided to get lost in the woods and check it out.”

Another visitor from lower Michigan said the thickness of the ice is what impressed him the most.

“Very big bold, and sturdy, and you’re thinking there would be a big water stream or something,” said Sean Moran, a visitor from Bloomfield Hills. “What is amazing to me is that there isn’t. It’s a sprinkling of water and it creates such a massive ice block. It’s truly impressive.”

With so many people visiting from all over the region, parking was one of the biggest obstacles at the trailhead for the ice caves.

Brothers Jim and Matt Rondeau own property right next to the trailhead. To help with the parking situation, they decided to build a parking lot on their land and open it to the public.

“It’s taken a year of work,” said Jim Rondeau. “Probably two years of meetings and time and lots of sweat and we are here today, we are having a good day, we’re glad to see people out here enjoying the area and hopefully it goes well.”

Matt Rondeau said the parking lot also features a restroom and space for emergency responders to park.

“We put in restrooms that are capable of handling whatever amount of activity comes here,” said Rondeau. “There are designated areas for the local EMS and fire department that has to go into the wilderness area.”

All visitors said the cave was truly a hidden gem in the U.P.

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