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With little ice on Superior, access to ice caves unlikely

DULUTH, MN (AP)--   The breathtaking ice caves along the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore will likely be inaccessible this year, due to low ice coverage on Lake Superior.

As of Friday, less than 5 percent of Lake Superior was covered by ice, much lower than the typical 25 percent of coverage at the end of January.

While ice coverage on Superior typically peaks in February or March, data shows most winters with this level of ice on Jan. 31 don't accumulate much more.

The Star Tribune reports that the last time the ice caves were accessible by foot was in 2015.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.