Best Places to Ice Skate in Rhode Island

Saturday, January 15, 2011

GoLocalProv Features Team

It's skating season, and as the temperatures begin to stay low enough to form good, thick ice on our local ponds (about six days in the 20s usually does it), we've got great options for outdoor rinks, as well as great ponds to keep an eye on.

Lakes and Ponds

Goddard Memorial State Park, Warwick
Shippee Hollow Pond is a great place to skate, with an area cleared by the DEM once the ice is six inches thick uniformly. To see if this is ready for skating at any point this winter, call DEM's 24-hour Ice Information line, 222-2632 or check online, here.

Lincoln Woods State Park, Lincoln
Wonderful rural setting for taking some turns surrounded by snow laden trees. Check with DEM's 24-hour Ice Information line for whether the ice remains safe, and cleared for skating. 222-2632 or online, here.

Meshanticut State Park, Cranston
This lesser-known park near Cranston High School West surrounds Meshanticut Lake, a popular local spot for skating all winter. A road around the lake also makes a winter warm-up walk part of the fun. Because Meshanticut is a state park, DEM will clear and check safety on the area for skating. Call the Ice Information line at 222-2632 or check online to see if it's ready.

Outdoor Urban Rinks

Sovereign Bank Family Skating Center, Newport
Skate Newport has really created a fun destination at the Newport Yachting Center this winter, with lots of lessons, specials, and programs. And if you're going to skate in a city, how much better does it get than Newport? Check hours, prices, programs here.

Bank of America Skating Center, Providence
Who needs Rockefeller Center when you can skate among historic architecture in Kennedy Plaza? A fantastic urban rink with great hours and lots of special programs. Check here for more.

River Island Park, Woonsocket
This is a park rink, and a blast, what with being open daily from December through February, weather permitting. Smaller than a typical hockey rink, a regrigeration system keeps things hard if we get a thaw. And no hockey allowed, but music to figure-eight by. See more, here.

Weather Not Good?

You can always go inside. In South County, Boss Arena at URI has public skating hours every day, and Cranston Veteran's Memorial Ice RInk in Cranston does as well. The June Rockwell Levy Rink in Harrisville is open to the public on Sundays; and look for public hours at the RI Sports Center on Route 146 in North Smithfield, Blackstone Valley Sports Center (Lynch Arena) in Pawtucket (and they've got wifi), and Thayer Arena in Warwick. Smithfield Municipal Ice Rink has public free style on Mondays, public skating on Tuesdays and Fridays, and public hockey on Mondays and Thursdays (goalies are free).