Are you hoping to get out and enjoy active winter fun this year? Skating helps you embrace winter because there are plenty of locations to lace up and it’s often free or very affordable. Calgary is ideal for outdoor ice skating, especially when a chinook rolls in and the temperatures warm up, plus, Community Outdoor Skating Rinks are a great place to meet your neighbours and get your skates on for free. If the weather is too warm or cold, there are also lots of indoor rinks. Not sure where to go? Keep reading to find out where to go skating in Calgary!

Community Outdoor Skating Rinks

There are a number of communities in Calgary that have rinks run and maintained by community volunteers. Check with a community near you, but please note that some communities only allow members of their community to access their rinks or lakes. Double-check before you head out so you don’t run into any surprises!

Adopt-a-Rink is a winter volunteer program through which volunteers help flood and maintain existing community pleasure skating rinks throughout Calgary. There are over 70 rinks currently enrolled in the program in Calgary. These rinks are for pleasure use only; hockey equipment is not allowed. To see the list of rinks and get more information on the program, click here.

Last year Central Commons Park in the University District opened. This 3-acre park includes a skating rink and lots of amenities nearby. Be sure to take advantage of the free underground parking.

City of Calgary Outdoor Skating Rinks

In addition to the Community Rinks, there are several outdoor skating areas that are maintained by the City of Calgary and are free to use. These rinks are weather-dependent and typically open mid-December through February, with the exception of the Olympic Plaza rink, which is a refrigerated surface and is usually open from mid-November to mid-March. The city-maintained ice surfaces are located at:

  • Big Marlborough Park (NE)
  • Bowness Park Lagoon (NW) (Check out the new Ice Trail or rent an Ice Bike!)
  • Carburn Park (SE)
  • Glenmore Ice Trail (SW)
  • Olympic Plaza (SE)
  • Prairie Winds Park
    North rink: pleasure skating only
    South rink: shinny hockey and pleasure skating
  • Prince’s Island Lagoon (SW)
  • Thomson Family Park  (SW)

For more information, including rink street addresses, rules, hours, and the current status of the rinks, please visit the city website. Please note that equipment rentals are not currently available at the City of Calgary outdoor ice surfaces, except where noted on the website.

Indoor Arenas

For those days when it’s too warm or too cold to skate outside, there are also a number of indoor arenas in Calgary with public skating. The City of Calgary runs several of these arenas and they sometimes have free skating on statutory holidays in the fall and winter. But there are lots of community-run indoor arenas, as well, so do a search for your area. You’ll also find rinks at many recreation centres. You can get started with this Arena Guide, but note that some of the locations on this map are outdoors.

You can also access public skating at the Olympic Oval and they sometimes offer Toonie Skate Mondays, where you can skate the Olympic Oval from 6 to 8 pm every Monday evening for just a toonie. Be sure to check ahead about these dates, as there are black-out dates.

Happy skating, Calgary!

Skating (Family Fun Calgary)