Best Ice Skating Rinks Around Seattle, the Eastside and South Sound

Get gliding! It’s that time of year again, when a batch of seasonal skating rinks pop up around the Sound for local families’ skating fun. While many holiday traditions involve eating treats, this seasonal pursuit gets your fam up and moving! And if you prefer indoor skating, there’s a swanky newer permanent rink on the scene, plus plenty of other spots to learn and skate year-round. So if you want to get gliding on the ice around Seattle, read on for where to go.

First, to get started ice skating, take a gander at our 8 pro tips for teaching kids to ice skate.

1. Bellevue Downtown Ice Rink, Bellevue

This is the largest holiday ice skating rink around, located in Bellevue’s Downtown Park, and it is back for winter 2022–23. There is a viewing tent with benches, and a concession area selling hot drinks and snacks onsite. Note the nearest restrooms are at the playground nearby. (If you’ve not been, do not miss the park’s absolutely epic Inspiration Playground.)

Schedule: Open Nov. 18, 2022–Jan. 8, 2023; hours vary. Skating is even open on Christmas Day!
Prices: Off-peak admission is $14, including skate rental; peak admission is $17, including skate rental. Book online
Special events: This rink offers some pretty good special events! Free lessons are offered on select days, for kids and adults. There are even a handful of Ugly Sweater Skate days.

2. Oly on Ice, Olympia

Thurston County entered the seasonal ice rink game a few years ago, setting up a rink near Capitol Lake in downtown Olympia. And families really love it! The rink is covered but outdoors. There are several options here for getting the littles skating, cheapskate nights on select Mondays and Tuesdays, a sensory-friendly skate on Sundays and helpful staff on the ice.

Schedule: Open Nov. 18, 2022–Jan. 16, 2023, even open on Christmas Day! Check the schedule for daily hours.
Price: Off-peak admission, including skates, is $12. Peak hours will set you back $15; tots ages 3 and younger, including skates, cost $5. Cheap skate days, select Mondays and Tuesdays are $9 (ages 4 and older).

3. Pacific Ice, Everett

New last year, Pacific Ice returns to Pacific Rim Plaza at Waterfront Place in Everett. This petite outdoor covered rink welcomes families from around the North Sound and beyond.

Schedule: Open daily Nov. 18, 2022–Jan. 9, 2023, closed Thanksgiving Day, but open Christmas Day. Check the website for daily hours.
Price: General admission, including skates, is $15; kids, including skates, are $12. Birthday party packages, skating lessons and private rink rental are also available.

4. Skating Rink at The Village, Bainbridge Island

Pleasant Beach Village, a community located on the south end of Bainbridge Island, has built a skating rink made of synthetic ice and transformed its pool area into a winter wonderland. Order hot food and beverages from the onsite restaurant or grab a quick bite from the pool’s snack shack.

Schedule: Rink open Sunday–Thursday, Nov. 25–Dec. 31, 2022, closed Christmas Day. Hours are Thursday–Fridays, 4–8 p.m., and Saturday–Sunday, 1–8 p.m. Dec. 24 hours are 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Price: $20 ages 11 and older; $15 for 10 and younger. Admission includes skate rental.

5. Snohomish Valley Ice Rink, Snohomish

Snohomish Valley Golf Center has once again opened its outdoor, tented synthetic ice rink to skaters of all ages this season. You can warm up around the heaters and fire tables and enjoy some food and drink from the Center's restaurant.

Schedule: Open Thursday–Sunday Nov. 25, 2022–Feb. 26, 2023, closed Christmas Day. Check the website for daily hours. 
Price: $5–$10; $2 skate rental.

6. Holiday Ice Rink, Arlington

New for 2022, the City of Arlington has added this pop-up skating rink (made with real ice!) to its annual Hometown Holidays Festival going on at Legion Park. On select dates you can also find a carousel and hayrides for more seasonal fun.

Schedule: Open daily Nov. 18, 2022–Jan. 9, 2023, closed Thanksgiving Day, but open Christmas Day. Check the website for daily hours.
Price: General admission, including skates, is $15; kids, including skates, are $12. Birthday party packages, skating lessons and private rink rental are also available.

7. Pop-Up Ice Skating Rink at Occidental Square, Downtown Seattle

Mark your calendars! The second weekend in December you'll find this free outdoor skating rink in the heart of Pioneer Square at Occidental Square Park for three days only. Take a break from shopping, strap on some skates, and go for a twirl on the ice.

Schedule: Friday–Sunday, Dec. 9–11, 2022; 11 a.m.–5 p.m. 
Price: Free. Skates are available to borrow.

More ice-skating rinks around Seattle and Puget Sound

The holiday rinks don’t stay around forever, and we can hardly ever hope for pond skating during our relatively balmy Pacific Northwest winters. But families can still try out their skating skills at indoor ice rinks, open in any weather and every season! Here’s a selection:

Kraken Community Iceplex, Seattle

This is the upscale newer rink we mentioned, on the site of Northgate Mall. It’s where the Kraken practice! Rental skates are hockey skates so you can catch Kraken fever. There’s also youth hockey, skating lessons, tot play hour and family skate sessions.

Lynnwood Ice Center, Lynnwood

An active ice skating rink north of Seattle, Lynnwood Ice Center is an excellent rink that feels a cut above some of the more worn rinks around. There’s a warm lobby and viewing area, snack shop, and pro shop, and birthday party rooms. It offers a good Basic Skills program, as well as walkers for toddlers. There is also a hockey program. Skate rental stock spans toddler sizes up to men’s size 14.

Sno-King Ice Arena, Kirkland

Formerly the Kingsgate Ice Arena, Sno-King Kirkland offers public ice skate sessions, hockey, learn-to-skate programs and fun-sounding broomball where participants do not need to know how to skate. Walkers can be rented; look for group discounts.

Sno-King Ice Arena, Renton

Located in the Renton Highlands, Sno-King Ice Arena is a year-round, indoor ice-skating facility that offers two separate ice surfaces. In addition to public skating hours, this rink hosts broomball, figure skating, hockey, lessons series and summer camps. There is a café and game room for family members who don’t want to skate. There is also a skate shop on site. Walkers are available for rent.

Sno-King Ice Arena, Snoqualmie

This outpost of Sno-King offers the same wide range of ice sports as the rinks in Kirkland and Renton. In addition to public skating, there are learn-to-skate programs focused on both figure skating and hockey skating, youth hockey lessons, leagues and camps, and adult hockey, too.

Kent Valley Ice Center, Kent

This rink offers all kinds of fun on the ice, including public skating, learn-to-skate programs, youth hockey, stick-and-puck sessions and more. This spot also offers other sports programs, with rentable batting cages, and hosts birthday parties.

Sprinker Recreation Center Ice Arena, Tacoma

This Tacoma ice rink boasts an NHL-regulation ice surface and offers all kinds of programs, including public skate sessions, hockey, figure skating, broomball and lots more. This rink also has something no other rink offers: ice bumper cars!

Angels of the Winds Arena, Everett

Centrally located in downtown Everett, the community ice skating rink is just one of the facilities at Angel of the Winds. This spot hosts Silvertips hockey games, concerts and more. Street parking can be tricky, but there are plenty of garages. In addition to frequent public skating sessions, junior hockey and learn-to-skate programs are available.

Editor’s note: Writers Gemma Alexander, Tiffany Doerr Guerzon and Nikki McCoy, along with ParentMap staff, all contributed to this article, which was originally published many years ago and updated with current info for 2022.