Great Canadian Skating Rinks

[J.OT13]

A conversation was started on the Canadian Stadium thread after someone posted Mosaïc's public skating rink. Another forumer suggested we start a thread dedicated to public skating rinks.

Here are Ottawa-Gatineau's four main outdoor skating venues.

The Rideau Canal. The official opening of the skateway was in January 1971.

https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places/skateway-50th-season

The canal was at one time the longest skating rink in the world at 7.8 km until Winnipeg's skateway near the forks took the title in 2008 with 8.54 km. The Canal is now the "largest" natural skating rink. It stretches from the Ottawa Locks downtown, past Lansdowne Park, to Dow's Lake and ends at the Hartwell locks at Carleton University.

Global warming has been placing the Canal skating at risk. Last year for the first time in 50 years, the downtown portion never opened. City of Ottawa road salt also plays a role in shorter seasons.


https://twitter.com/NCC_Skateway/sta...94840833609729

The Rink of Dreams. In 2013 the Ottawa Senators contributed to the artificially frozen rink in front of City Hall. With the canal become less and less reliable, it was seen as a good alternative for Winterlude celebrations in February.


https://twitter.com/Ottawa_Tourism/s...16404328488963

Lansdowne Park Skating Court. Similar to the Rink of Dreams at City Hall, this one is framed by the historic Horticulture Building and Aberdeen Pavilion. It opened in 2014 or 2015.


https://twitter.com/TD_Place/status/1340682875876864000

On the Gatineau side, in the Hull sector, we have le Ruisseau de la Brasserie.


https://www.tourismeoutaouais.com/at...-la-brasserie/

[Coldrsx]

The Victoria skating oval and ice way is definitely my favourite here in Edmonton. Adjacent to the river and a 10-15mins walk from Downtown.

Little known fact: One of the Calgary 88' zambonis is stationed there to ensure good ice for the speed skating club.


https://www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/co..._wish_the_ice/

Hawrelak park is my second favourite as it is on a lake just west of the University.

https://www.travelalberta.com/ca/lis...lak-park-2242/

[Rico Rommheim]

I can't wait to skate on the Rideau this winter. I've been wanting to do this my whole life.


Also, the lack of a rideau-esque skating rink on the Lachine canal is the world's biggest wasted opportunity. Just imagine a skating rink from Atwater market to the peel bassin.

[Coldrsx]

I grew up learning to skate on the canal and miss those beavertails.

[Denscity]

The Lake Windermere Whiteway in Invermere BC has the Guinness record as being the longest in the world. Only poor pictures are available on Flikr:

Late afternoon on one of dozens of rinks along the #Whiteway on Lake Windermere #explorebc #invermere by Jason Cameron, on Flickr

Whiteway by Peter Gallehan, on Flickr

[megadude]

I had posted in the Outdoors thread, so I'll just transfer that over here.


Esquire posted about the new rink on Mosaic's football field. And it got me thinking about interesting public skating places. I found this thread. Don't know if a similar idea came up before but what are the most iconic, beautiful or interesting outdoor skating spaces in your region?

There's the obvious ones but I'll leave that up to people from those parts of the country to post.


Nathan Philips Square

https://dailyhive.com/toronto/nathan...opens-november

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ps-square.html


Harbourfront

https://brownbeartravels.com/2015/03...lery-district/

https://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/rink/


The Bentway under the Gardiner

https://dailyhive.com/toronto/bentway-skate-trail-2019


Mel Lastman Square, North York

https://www.yelp.ca/biz/mel-lastman-square-north-york


The Harbour, between the city and the islands, if the weather permits that winter. And if it's legal, which I have no idea about.

https://dailyhive.com/toronto/ice-ho...harbour-photos


Markham City Hall

https://markhamreview.com/outdoor-sk...ograms-offered


Gage Park and Mount Pleasant rinks in Brampton

https://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/inde...rk_Skate_Trail

https://www.mtlblog.com/en-ca/travel...n-stars-hollow

https://quickbitenews.com/article/br...g-in-brampton/


Burlington Rotary Centennial Pond

https://burlingtonlifestyle.com/ice-...in-burlington/


Arrowhead Trail in Muskoka

https://www.discovermuskoka.ca/thing...skating-trail/

https://twitter.com/arropark/status/428953503319355392

[megadude]

Some more I noticed online.


Evergreen Brickworks

https://www.evergreen.ca/whats-on/ev...blic-skating1/


Colonel Samuel Smith Park

https://indie88.com/the-coolest-plac...te-in-toronto/


Sherbourne Common

https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2012/01...-east-bayfront


Celebration Square, Mississauga

https://torontoguardian.com/2018/01/...rails-toronto/


Chinguacousy Park, Brampton

https://www.toronto.com/community-st...usy-park-open/


Gore Meadows, Brampton

https://twitter.com/blueprinthockey/...629504?lang=hu


Newmarket Riverwalk Commons

https://jrstudio.ca/content/newmarket-riverwalk-commons


Richmond Green Skate Trail, Richmond Hill

https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2...r-skate-trail/

[megadude]

Turns out this rink by the Falls didn't open this year after being open for a decade. It suffers operating losses historically apparently.

And one of the major cities that doesn't have an outdoor skating destination attraction is Hamilton, from what I can tell. No rink in front of City Hall with HAMILTON sign in the background or anything like that.



http://www.campingtourist.com/campin...-at-the-brink/

https://vacay.ca/2011/12/skating-at-...niagara-falls/

[itom 987]

West Edmonton Mall


https://www.travelalberta.com/ca/lis...ton-mall-1125/

[Coldrsx]

Hard to beat Lake Louise's rink.


http://banffandbeyond.com/ice-skating-on-lake-louise/

Jasper's best at the Fairmont JPL

https://chehockey.wordpress.com/2013...key-challenge/

[matt602]

Originally Posted by megadude

Turns out this rink by the Falls didn't open this year after being open for a decade. It suffers operating losses historically apparently.

And one of the major cities that doesn't have an outdoor skating destination attraction is Hamilton, from what I can tell. No rink in front of City Hall with HAMILTON sign in the background or anything like that.

While theres no rink downtown, theres one on the waterfront at Pier 8. Nothing fancy but the view of downtown from there is kinda nice. Also open as a roller rink during the summer.

http://www.hamiltonwaterfront.com/ha...-outdoor-rink/

[megadude]

Originally Posted by matt602

While theres no rink downtown, theres one on the waterfront at Pier 8. Nothing fancy but the view of downtown from there is kinda nice. Also open as a roller rink during the summer.

http://www.hamiltonwaterfront.com/ha...-outdoor-rink/

Ya I mentioned that one on the What's Missing from Your City thread. That and one in Dundas with Escarpment backdrop. Those are probably the two best options but I think Hamilton should consider one in the heart of the city.

[Airboy]

Noticed someone is clearing a skate way on the Sturgeon River here in St Albert. Goes for over 500M. I'll get a shot of it later this week. The river has not been used for skating for over 15 years now. Something about not using chlorinated water to flood the surface. The river is to shallow to pump river water up. If they could clear the river we could easily have a 6km skating rink.

The city also cleared of the Lacombe park lake one of our largest lake rinks.

There are skate ways for 2 other parks, Lions and Rotary. And a smaller park rink gets regular visits from a family of Moose.

One of my favorite skating rinks is long in the past. When Edmonton would dam the lower end of White Mud creek. and you could skate up the valley. The old Ski and Rink shack had a wood stove for warming.

https://www.todocanada.ca/15-of-the-...ound-edmonton/

[Echoes]

Outdoor skating rink in Kiwanis Park, located near the Bessborough Hotel in downtown Saskatoon







https://dtnyxe.ca/explore/attraction...-skating-rink/

[esquire]

^ The lens flare and the placement of the people in the first photo makes it look like an architectural rendering

Nice rink!

[megadude]

My coworker mentioned he was skating at College Park. I was not aware there was one there. It's pretty new. And since when did Union Station have one???



https://torontolife.com/things-to-do...o-this-winter/


https://kidsinto.com/2019/12/22/skat...union-station/

[LakeLocker]

Darn you beat me to this.

I said just the other day my goal for 2021 is getting in shape/getting skating lessons.

Anyway by a wide margin London's skating rinks/areas are the nicest part of the city.

[Mister F]

The Rideau Canal is the one rink to rule them all. Some others in Ontario:

Kingston

https://mywanderingvoyage.com/2018/0...gston-ontario/

Peterborough

https://www.todocanada.ca/peterborou...l-open-season/

Kitchener

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitch...ions-1.3922545

Waterloo

https://www.reddit.com/r/waterloo/co...public_square/

Cobourg

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/32044566...sts=1&adults=1

[Hackslack]

https://i-cbc-ca.cdn.ampproject.org/...m-iceville.jpg




https://www.bardown.com/polopoly_fs/...ic-stadium.png



https://s-yimg-com.cdn.ampproject.or...b8533b8ccb6dfe

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by megadude

Ya I mentioned that one on the What's Missing from Your City thread. That and one in Dundas with Escarpment backdrop. Those are probably the two best options but I think Hamilton should consider one in the heart of the city.

There is nothing right downtown, and it would be nice to have that. The odd new "park" at John and Rebecca streets, with those strange round mounds surrounded by pavement, would have been a great place to flood for winter. Maybe they will do that eventually.

Other places in the city with artificial ice include an outdoor loop in Waterdown:


Source


Source


And this one by the new rec centre and high school in the central lower city, across from Tim Hortons Field:


Source


Source


But the best places are natural... especially Princess Point, in the Cootes Paradise marsh:


Source: Best Outdoor Skating Spots in Hamilton


People also skate on some of the small lakes at the conservation areas or the other wetlands close to the west end of the harbour and Cootes, near the Royal Botanical Gardens. I remember doing that on Lake Jojo in Dundas when I was in university, for a game of pickup hockey.

The harbour used to be much more popular for it -- they used to harvest ice from the bay before electric fridges were predominant -- and I think some places are safer (like the inlet near the boat ramp at Bayfront Park) but it's been a bit dodgy over the last couple of decades unless we have a long cold period.