Northland Ice Skating

Great pro shop and staff at pro shop but bad rink, it rained today and the rink is shutdown because of the rain now there is no practice tonight. THIS RINK NEEDS FIXING!!!

Three stars because this rink falls under the «It’s good for Cincinnati» category.
I’ve been here several times before, and coming from the south, I expected the facilities up north for an ice skating rink to be leaps and bounds beyond what I grew up with. Unfortunately, either the sports are not popular in the area, or there just aren’t enough people to support a better facility, Northland Ice Skating is just OK.
Pricing — the prices are decent, it’s $ 7 for general admission for public ice skating, which is considered a fair price. For comparison, I’m used to paying $ 6~$ 7, and there usually is a charge for shoe rental. However, I have my own skates so I am not a particular fan of supporting the cost of rental when generally it’s additional charge, but it’s still not a bad deal for sure. Except…
…the rink is small. Their public skate times are awkward, and they float around their other schedules for hockey, private ice skating sessions, games, etc. Public ice skating is only available 1 – 3 pm on the weekdays, 8 – 10 on fri and sat, 2 – 4 on sat and sun. And sometimes, especially in the summer, they will randomly not open so you have to call in advance to make sure they’re still on for public skate. The weekend times are fine, but I wish they had more accessible times during the week. All it means is that I can only go on the weekends, and usually I have other plans!
The worst though, is that they do NOT resurface the ice during the public sessions. There’s always tons and tons of people, so the ice gets so bad by about 45 minutes, you can’t even skate properly by 1 hour into the session. It gets so bad that there ends up being no point in skating, and my $ 7 admission fee is wasted since I can really only bare to skate for 1 hour, trying to weave in and out of people who can’t really skate and trying to keep my blades from aligning into the deep crevices that have been carved out of the ice’s surface.
They do have other sessions that you can pay membership fees to use the rink for (you have to pass certain skill levels), which I would gladly do if the ice were in better condition, there were fewer people, and the times were good. But no. I suppose they’re aimed at mostly young kids who can go after school, but for someone who is used to waking up early for 5 or 6 AM skate, it’s unfortunate that that isn’t even an option here.
Alas, this is still a good place to go. The prices are decent, there’s ample parking, spots to sit and relax, and the fact that it exists is already good. There’s definitely room for improvement, but it’s still worth the trip to avoid any of the crappy outdoor, seasonal setups in downtown. At least it’s close to where I live though!

My favorite place to skate. Been coming here for years. Awesome place to take the family!!! Plus they always have the game on. (Football & basketball & hockey or whatever)

This ice rink hasn’t changed much since I was a kid, but it is a cheap place to play hockey.