Update on ice rinks and ice safety at Minneapolis Parks

A large truck clears and floods the outdoor hockey rink at Bohanon Park late at night
Maintaining the ice at the Bohanon Park hockey rink in December 2022

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) staff continue to work hard to open and maintain nearly 50 ice rinks across the city this winter.

All ice rinks built on land are open, except the hockey rinks at Armatage Park and Linden Hills Park, which are expected to open by this weekend. General skating rinks at Armatage and Linden Hills are open. The Armatage hockey rink is being reduced to a smaller pond hockey rink with shorter boards and pond hockey leagues are moving from Lake Nokomis to Armatage.

Lake rinks are not open yet due to very challenging conditions on the ice. Detailed updates for all lake rinks are below.

All outdoor ice rinks are free to use, open to the public and lit until at least 9 pm. Every park with a rink has a warming room with an assortment of free loaner skates to borrow. Warming room hours are Monday-Friday 5-9 pm, Saturdays and School Release Days 12-9 pm, Sundays 1-5 pm.

Visit the Ice Rinks page to view a map showing rink locations and openings and closures updated daily, along with information on the rink building process.

Ice Rinks on Minneapolis Lakes

Varying layers of snow, slush, water and ice have piled up on Minneapolis lakes after multiple significant winter storms, which created very difficult conditions to build ice rinks.

Worker and visitor safety is always the top priority throughout this process. See below for more information on ice safety from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Here are updates on lake rinks in Minneapolis:

Lake of the Isles

  • Staff from The Loppet Foundation helped pack down significant snowpack at the site of the Lake of the Isles ice rink.
  • The ice is still not thick enough to safely support equipment necessary for snow removal or building a full-size hockey rink.
  • MPRB staff are out every day using pumps to flood the rink area and build an ice sheet.
  • Please stay away from the rink area until it opens. Large amounts of water are being put on the rink daily and it needs time to freeze.

Lake Nokomis

  • Pond hockey leagues have moved to Armatage Park.
  • The ice is now thick enough to support vehicles and rink building, but difficult rink building conditions remain.
  • Alternate rink locations are being considered at Nokomis. If a rink opens, it will be a general skating rink instead of a pond hockey rink.

Powderhorn Lake

  • Snow was cleared on January 6.
  • The general skating rink won’t be as large as planned in order to safely distribute the large amount of heavy snow on the lake ice.
  • The rink is expected to open this week.

Webber Natural Swimming Pool

  • Snow was cleared January 9.
  • The general skating rink is expected to open this week.

Minneapolis Ice Safety Graphic

Ice Safety

The MPRB encourages park users to follow ice safety guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) when skating, walking and ice fishing on city lakes. Check ice thickness at least every 150 feet, stay away from channels and open water, and remember lake ice is never 100% safe.

Visit the MN DNR Ice Safety page for more information