We took the kids ice skating here about a week and a half ago and had a wonderful time overall. The outdoor setting is truly magical, enhanced by live music playing throughout the evening and cozy fire pits surrounding the rink--perfect for warming up between laps. These thoughtful touches create a festive, memorable atmosphere that the whole family loved. The only downside was that the ice wasn't resurfaced during our visit, which left the surface quite choppy and made skating a bit more challenging. Despite that, it didn't detract too much from the fun, and we're already looking forward to returning with the kids soon. Highly recommend for a delightful winter outing! read more

I love this little free rink! I've been coming here for several years now and enjoy the outdoor skating in the heart of the Northstar village. There are, however, a few downsides: - Parking can be crazy and $$ if it's high ski season (though today I got very lucky and snagged a free spot up close since there's very little snow on the mountains) - The rink is not well maintained. The Zamboni comes out so rarely that in all of my years visiting, I've only seen it ONCE. That makes for a choppy, slushy mess of a rink and explains why this place clears out pretty quickly sometimes. Not fun. - There are a LOT of first-time skaters here from tots to adults. (The bigger they are, the harder they fall!) This is not your typical New England hockey rink or even your Midwest mall rink. No amenities exist like the assisted skate thing that kids hold onto while they learn to skate (there would be no room for that anyhow; see next bullet). Expect to get plowed into once or twice. - The rink is REALLY small. Your feet will hurt from making tight turns and avoiding flying ninja turtles (see previous bullet). They don't prescribe a direction to skate, but everyone generally skates counter-clockwise. - There's rarely, if ever, anyone official on the ice. Don't expect to have anyone monitoring skaters or providing first-aid assistance. Welcome to the wild west! The best part is that it's free to skate (skate rentals are extra) and the surrounding area is full of comfy seats near fire pits and overhead heaters. Sometimes there's a live band, which makes for an even better skating experience (otherwise there's not really any music, so I'd advise packing your iPod). You can also enjoy the smells of the surrounding restaurants, coffee shops, and bakeries as you weave around scared adults or conga-line dancing teens. And once you've had your fill of dodging bad skaters all afternoon, just mosey on up to one of the many bars in the village and relax with a beer! read more

Northstar Ice Skating Rink - The rink is tiny, full of first-timers, and rarely groomed, but that's what makes it fun, right!? - Skating Rinks Near Me - Truckee, California

Crowded, ice is CHOPPY, rink is small. It's hard not to get run into with so many people, especially inexperienced young children. I could only last 20/30 minutes before I felt like I had to leave. For the cost of rentals, that was a less than ideal time. If they were better about keeping the ice flat hourly I might be inclined to come again but there are better spots around the lake to ice skate and even though the atmosphere here is wonderful, the rink is nightmarish. read more

Great spot! Not very crowded, free skating if you have your own skates, cheap skate rental, shaded spots to sit, fire pits you can use to warm up or make s'mores, great music and sound system...including live music, full bar for parents who don't want to fall down and break their legs, very pretty setting, lots of options for eating. Thumbs up! Side note: they need to work on their website: thumbs DOWN! read more

Northstar Ice Skating Rink - Roller rink/ice rink in winter - Skating Rinks Near Me - Truckee, California

Super fun activity to do if you're in the neighborhood. Also serves as a great back up when the ski season turns out a bit meh, and you are all geared up. The kids absolutely loved this one, and the awesome dining/ coffee/ snacky options close to the rink, and the wonderful fire places dotted around the rink make it for a cozy fun visit. read more

Skates rental are 12 bucks for the day. Super cheap!!! The rink is small and pretty much after an hour here, you'll be tired. There are chairs around the rink for you to rest at. Each side has 2 fireplaces to keep you warm. There's also a bar outside. This is a great place to hang out and do an activity if you don't want to snowboard or ski in tahoe. Great live music! read more

Northstar Ice Skating Rink - Skating Rinks Near Me - Truckee, California

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Tiny little rink squished in the middle of the Northstar Village area. It was fun to watch all the people packed in like sardines skating around, but I can't imagine being in there. I get claustrophobic so it would be a nightmare for me. They seem to clean the ice every hour or two but it gets cut up pretty quickly with the number of people on it and its small size. Since it's free I think the skate rental for $12/day is frequently out of sizes with folks who take the skates with them and then come and go as they please throughout the day. read more

a fun time for all. it's a cute skating rink, with nice seating around the outside to hang out and watch people skate. loved the holiday decor and twinkle lights. really cute spot. they really try to make the ice as smooth as possible. read more

They closed due to the snow the night before, nothing online led us to believe this would be the case, got to the location and had to turn around and leave. read more

Warning ice skates are not maintained properly. They have not been sharpened because they don't have a working sharpener. The shoe laces are broken and too short to tie properly. The ice is uneven and choppy. This was all a recipe for a bad fall and a sprained wrist within 5 mins of stepping on the ice...and I'm a decent skater. I encourage you to only use your own skates, otherwise skate at your own risk. read more

The ice skating rink becomes a roller rink throughout the spring/summer seasons. Not crowded, especially for a holiday weekend. Covered seating and tables to sit back and relax. Full bar. Fire pits for roasting s'mores. Live music to entertain the skaters! Skating is free if you have your own skates. Good, affordable place to take the fam for a little fun and exercise. read more

Northstar Ice Skating Rink - Skating Rinks Near Me - Truckee, California

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Great, fun little skating rink in the middle of the Northstar village. It was not too busy the day we were here.

After a day of spending hella money on snowboarding, food, and lodging it's great to catch a break from money just flying out of your wallet! And this is the place. The ice skating rink at Northstar is ridiculously affordable and hella nice! The rink is surrounded by the lodges, restaurants, and other shops which is great in blocking some of the wind. To top it off, there was live music! What?!? I was like DAMN! I'm not sure if the live music is every day but we went at the right time. Prices were really low. When I got to the front of the line and found out that the price was only $5 for the skate rental and admission I couldn't believe it! And it was for the whole day too!?! Can't beat that... The only bad thing I can say is that the guy's skates aren't that great. The skates didn't tie up too well so it felt like there wasn't enough support on the ankles. Oh well, I didn't mind too much. Still a great place and price! read more

Super fun a new easy ! Our girls had a blast all the staff were very helpful and kind to us when we clearly had no idea what we were doing.

have to say that I hadn't put on the hockey skates in a long time and I wasn't going to embarass myself here. Too much of an urge to want and check a little kid or something. It's cool that in the new Village that there's a random 9000 square foot rink in the middle. $5 for rentals and if you have your own gear, it's free. Hard to beat that. It's little small for a hockey game but I suppose you could always try! read more

So much fun! Loved the fires around and the musics played. Good times. Wish I could go back and do it all over again.

We came by around 4:45pm. At first, we were intimidated by the line that snaked outdoors. Someone also came out to say that a lot of the sizes were out. However, the line moves pretty quickly, and we were on the ice by 5:15pm at the latest. It is $10 dollars for an all-day rental, but free if you have your own skates. No doubt people were hoarding some sizes the whole day, but at this price, it's pretty reasonable. I would have liked if the zamboni came a bit more frequently. There are so many people skating that the ice gets really rough really quickly (came during peak season right during New Year's). Seating near the rink is hard to come-by, however, as people are camped out next to the fire and next to the heat lamps. I wouldn't blame the dullness of the skates on the establishment, however, because there are people walking around the cement on the periphery of the rink with their skates on who are probably doing most of the dulling. They did have a band, but they left around 5:00pm, so we could not enjoy them. read more

It's $10 for figure skate rentals all day. However, the popular sizes for rental skates were limited when we came around 3:00 pm on a Saturday mid-January. Thankfully, the sizes run a little big so I was able to size down to a 5, which they did have available. Around 3:30pm, they start serving FREE S'MORES around the rink! Just look for the servers with trays of s'mores walking around the seating area. They're small (half a graham cracker) but hey, it's free. Since the rink is so popular, the ice quickly becomes uneven from everyone skate tracks. They do smooth the ice with a zamboni twice a day but even right after there were still some grooves in the ice. The rink is a decent size and there is a railing around the perimeter that is easy to hold on to for those that are just starting out. This is a nice place to enjoy the fresh mountain air for a bit and there is a decent amount of comfy seating with fire pits around the rink. It's worth a try if you're at the resort and want to skate! read more

The rental skates are still dull, and useless. I swear, the guy is grinding the edge OFF the skates, not sharpening it. I can only imagine that the attorneys for Vail Resorts advised them to NOT hand out usable skates, lest somebody get cut and file a lawsuit. If you're going to go skating, bring your own skates that you know are usable. read more

The ice was not to fast, but still fun!!! They have a band playing right next to the rink, and seating everywhere!! If you have skates, it's free to skate. read more

Great place. Clean welcoming. How many rinks can you see pine trees from inside. Check it out.

Too crowded and bad conditions. The ice is really rough. We quit after 15 minutes. It's really not worth it.

An expensive evening out! Friendly guests and staff. This is worth the short journey there. Enjoy the restaurants too.

The skates are really dull. All of my friends had issues with their skates. The two stars are really to compliment the live band and the nice seating area around the rink. If you bring your own skates, this rink is fun. Otherwise, it's less than a rinky dink time. read more

Very helpful and friendly staff, Hunter at the rental shop was very knowledgeable and courteous. The rink was fairly spacious, could just use a little upkeep in the later hours. read more

The kids LOVED ice skating here! I will admit that my ice skating experience is very limited, but the rink was beautiful and outdoors. It snowed while we were skating. They had Christmas music playing & lots of lights after dark. Loved it. read more

I would really rate this 4 1/2 stars. I'm taking 1/2 a star off for the awful rental skates. The blades are super, super dull - my daughter, who is an excellent skater traded hers in 2 times and both times the skates were awful, even though there's a sign that says that the skates are sharpened once/week. Hmmm.... Anyway, the rink is large, and it really is such a pleasant thing to do, as the other reviewers have said. There are pretty sitting areas and 4 fire pits, and fun shops all around. As part of our hotel stay at Northstar we got 2 rental skates free, and the nice DJ gave us a $10 gift certificate to use at Northstar. Very nice time!! read more

This place is awesome! We came in early April and weren't quite ready to ski on our first day so rented roller skates and roller blades for our family of five and all had a blast! When it's not ice skating- it's roller skating! Surrounded by a village of fun little shops and a plethora of cozy couches! read more

cute cute cute, but small. tuesdays have a dj spining disco and cheese, but hey its a family thing. the outdoors bars and fire pits make it a cozy place to hang and watch the kiddies go round. read more

Had a fun time at this rink. For some reason when I was snowboarding the rink was a rollerskating rink. It was still enjoyable. Not too crowded, pretty large in the middle of the village, and fairly priced. read more

We went there today and it was closed even though google said it was open from 12-8. Looks like they were trying to clear all the snow accumulation off of it and the ice was all chewed up. Kids were very disappointed! read more

We've all seen those beautiful figure skaters, gracefully gliding about the ice, and we all think "Gee, that looks easy," so we lace up our skates and step on the ice. CRASH, that is the sound of you falling and running into someone, quickly realizing this was not at all as easy as you thought. But you keep skating anyways. This gorgeous rink in the center of the Northstar village is a wonderful place to test your skills on the ice. They rent some of the best skates I've seen, but make sure to get there early because there are only so many of the nice pairs. I got there at around 3:30, waited in a line for 30 minutes, and accepted a pair of too-big hockey skates (even though I figure skate). This was my first mistake. I have always used figure skates, and I have always skated like a pro and wondered why everyone was slipping and sliding around me. The second I stepped on the ice with those hockey skates on I lost all of my balance, and could barely move around the rink. But I awkwardly powered through at least 10 more rounds- second mistake. There were little children racing under me, and the ice had turned into snow. My advice: do not accept hockey skates unless you are a hockey player. They do not support your ankles, and they have no toe pick to help you out. When skating, you do not want your ankles to fall in on themselves, and that was exactly what my strong dancer ankles were doing. My third mistake was leaving without even waiting for a smaller pair of figure skates because the second I returned my skates, a shiny pair of sixes was sitting in the return pile. So make sure you have tried very hard to get your perfect pair of skates before leaving. It's very important you see. Overall the rink was very spacious, although a little crowded, and had a live band playing the whole time. Most outdoor rinks aren't usually this big, so this is definitely one of my favorites. When I'm wearing the right skates that is. But that's my fault for coming in late I guess. How much can you really say about an ice skating rink though? It was big, kind of crowded, but well placed and well taken care of. The placing of this rink was critical and they did a great job. They have wonderful cabanas surrounding the rink, and some delicious restaurants and nice clothing stores to. There is also a very conveniently placed Starbucks :). If you walk up the stairs you will also find bungee jumping for children. So if you are looking for a break from skiing and snowboarding, this wonderful little ice rink is a good place to try. read more

For only $10 for the day you can ice skate with decent skates and hear live music and site by the firepits to take a break. A great family activity read more

Love this ice rink! Spacious, paved well and located in a nice area. The rentals are ok - I got ratty skates the first time around. It can be really hot in the afternoon (in July). read more

You have the most wonderful DJ "Michael". He made our trip, a wonderful experience. Thank you......Rho

The worst rink I've ever skated on. there were huge potholes in the ice and it wasn't smooth even after the Zamboni went out. Good enough for kids to go around the railing but if you enjoy skating you'll be sorely disappointed here. read more