Oakton Sports Complex is a virtually brand new facility after a 17 month $33 million rebuild…read moreproject was recently completed in Aug 2025. Yippee for Park Ridge residents! The wife and I dropped in for the first time to check the place out and to get in our fitness steps. It was very nice to use the free, uncrowded, and comfortable walking track in the Athletic Field space. The weekday walking hours are 6am-4pm, except Wednesday when it is 8am-4pm. The walking track encircles an indoor soccer field. There are also free lockers for the storage of your personal items. At the risk of ruining things with this review lol, this place is a hidden gem for us! As I was looking around at the historical info ads about this long standing facility, I took a photo of the past Olympians from this ice center. A voice out of nowhere said "make sure to get a photo of the guy in red". The guy in red in the ad photo was David Santee, a two time (1976 and 1980) USA Olympian and sure enough the voice out of nowhere belonged to none other than David Santee himself lol! You can check the photo - he's not a fake and he is a retired director of this facility and also currently a skating coach here. Pretty cool coincidental run-in and David is a very loyal Park Ridge native, hooray! Besides the Athletic Field, there is the Ice Arena which houses a brand new studio rink for their figure skating and hockey programs. Big thumbs up for this new community asset and congratulations to the Park Ridge Park District on the completion of their very successful rebuild project.

Wow, I see that the most recent review is almost three years old now--definitely time for a new…read moreone! As I write this review for what's currently listed on Yelp as Oakton Ice Arena (until the updates I submitted are approved, anyway), it's actually a completely new facility. That's not hyperbole--the place was rebuilt from the ground up. I never visited the old arena, but have been to the new one several times since I live nearby and we also attended the grand opening of the new facility (which opened in August 2025). In addition to the main ice rink, they have a studio rink which is a fraction of the size, as well as an indoor athletic field. There's an indoor walking track that forms the perimeter of the athletic field, and though they open at 9 a.m., the walking track opens at 6 and is free of charge to use. They have a nice concessions area, which includes an outdoor patio in the warm weather months. As a park district facility, they have a variety of events and classes and you can also rent space in the building for your own events. There's classes for all ages; I signed my daughter up for baseball (the only girl!) and we'll try soccer in a few weeks. I'm also curious about the adult ice skating classes, and I'll definitely be looking into the children's ice skating when she's old enough to enroll. They have adult leagues for broom ball, volleyball, ice bocce, basketball.... The instructors are top-notch as well. I believe the facility has a golf range that will be opening in spring or summer 2026. There's a lot of parking here. I haven't ever seen it near full. They have quite a few electronic vehicle spots with chargers; possibly too many tbh but I'm probably misremembering how many there are. It's also just a couple blocks from the Dee Road Metra station, so it's easily accessible by public transportation as well. 2026 - Review #1

This is a nice barn with an ODR (outdoor rink). Nuff said…read more The locker rooms are nice for a barn and the bathrooms are clean. Based on what we saw, the programs here are well managed and the ice is well maintained (though a little rough in patches). There is plenty of parking if you're visiting. The only complaint is that the "so-called" visitor seating is very small and as a visiting parent I was shocked to be asked to move to the "right" section. Of course I didn't, because I was comfortable at center ice so I could see my son play at both ends. Aside from the unfriendly welcome from the opposing team, I think this is a great place to enroll your kids or come in for an open skate!

My issues with this spot is how expensive the residential season pass is for the lack of quality…read more It's $100/$125..... Admission fee is $6. Oakton offers the same admission fee only their Resident/Non-resident prices are $65/$75 (significantly cheaper). Quality of the ice. The rink isn't even smooth. Never once have I been here and the ice was smooth. Huge gashes in the ice which cause the less experienced skaters to fall more frequently. It's very dangerous actually. I DO NOT recommend this rink if you're a new skater or would like to teach your young ones how to skate. A better option that is the same price, better quality ice and a much safer experience would be Oakton Ice in Park Ridge. It's worth the extra mile honestly.

My son goes to this ice rink, and we couldn't be happier! The coaches are fantastic--knowledgeable,…read morepatient, and really great with the kids. They even have a concession stand, which makes it easy to grab a snack during sessions. Overall, it's an excellent asset to the community and a place we truly value.

Fun place for ice skating! They have a lot of ice skate and hockey sizes available. The ice rink is…read morean average size and the it's clean. The ice could be cleaned more often though. It would also be nice if there were more walkers available for open skate.

Sports photographers: rejoice! This arena has genuinely the best glass and best lighting I've ever…read moreexperienced to the point I actually got to turn down my ISO & up my shutter speed. My team was on the west rink, for reference. There's plenty of seating for this rink too, including high top tables!

I'm a fan of this barn…read more I especially like the stadium feel of the main rink and the various options for seating. My son said the ice was "decent", though it was a little uneven in a few spots. I think there needs to be a more efficient way to communicate when a game is at the John street barn, so that you're not having to get out at the main location. We had part of a tournament at this location and it was conducive to keeping the kids engaged, with the outdoor fields and areas to fill the down time.

We hired Record-a-hit for their photo booth services for our wedding at Salvage One in July 2022…read more They were easy to work with and responsive about questions ahead of time. The photo booth came with props and they also were happy to set out some extra props that we had purchased. The photo booth attendant, Jovani, was great and the photo booth was a hit with our guests. We loved that we got a physical copy of each photo at the end of the night in addition to digital copies later so we could see the fun our guests had. If you're looking for a photo booth for your wedding, we highly recommend Record-a-hit!

Whenever I have a need for event entertainment, I turn to Record a Hit. Over the years, whether it…read morehas been a Money Booth, a Balloon Artist, or a Rain Tent, Rob and Dipesh have been so responsive and accommodating. Maybe even more importantly, the staff they use to set up the equipment have been prompt, knowledgeable and flexible. I had one year where the rain tent was not working as I wanted and the guy who set it up ran out to hardware store and provided a great solution and was done fixing it before the event even started. I never hesitate to contact Record a Hit for my needs.

The Wolves are always fun to go see. It's a shame the attendance isn't what it used to be. Tickets…read moreare reasonably priced in my opinion, and they do a lot during the game to make it a worthwhile experience. Their pre-game show is far and away the best out of any professional sports team. Nothing better than lasers, pyro, and the heart pounding music of Motley Crue. Lot of funs things to do at the arena for the kiddos as well. The Skates Mates kids club was always a blast when I was younger. Fingers crossed they continue to do well in the playoffs!

I recently went here with a small group of friends and had an amazing time. I was really impressed…read morewith the entire experience from start to end from the efficient parking management and security screening to the amazing amount of side activities and picture opportunities that were available. There was never a dull moment during this entire experience. One way to really get a crowd energized from the start is with introducing the players with pyrotechnics which was followed by a great singing of the national anthem. The fast pace of the game and constant offense had the crowd constantly cheering, especially when the Wolves would score a goal. During the intermissions, it was great to wander around the arena which was complete with everything from backdrops to dog petting to merchandise purchases to fun photo opportunities with props. There was a good mix of things to do that were free and paid, and the lines weren't excessive. Between second and third period, I also got to see the mascot, watching a flying blimp, watch the Zambonis go across the ice, and try to get a free t-shirt. This definitely made the entire intermission super eventful and a lot of fun. Overall, I would definitely come back for another game. It was exciting and there was so much to experience. It was also definitely a great place to enjoy an experience with friends as the noise wasn't excessive so it wasn't too difficult to hear one another.

I'm in a few park and playground social media groups, and the park at the Des Plaines Park District…read moreAdministrative Center has come up a time or two as being particularly good. I decided we should finally go check it out. If you're coming here for the playground, don't make the boneheaded mistake I did: Stopping at the Iroquois Community School, which is right off Touhy and when I saw the school's playground I thought we were at our destination. You will be sorely disappointed if you stop at the wrong one. If you make your way here via Birch Street, you'll go all the way to the end of the street, turn left, and find the park on the other side of the building; if you take Maple Street to get here, drive down toward the barricade dividing the street and you won't be able to miss it on your right. With all that out of the way, this is a fantastic park. When we left the school playyard, something just seemed off and I am so glad that I went around the block to find the actual playground we'd intended to visit, at the DPPD. It's all the way back at the end of the road; you'll essentially dead-end into when you head down Birch. This is my current favorite playground. The equipment is fantastic and so much of it is geared toward the littlest kiddos, which is not always the case. Here there are small things for them to climb on and under, there's a little "farmers market" booth with different play elements, crawl spaces, slides, and so on. My little girl had fun just running around the place, and she also did some crawling and climbing and sliding and enjoyed trying to feed the big turtle sculpture, as well as naming the turtle's body parts that she recognized. Toward the tail end of our visit, she spotted the swings, which is her favorite so we spent a while there before heading out. All told, we spent about 45 minutes here. The first time, that is--we've since been back again in the last week or so since our first visit and were there for an hour or more. There are several picnic tables in this playground area as well, so many of the parents were hanging out there whilst the kids ran around. This playground is geared toward younger kids (10 and below). The terrain is turf, grass, and paved walkways throughout, and it's fully fenced which is one of my favorite features of a park right now (though some parents are better than others about making sure the gates are actually closed). There's a private parking lot, very convenient. I hope we see you there!

On Sept 15, we went to the Fall Festival to see Live bands play on stage but what we saw was…read moredrunken brawls break out during the concert. Prior to the bands playing and during the breaks, announcements were constantly made for Alcohol Sales. Alcohol impairs judgement and I highly suggest that at future park district events that No Alcohol Sales occur, especially events that are promoted as "family friendly".