Ice rinks return for the holiday season. Here’s where to skate in the Modesto area
Ice skaters can once again enjoy holiday rinks in Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties, all of them getting a head start on Thanksgiving.
The rinks will open either Friday or Saturday, Nov. 17 or 18, and run well past Christmas.
Modesto on Ice will operate again at a downtown parking lot. Turlock Fields of Ice will return to the east edge of town. Long Barn Lodge has skating just off Highway 108 in the mountain town. All three can be reserved for parties and have rental skates at low or no cost.
“Are you excited?” said a Nov. 12 post on the Turlock site’s Facebook page. “We’re making ice and sharpening skates. Get out your gloves and hats, because the ice and weather may be chilly.”
More details:
Modesto on Ice: It will open Saturday and run each day through Jan. 15, the holiday for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The hours will vary. Admission is $18 for skaters 13 or older, $14 for 3 to 12, and free for younger kids. Rental skates are free. The rink is at 11th and K streets. More information is at modestoonice.com.
Turlock Fields of Ice: Skating will happen daily from Friday to Jan. 15. The hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on most days and shorter hours on Thanksgiving and Dec. 24 and 25. Tickets are $14 to $18, depending on age and day of the week. Rental skates are free. The rink is at 716 N. Daubenberger Road. More details are at turlockfieldsofice.com.
Long Barn Lodge: It will operate from Friday until sometime in mid-March. The hours will vary. Admission is $15, plus $5 to rent skates. The rink is at 25957 Long Barn Road. More information is at thelongbarnlodge.com.
Tuolumne County briefly had another skating rink, on synthetic ice near Columbia State Historic Park. It was supposed to be year-round, but closed for good last April because incessant storms had kept patrons away.
Hopefully, there will be no Season 2 for another rink in this county. It was created illegally on Pinecrest Lake in February. The surface was frozen, but this elevation does not have ice thick enough for safe skating, the U. S. Forest Service warned.
