Ice Skating in Ann Arbor: Where the Ice Actually Is This Winter

Ann Arbor is down to one city rink.

An EF-1 tornado came through on 15 April 2026 and tore a wall off the Veterans Memorial Park ice arena. The city put up a temporary wall for safety and then, in the only sentence that matters if you are planning a skate this winter, said the building would not be coming back in time. From the City of Ann Arbor’s own parks pages: “Veterans Memorial Park Indoor Ice Arena will not be reopening for the 2026/27 ice rink season following extensive damage from the April 15 tornado.”

That is a bigger deal than it sounds. Veterans was the indoor rink, the one that normally ran from mid-September to early May. Buhr Park, the city’s other sheet, is covered but open-air and only runs in the depth of winter. So for this one season, the city’s ice calendar is not reduced. It is cut in half, and the half that survived is the half that depends on the weather.

Which makes the second problem worse, and the second problem is the one this guide is really about.

A rink’s open hours are not skating hours

This is the mistake almost everyone makes, and every aggregator on the internet encourages it.

Arctic Coliseum in Chelsea lists its hours as 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays. Fourteen hours. You cannot skate for fourteen hours. Nearly all of that ice is sold – to hockey leagues, to figure skating clubs, to learn-to-skate programs, to high school teams, to private rentals. What is left over for someone who just wants to lace up and go around in circles is a public skate session, and a public skate session is about eighty minutes long.

Eighty minutes is not an approximation. The BIGGBY COFFEE Ice Cube has 180 public sessions loaded into its booking system for this season, and 179 of them are exactly one hour and twenty minutes long. The other one is 65 minutes. A rink runs on an eighty-minute clock: skate, clear, resurface, next group.

The Cube is the clearest illustration of the gap, because its own booking records are readable. It has 132 family public skate windows and 48 adult public skate windows programmed across the week. And its booking system carries a setting, switched on, whose entire job is to hide event times – the rink deliberately does not print those session times on its own public skate page. It gives you a QR code and a link to a live calendar instead. Its 2026-2027 season program guide, ten pages long, does the same thing: it describes public skating warmly, tells you about the disco lights, and never once prints a time.

That is not the rink being unhelpful. It is the rink being honest about something it cannot promise. A tournament moves, a team buys an extra hour, the Zamboni breaks, and Thursday’s 4 p.m. session is gone. The city’s own guidance says the same thing in four words on the Ice Cube guide: “Schedules are subject to change.”

So the rule for this winter is simple. Never drive to a rink on the strength of its listed hours. Pull the session, for the day you are going, from the operator’s live calendar, and do it the morning you leave.

The one thing nobody has published yet

Here is the part that will frustrate you if you are reading this in October and trying to plan a December outing.

As of 1 October 2026, the City of Ann Arbor has not published anything about this winter’s ice. The Buhr Park page on a2gov.org is entirely pool content – swim team practice times, deep-end tests, summer admission. The city’s dedicated Ice Skating and Hockey events calendar exists, and its feed is empty. Zero sessions. It was last updated in March.

Yost Ice Arena, the University of Michigan’s rink, announces its public skate one month at a time, because the varsity hockey schedule and the academic calendar both outrank you.

So in October, December is genuinely unknowable. Last season’s pattern is the best guide anybody has, and below it is labelled as exactly that. If you need a date locked in now, the Ice Cube is the only venue in the county with a full season of sessions already loaded.

The rinks

BIGGBY COFFEE Ice Cube – the one that will almost always have ice

BIGGBY COFFEE Ice Cube, 2121 Oak Valley Drive, (734) 213-1600.

Three sheets under one 155,000 square foot roof – an Olympic rink, a stadium rink and a varsity rink – which is why this is the rink that absorbs everything else in the county. It opened in 1995, it is run by Black Bear Sports Group, and it is home ice for the Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club, Michigan Medicine MedSport, and the Huron, Pioneer, Father Gabriel Richard and Saline high school hockey teams. With Veterans gone, this is the workhorse of the 2026-27 season.

It splits public skate in two, and the split matters more than the price:

• Family Open Skate: $10. Skate rental $5 per person. Children must be supervised and under-18s need a parent waiver.
• Adult Open Skate: $8. Strictly 18 and over. Skate rental $5.

The shape of the week is worth knowing. Adult sessions are a daytime thing, clustered from the morning through early afternoon. Family sessions run from midday into the evening, and two days of the week carry 24 family windows each while the other five carry 16 to 19 – those same two days almost disappear from the adult calendar. The latest family session of the week does not clear the ice until 10:05 p.m. If you want quiet ice, go on a weekday morning as an adult. If you want the busiest and best-stocked sessions, go at the weekend and expect company.

Two practical notes. Pre-register and pay online: the rink has said since 15 July 2026 that online pre-registration saves up to 33 percent, because walk-up prices vary at the counter. And the Friday and Saturday Cosmic Ice Skating sessions run disco lights and music, which is either the reason you are going or the reason you are not.

Family skate $10, adult skate $8, rental $5, all sessions 80 minutes. Session counts and prices verified 1 October 2026 against the rink’s own booking records, last updated 23 September 2026.

Buhr Park Ice Arena – the only city rink left

Buhr Park Ice Arena, 2751 Packard Road, 734.794.6234. The surrounding Buhr Park is a separate entry in our directory.

The city calls it a “covered, open-air regulation-size ice rink”, and both halves of that are load-bearing. Covered means a roof and a refrigerated subfloor that holds ice even when it is a little over 50 degrees outside, so Buhr is far more reliable than a pond. Open-air means you are skating in the actual weather, which is why the city also notes that “our outdoor heaters provide a cozy spot to warm up”. Dress as though you are going sledding, not as though you are going to a mall.

The season normally opens in November and runs to the end of February, weather permitting, and last year it stretched to 22 March. This is the rink that gets Ann Arbor through the winter now, and it is also the rink with nothing published yet.

Last season, for 2025-26, the city ran it like this: Sundays 3:15 to 5:30 p.m.; Mondays and Thursdays 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at half-price admission; Wednesdays 4:45 to 5:45 p.m., also half-price; Fridays 7 to 8:45 p.m.; Saturdays 2:45 to 4:30 p.m. and again 7:15 to 8:30 p.m. Admission was $6 for adults, $5 for ages 17 and under or 60 and over, and $3 for skate rentals – comfortably the cheapest ice in the county, and the half-price weekday hours cheaper still.

Treat all of that as last season’s pattern, not this season’s promise. For the 2026-27 dates, the person to ask is Carly Houston, Recreation Supervisor, at chouston@a2gov.org or 734.794.6234.

2025-26 published session grid and prices as above. 2026-27 schedule not yet published by the city as of 1 October 2026 – the Buhr page carries only pool information and the city’s ice calendar feed is empty. Verified 1 October 2026.

Yost Ice Arena – the one with a varsity schedule to work around

Yost Ice Arena, 1116 S State St.

Skating at Yost is a genuinely different experience from skating at a municipal rink, because Yost is a 1923 building that has been Michigan hockey’s home since 1973 and feels like it. Public skate is $10 for adults and $5 for students, children, and U-M faculty and staff, with skate rental at $5.

The catch is the calendar. Yost publishes public skate one month at a time, and the times move with the academic calendar and the hockey schedule. Last season it ran from 1 October through 30 April. There is no point planning a Yost skate more than a few weeks ahead; check the month you are in and take what is offered.

Public skate $10 adult, $5 student / child / U-M faculty and staff, $5 rental. Schedule published one month at a time and subject to change. Verified 1 October 2026.

Arctic Coliseum, Chelsea – worth the drive for the Saturday night one

Arctic Coliseum, 501 Coliseum Dr, Chelsea, (734) 433-4444.

Twenty minutes west on I-94 and the cheapest staffed ice around: $7 for adults, $4 for children under 10, $5 for skate rental. The building is open Sunday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and this is the clearest case of the hours trap in the county – public skate has been running as a single midday session of roughly 12 to 1:20 p.m., with stick and puck slotted immediately before it. Fourteen hours of building, eighty minutes of open ice.

The reason to make the drive is the DJ Skate on select Saturday nights: laser lights, a video wall, and song requests taken by the DJ, for $15 including skate rental. That is a genuinely different night out from a municipal afternoon session, and nothing in Ann Arbor proper is doing it.

Public skate $7 adult, $4 under 10, $5 rental; DJ Skate $15 including rental on select Saturdays. Building hours Sun 9 a.m.-10 p.m., Mon-Fri 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Confirm the session before driving. Verified 1 October 2026.

Monument Park, Dexter – free, outdoor, and completely at the mercy of the weather

Monument Park, downtown Dexter.

A free outdoor rink in the middle of a village square, open daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. whenever there is ice. There is no rental counter, so bring your own skates.

Be realistic about when that is. The rink needs more than a week of consistently freezing temperatures to freeze to a safe depth, which in practice means it usually comes in around February and runs to mid-March, and it opens and closes day by day after that. In a mild winter it may barely happen at all. Check the city’s rink status before you go rather than driving out on a cold snap.

Daily 8 a.m.-9 p.m. when frozen, free, no skate rental. Typically February to mid-March; requires over a week of sustained freezing temperatures. Verified 1 October 2026.

Tefft Park and the Saline Recreation Center – named, but not published

Saline Recreation Center, 1866 Woodland Drive East, Saline.

Worth an honest entry rather than a confident one. The City of Saline’s own description of Tefft Park, which is where the recreation center sits, lists “winter activities such as sledding, skating and cross-country skiing”. But the city publishes no rink, no hours, no admission and no ice-depth check anywhere on its parks pages. There is a skating tradition here and there is no schedule behind it.

If you are in Saline and want to try, call Saline Parks and Recreation on 734-429-3502 first and ask whether the ice is in. Do not drive out on the strength of a park description.

City of Saline names skating among Tefft Park’s winter activities; no rink hours, admission or ice status published. Verified 1 October 2026.

Veterans Memorial Park – closed for the whole season

Veterans Memorial Park Pool & Ice Arena, 2150 Jackson Ave. The surrounding Veterans Memorial Park is listed separately.

Listed here on purpose, because this is the single most likely wasted trip in Ann Arbor this winter. It is a real rink at a real address with a live entry in our directory and in everyone else’s, and it will not open at any point in 2026-27.

The city has given no timeline for repair. Parks and Recreation Manager Josh Landefeld put it this way: “We understand how deeply this impacts the many renters, skaters, hockey players, families and community members who rely on Veterans Memorial Ice Arena each year.” Parts of the park itself – the playground, the skatepark, the ballfields – came back in May. The arena did not.

Closed for the entire 2026-27 season following the 15 April 2026 tornado. No reopening timeline published. Verified 1 October 2026 against the City of Ann Arbor.

What it costs, at a glance

Buhr remains the cheapest ice in the county and Monument Park is free, but both are the two most weather-dependent options on the list. That tradeoff is the whole shape of skating in Washtenaw County.

Getting skates, and getting them sharpened

Pure Hockey, 2121 Oak Valley Drive, (734) 332-1480.

The pro shop inside the Ice Cube does sharpening and fittings, which makes it the obvious stop if you own skates that have not been touched since last winter. Published hours are Monday to Friday 2 to 9 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the honest caveat the shop itself gives: hours vary with the rink schedule, so call before making the trip.

One naming note, because it will confuse you otherwise. This shop is listed in our directory, and in most of the internet, as Perani’s Hockey World. Pure Hockey acquired Perani’s in April 2026 and rebranded every location, and the Ice Cube’s own 2026-27 program guide now names its pro shop as Pure Hockey. Same shop, same address, same phone, new sign.

Mon-Fri 2-9 p.m., Sat 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun 10 a.m.-8 p.m., varying with the rink schedule. Verified 1 October 2026.

When the ice does not cooperate

Two winters in three, there will be a week where Buhr is closed, Monument Park is slush, and the Cube’s sessions are all sold out to a tournament.

Rolling Hills, 7660 Stony Creek Rd, Ypsilanti, is the county’s answer. The sledding hill is lit for evening use, and there are about three miles of groomed cross-country ski trails when there is snow for them. Sled and tube rental runs 3:30 to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at weekends and during Ypsilanti school breaks, when coverage is adequate. Park admission is published at $6 for Washtenaw County residents and $10 for non-residents. The Rolling Hills water park in the same park is a summer operation and is listed separately.

Meri Lou Murray Recreation Center, 2960 Washtenaw Ave, 734-971-6355, is the indoor fallback – pool, gym, indoor track, no ice. Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is not skating, but it is open, warm and reliably there, which in February counts for something.

Rolling Hills rental 3:30-7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. weekends and Ypsilanti school breaks, snow permitting; admission $6 county residents, $10 non-residents. Meri Lou Murray Mon-Fri 6 a.m.-9 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Verified 1 October 2026.

Three entries in our own directory to read carefully

We would rather tell you about these than let you find out at the door.

U of M Sports Coliseum, 721 S 5th Ave, has not had ice since 1973. It was Michigan hockey’s home before Yost, and the last game played on that ice was a 9-8 overtime loss to Minnesota-Duluth on 10 February 1973. The ice came out, the building became a gymnasium, and today it is a multipurpose Michigan Recreation facility used by intramural and club sports and reserved for scheduled events only. The word Coliseum does a lot of damage here, because the actual Coliseum you can skate at is 20 miles west in Chelsea.

Olympia Skate Shop, 213 S 4th Ave, sells skateboards, not ice skates. It is a good shop that will fit your grip tape and wheels, and it will not sharpen your hockey skates. A separate Olympia location at 1145 W Michigan Ave in Ypsilanti shows as closed.

Perani’s Hockey World is now Pure Hockey, as above. The listing name is a year out of date; the shop is open.

Before you go

Four things, in order of how much time they will save you.

Pull the session, not the hours. Every venue on this page except Monument Park sells ice to somebody else for most of the day.

Check the day you are travelling, the morning you travel. Eighty-minute sessions get cancelled and moved, and the two outdoor rinks answer to the temperature.

Pre-book the Ice Cube online if that is where you are going. Up to a third off, and you are not gambling on a sold-out session.

And give Veterans Memorial a wide berth until the city says otherwise. It is the most convincing dead end in town.

Hours, prices and session structures on this page were verified on 1 October 2026 against first-party sources: the City of Ann Arbor’s parks pages and events calendar feed, the BIGGBY COFFEE Ice Cube’s own site, booking records and 2026-2027 Fall/Winter Program Guide, the City of Dexter, the City of Saline, Washtenaw County Parks, and published Yost Ice Arena and Arctic Coliseum rates. Rink schedules change week to week and the outdoor rinks change day to day. Confirm your session before you drive.