Editorial policy: how we verify
How listings are researched, checked against official sources, corrected, photographed, and written — in plain terms.
What this site is
Ice Rink Guide is an independent directory of seasonal, holiday, and outdoor ice rinks across the United States. It is independently operated and is not affiliated with the venues it lists. The directory exists to help skaters and families find a rink, see its published season dates and prices, and get to the venue’s own site to confirm details before they go.
How a rink gets listed
Listings are researched from official sources: the venue’s own website, the city, parks department, or operator that runs the rink, or an official announcement from one of them. A rink is listed for a season only when an official source confirms it will operate that season. The directory focuses on seasonal, outdoor, and holiday rinks; year-round indoor arenas, natural-ice ponds that depend on the weather, and synthetic surfaces are outside its scope, and any exception is noted on the listing itself.
Where the facts come from
Season dates, admission prices, skate rental information, and addresses are taken from the official sources above — never from other directories or roundup articles. Every rink page carries an “Information checked” date and a link to the source used. When an operator has not published a price or a date, the listing says so instead of estimating one. Prices and schedules change, sometimes mid-season, which is why each listing links to the venue’s official site as the final word.
What we do not do
We do not visit every rink in person, and nothing on this site should be read as a first-hand review. Listings are not sold: venues cannot pay for placement, ranking, or better treatment, and no venue is listed or removed because of advertising. Where a listing links to visitor reviews on Google Maps or Tripadvisor, the link is labeled with the listing it actually covers — a park, resort, or attraction — when the reviews are not the rink’s own.
Corrections and updates
Anyone can suggest a rink or report an error using the Submit a Rink and Update a Listing forms, or by emailing [email protected]. Every submission is reviewed by a person and checked against official sources before anything changes; submissions are never published automatically. When a listing changes, its “Information checked” date is updated. Listings for rinks that close are corrected or removed when that is confirmed.
Photography and illustrations
A rink page shows a real photograph only when the image is licensed for reuse — Creative Commons licenses (CC0, CC BY, or CC BY-SA) — and the photographer and license are credited on the page. Every other page uses an illustration, labeled “Illustration only — not a photo of this rink,” so an illustration is never mistaken for the venue. If you are a photographer and believe a credit is wrong or an image should come down, contact us and we will correct or remove it.
AI assistance
We use AI tools to help organize research, draft text, and build and maintain the site’s pages. AI is never the source of a fact on this site: every published date, price, and address is checked against an official source first, and the editor reviews and approves what is published. If a tool-assisted process ever produces an error, the correction process above is how it gets fixed.
News
News stories are written from official announcements and linked reporting, and each story names or links its sources. We publish openings, schedule and price developments, and useful visitor information — not automated roundups or rewritten press releases posted just to fill space.
Contact
Questions about this policy or a listing: [email protected].