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Snow Flake Lake Ice Skating — Carowinds WinterFest

Outdoor skating on Snow Flake Lake at Carowinds’ WinterFest — real ice, cooled by a giant air-conditioning unit, under five million holiday lights.

Illustration of people ice skating outdoors — not a photograph of Snow Flake Lake Ice Skating.

Illustration only — not a photo of this rink.

Skating seasonNovember 27, 2026 – January 3, 2027, select WinterFest nights (VisitNC Thanksgiving guide; 2026 Charlotte holiday guides). WinterFest itself runs select nights; check the park calendar for the night you plan to visit
AdmissionSkating is a paid add-on to WinterFest admission; the 2026–27 skating add-on price was not published at listing time — check Carowinds before going. Prior-season figures ($15 skating add-on; WinterFest tickets from $32) are NOT carried forward
Skate rentalsRental skates were included with the skating add-on in prior seasons; 2026–27 rental inclusion was not confirmed at listing time — check Carowinds
Session hoursSkating runs during WinterFest evenings on select nights; session length and nightly skating hours were not published for 2026–27 at listing time — check the park calendar
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📍 Carowinds, 14523 Carowinds Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28273
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Plan your visit

WinterFest admission gets you into the park; skating on Snow Flake Lake is a separate paid add-on, and the 2026–27 add-on price was not published at listing time, so check Carowinds before you go rather than relying on last season’s $15 figure. WinterFest runs select nights November 27, 2026 – January 3, 2027, so confirm the night you plan to visit on the park calendar. Carowinds sits on the North Carolina–South Carolina line, with a Charlotte address; allow time for parking and the walk in from the lots.

What makes this rink distinctive

A lake that becomes a rink: Snow Flake Lake, in front of the Thunder Striker coaster, is flooded and frozen for WinterFest, and the park’s own behind-the-scenes account stresses that “the ice is actual ice, and is not a synthetic ice-like surface, and is cooled with a giant air conditioning unit.” Skating under five million lights, steps from Camp Snoopy’s Charlie Brown Christmas Town, makes this the most theme-park version of outdoor skating in the Carolinas.

Official tickets and session information

Schedules, prices and closures can change. Check the venue's own site before setting out.

Visit official rink website ↗

Information checked: 2026-10-24. Read source ↗
Season status: November 27, 2026 – January 3, 2027, select nights, per the VisitNC Thanksgiving guide and 2026 Charlotte holiday guides; a current-season South Carolina tourism piece also names outdoor ice skating at Snow Flake Lake. Real ice (separate source): Coaster101’s behind-the-scenes WinterFest account — “The ice is actual ice, and is not a synthetic ice-like surface, and is cooled with a giant air conditioning unit.” One conflicting note: a SouthPark Magazine roundup crawled in December 2025 said WinterFest would not have skating “this year”; the 2026 sources above govern. Skating add-on price and session details were not published for 2026–27 at listing time and are not stated.

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