Once offering ice skating in late November or early December, outdoor ice rinks in Waukegan and other parts of Lake County opened in January and may close for the season well before the end of winter.
Rafael Ayala, the manager of park maintenance for the Waukegan Park District and a 26-year veteran there, said as soon as the temperature dips below 32 degrees for a week to 10 days, the Park District can begin flooding its two outdoor rinks.
“We frame it out with 2×12 lumber, put a sheet of plastic on the ground, connect a hose to a fire hydrant and flood the rinks,” Ayala said, “It takes a few days before it’s smooth. It usually takes three or four.”
Victory and Arbor parks in Waukegan, as well as the Lake County Forest Preserves District facilities at Independence Grove in Libertyville and the Lakewood preserve in Wauconda, opened outdoor skating in early January for people seeking outdoor winter recreation.
Though the area experienced a stretch of single-digit temperatures this week, Ayala said the outdoor skating season on natural rinks becomes shorter and shorter each year as temperatures rise about freezing, frequently melting the ice.
“We did not open at all last year,” Ayala said. “It’s getting warmer every year. We used to start flooding in mid-November or early December, and stay open until late February or early March. Now, we plan to open in the first week of January.”
John Nelson, the chief operations officer for the Forest Preserves District, said the outdoor ice skating season keeps shrinking for the flooded rink at the Lakewood Forest Preserve in Wauconda and on the pond in Independence Grove in Libertyville.
“We closely watch the temperature when it starts getting cold,” Nelson said. “Then we check the thickness of the ice. We keep checking it regularly. No one has ever fallen through the ice there.”
When the ice reaches a thickness of 4½ inches at Independence Grove, Nelson said it is safe for staking. It is regularly checked to assure safety. The pond was open much less the last three winters than it was in the winters of 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Five years ago, Nelson said Independence Grove was open for skating 22 days, and 37 days the following year. So far this year, it was open 12 days. But last winter there were eight days of skating, and six the year before that.
Before the Lakewood rink can open, Nelson said the ground must be frozen in a low-lying area before it is flooded. So far there this year, skating was available for seven days, but the rink never opened last year and only offered seven days of activity in 2022-23 season. People were able to skate 41 days in the 2021-22 season, and 34 days the year before.
When the temperature climbs above 32 degrees, Quincy Bejster, the manager of parks for the Waukegan Park District, said the rinks are temporarily closed. It takes a little flooding and work to get them ready again.
“We need to make it safe and smooth,” Bejster said. “This is a good way to get some exercise and fresh air outside in the winter.”
A number of other communities in Lake County have outdoor skating, according to the Visit Lake County website. Johnathan Jones, the organization’s director of marketing, said the website is kept as current as possible.
There are outdoor rinks in Deerfield, Fox Lake, Grayslake, Gurnee, Libertyville, Lincolnshire, Mundelein, Vernon Hills, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Lindenhurst and Round Lake, according to the website.
The Waukegan rinks are open from 9 a.m. to sunset, and at the Forest Preserves District from 6:30 a.m. to sunset.
For people looking for a different winter sport on the ice, Nelson said there is ice fishing at Independence Grove, Hastings Lake in Lindenhurst, Lake Carina in Gurnee and Van Patten Woods in Wadsworth. People fish at their own risk there.
