Which Ice Rinks Are Still Open in Texas in 2025 and 2026?

Ice rinks in Texas that are actually open can be hard to track down, and it takes some effort to find accurate information. State tourism websites love to feature places that closed their doors 2 years ago. Mall directories will show you rinks that only stay open from Thanksgiving through New Year’s during the holiday season. Local Facebook groups are usually full of debates about whether that training center downtown accepts drop-in skaters at all, or if they save all their ice time exclusively for league play.

Texas ice rinks face some pretty different problems compared to what you’d find up in Minnesota or Michigan. The summer heat down there gets intense, and it ends up costing smaller rinks a whole lot of money in cooling costs, so they’ll actually close down for months at a time. Electricity prices can spike during peak demand periods too, and when that happens, rinks sometimes have to shut their doors with very little warning - we’re talking about less than 24 hours for customers to find out. Rinks that have operated for decades will rearrange their schedules based on the weather forecast and their utility bills, as compared to what actually works best for the skaters who want to use the facility.

What works in January might disappear by July. A rink that advertises year-round hours in one season could pretty easily cut back to winter-only operation in the next year, once they see what they pay for cooling during the hottest summer months. Families who need to plan birthday parties or tourists who want to skate in August depend on up-to-date, accurate information - but outdated website listings just cause disappointment after you drive 1 hour and find the locked doors.

Let’s check out which Texas ice rinks are keeping their doors open for skaters!

How Texas Ice Rinks Have Changed

Texas has never been what you’d call a perfect place for ice rinks. Back in the early 2000s, the state had more than 30 places in operation. Since then, that number has dropped quite a bit as the rinks closed down permanently. Most of them ran into equipment failures or financial problems that were just too hard to recover from.

How many rinks actually stay open at any given time depends pretty heavily on the season. Some places shut down during the hottest summer months because the energy costs get way too high to make it worth staying open. Other rinks keep their doors open all year long. But they might cut back on their hours or close temporarily for maintenance when the temperatures start to climb. This seasonal pattern can make it a bit tough to tell which rinks are actually available when you plan to visit.

The February 2021 freeze brought big problems to the ice rinks all across Texas. A few rinks took heavy damage during that storm. Pipes froze and burst wide open, and the refrigeration systems shut down when the power stayed out for days at a time. Recovery from that freeze ended up taking years for the industry. A handful of rinks closed during the storm and never reopened after that - they just couldn’t recover from the financial hit and the equipment damage. Other rinks spent months (and in some cases, well over a year) to repair and replace their damaged equipment before they’d welcome customers back through the doors. A few places are still working through the problems caused by that storm, even now in 2025.

These changes have shifted the situation for ice rinks in Texas compared to just a few years back. Anyone planning a visit to one of these places should call ahead or check their website first. The operating schedules aren’t nearly as predictable as they used to be, and a rink that was running last month could be closed down this month for repairs or just a seasonal break.

Texas Rinks Struggle with the Summer Heat

Ice rinks in Texas face a very different challenge compared to rinks up north or in other cold-weather climates. When the temperature outside climbs past 100 degrees, the cooling system inside has to run around the clock just to stop the ice from melting. Continuous operation like that gets expensive fast - really fast. Plenty of rink owners wind up spending thousands of dollars every day during the summer season, and that’s just to cover the electricity costs for keeping a frozen surface.

The financial side gets even worse because of how electricity pricing actually works in Texas. The state runs on a deregulated energy market, and the price per kilowatt hour can spike way up whenever demand is high. Summer afternoons are when everyone has their AC cranked to full blast, and for ice rink owners, that’s right when they need the most power to make sure that the ice stays frozen. A big spike in energy costs can turn a rink that was just barely making money into one that’s now losing money every month.

This explains why your local ice rink might close down for a few weeks every July or August. Families still want to skate during the summer, and the owners would love to stay open. It’s actually a tough business call for them to shut down during the most expensive period of the year. After the weather cools off and energy costs drop back to normal levels, they’ll reopen in the fall.

Some places wind up closing their doors with barely any warning when the electricity prices surge dramatically in their area. Emergency closures like this happen because the cost of the power can spike so high that it’s just not financially viable to keep running. The building is still there, the equipment is still in perfect working order, and there’s nothing actually wrong with the facility itself. The utility bills alone can climb high enough to make running the business unfeasible.

It doesn’t make financial sense for smaller rinks to stay open 12 months out of the year anymore. Owners have to decide which months they can afford to run it in, and the choice usually depends on whether or not they can cover the cost of running their cooling systems.

Major Cities with Active Ice Rinks

Dallas-Fort Worth usually has between eight and ten active ice rinks that operate at the same time, and that’s been pretty steady for a few years. The metro area has developed a decent base of youth hockey leagues and figure skating programs over time, and these groups depend on reliable access to ice throughout the entire year.

Houston has a different type of stability with the Galleria ice rink. This place attracts tourists and shoppers all year round, and it hardly ever shuts down for weeks or months at a time. It has all that steady foot traffic. It’s a recreational place and a tourist destination rolled into one, and this gives it a lot more staying power than rinks that depend only on local skaters to fill their calendars.

Austin has been adding newer places over the last few years, largely because of the tech workers who’ve relocated to the area and who want more recreational options beyond bars and restaurants. These newer rinks usually have more modern equipment and much better climate control, and this last part actually matters quite a bit with the brutal Texas heat. Ice quality takes a lot more work to maintain down here compared to rinks in colder states.

San Antonio is a bit different from other cities in Texas because of the military families who live on base. Families stationed at Joint Base San Antonio or at Lackland usually come from parts of the country where ice skating and roller skating are far more popular, and when they move here, they’re looking for those same kinds of activities for their kids. Military families actively look for rinks, so there’s already a steady stream of interested customers right from the start. Rinks in San Antonio usually do better financially because they can count on this reliable demand compared to cities without any big military presence.

Big cities still go through seasonal changes, just like anywhere else. Summer tends to mean shorter operating hours at most rinks, and some places will close down temporarily for maintenance. Winter is a different story - more customers want to skate when it’s actually cold outside, so rinks will extend their hours to take care of the increased demand.

Metropolitan areas have enough dedicated skaters year-round to support multiple rinks in operation, no matter the season.

Check the Rink Status Before You Go

Check the rink’s latest status on USA Hockey’s rink finder tool first before you make the drive out. Member rinks are usually pretty reliable about keeping their information up to date in the database, and it can save you from a wasted trip. You’ll get a much better idea of what’s actually open now instead of just assuming that last year’s schedule still applies.

Rink websites sometimes show schedules from last season or earlier, and the information might not match what’s happening now. A quick phone call takes maybe 2 minutes of your time, and it can save you from making a trip all the way across town just to show up at a locked building. The staff who answer the phone will know which hours they’re open for public skating, and they can also tell you if there’s any maintenance work scheduled that might close the rink temporarily.

Local hockey associations and figure skating clubs are usually your best source for finding out about ice rink closures before they’re officially announced. These groups are at the facility a few times a week (sometimes every day), which means they stay in touch with the staff who actually run the place. When a compressor breaks down or the ice needs emergency maintenance, the facility managers contact these teams first because they’re the ones who will be most affected by any schedule disruptions. It’s a pretty reliable information pipeline if you can tap into it.

Take a quick look at the rink’s Facebook and Instagram pages before you head out. Rinks post updates on social media way before they update their official website. If a compressor breaks down or if bad weather hits, you’ll see it there first - usually hours ahead of any other announcement. Equipment problems can shut down the ice for days, so this quick check might save you from a wasted trip.

This takes maybe 5 minutes total, and those 5 minutes can save you from a wasted trip. Texas heat is brutal on ice rink equipment, and it means these rinks have to handle more breakdowns and closures than rinks in cooler climates. A little bit of online research combined with a quick phone call will give you the best sense of what’s actually going on at any given facility before you make the drive.

Other Ice Skating Venues to Think About

Texas has a handful of year-round ice rinks, and if you’re a competitive skater or hockey player in the area, that’s great news. Most of these rinks are built for figure skaters and hockey players who compete at higher levels - the athletes who need steady ice time to stay sharp. Public skating sessions are available at these places. But the time slots can be pretty restricted. The majority of the ice time gets reserved for competitive athletes who depend on regular practice to maintain their edge.

Some roller rinks around the state have started to install synthetic ice panels, and it’s become an interesting option for skaters who want another way to practice. Synthetic ice works with your normal ice skates without any need for a refrigeration system, though it does feel noticeably different under your blades compared to real ice, and you’ll feel some extra resistance that you’ll need to adjust to before it feels natural. But even with that, it does the job well enough to maintain your balance and your basic techniques if you can’t make it to a real ice rink.

A few venues across Texas have found a solid way to deal with this - they change their setup based on the season. During the brutal summer months, they’ll run inline hockey programs when ice maintenance isn’t worth it. When the fall arrives, and the temperature finally drops, they convert everything back over to ice hockey because demand for ice time shoots way up, and each venue decides this based on what its local skating community is looking for at that particular time of the year.

None of these options will recreate the exact same experience you get at a traditional ice rink with frozen water and cold air. The temperature is going to be warmer, and your skates won’t glide across the surface in quite the same way. What they can do is give you a legitimate way to preserve your skating form when your usual rink closes down for the summer or maintenance. For skaters who hate to stay off the ice for extended periods, these alternatives help maintain your skills until your usual rink reopens.

Make Your Party Unforgettable

Ice skating in Texas takes a lot more effort to find compared to states like Minnesota or Colorado. Skaters who are determined to get on the ice can still find plenty of options available to them with a little bit of planning and some flexibility. The seasonal patterns we talked about earlier and the resources available online should help you find a rink that’s within a reasonable driving distance from you. Always make sure to call ahead before you make the trip out there - it can save you from showing up at a rink that’s closed for the day, mainly during the summer months when maintenance closures can pop up without a whole lot of advance warning.

Texas ice rinks deal with real challenges - mainly the intense heat and the cost to keep everything frozen. Energy bills can get pretty high down here. The skating community is passionate about the sport, though, and this love for ice skating helps these rinks stay up and running. Rinks work around the heat and cost problems with creative scheduling, and the local support from dedicated skaters keeps the doors open. You might need to drive to a neighboring city or work your skating sessions around their operating hours. But ice time is out there if you want it - it just takes a little more planning than it would up north, where it stays cold. That coordination ends up being worth it when you have a rink that you can count on.

Family celebrations and get-togethers are all about creating memories, and you don’t need anything over-the-top to throw a great party. We stock just about every type of party rental in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area. Water slides, arcade games, inflatable bounce houses, carnival games - we have it all and then some. Contact us anytime for a free quote, and we’ll help you put together a party that everyone will be talking about for years - it’s what we do at Jumper Bee Entertainment!