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_r.s.s.inline FAQ: Where to Skate - Central North America_
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WHERE TO SKATE - CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA
Last modified: Monday, September 16, 1996
Recent changes include:
* Added Chicago, IL skating Web link (7/2)
* Added Toronto, ON info from Orlando C. Fernando (8/16)
Table of Contents
* Illinois
* Indiana
* Iowa
* Michigan
* Minnesota
* Missouri
* Ohio
* Oklahoma
* Ontario
* Texas
Other sections of Where to Skate are:
* Western North America
+ California
* Northeastern North America
* Southeastern North America
* Abroad
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General Notes
George Robbins' "Roller Skating Rink List" can be found at the URL:
http://www.netaxs.com/people/grr/Roller/.
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Illinois
* Chicago
* Urbana/Champaign
Chicago
Web sites for Austria info:
* Skate! Chicago:
http://www.skaters.com/
From: RRATEICK@vma.cc.nd.edu
Date: Unknown
There are cycle paths which go both north and south of the "loop" (the
downtown), along Lake Michigan. I have skated up north, starting at
Lincoln Park. I have also skated through the downtown both on
sidewalks and the streets, although, not during the business day (too
many cars). From downtown, a nice skate is up Clark Street north to
Wrigley Field. This is an interesting area, with used book/CD stores,
etc. You can judge distance based on address numbers: 800/mile. For
more information on where to skate (and not too), call the folks at
Londo Mondo (sorry, but I can not remember the address). Remember,
Chicago does have some really bad neighborhoods. For example, I would
not go west of Wells, in the area around Division Street.
From: thomasd@tt726.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Tom Depke)
Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 17:21:22 GMT
[...] is there anywhere REALLY cool to skate around Chicago? I've
read the FAQ about places to skate in Chicago but didn't see
anything really outstanding...is there?
It depends on the type of skating you are looking for. Is it speed,
tricks, or scenary? I like the lakefront down by the Shedd Aquarium
and Adler Planetarium for tricks and further north for scenary. The
problem is that it gets too crowded in peak hours and you can not get
a good workout in. So for that I go to Busse woods 53 & Golf. There is
a smooth bike path which goes for 8 miles and never seems to get too
crowded.
From: snyder@ssd.comm.mot.com (Fred Snyder)
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 22:07:28 GMT
Having recently moved to Schaumburg, IL, I have discoverd the Busse
Woods bike path, in Rolling Meadows. Best accessible from Higgins just
east of 290, it's a 7.8 mile loop through surprisingly scenic terrain
with a good surface, not too crowded, frequent water pumps, everything
I could ask for except perhaps getting rid of the bicycles. It's no
Lake Shore Drive, but now that I've moved to the 'burbs, it will do
quite nicely. It still irks me that I have to _drive_ somewhere to
skate.
From: langlois@prairienet.org (Ana G. Langlois)
Date: 24 Oct 1994 01:40:16 GMT
First of all, Chicago is a huge metro area. So if you mean downtown
Chicago I'll tell you that one of the hottest places is along the lake
shore. My wife and I were there today. We had a little skate. It was a
lot of fun. It was real windy. Good work out. Thousands of people
enjoy walking, soccor. rugby, running, bike riding, softball, kite
flying, etc., etc., etc.
Park and skate. If you come in from the south, park around the Field
Museum or the Shedd Aquarium and skate north along the lake. From the
north parking may be easier. There are parks everywhere that have
parking. The multi use trail is good, but not perfect.
In the northwest burbs there is a vert park. I forgot the name. I
think it's in Hoffman Estates.
Pick up a copy of _Windy City Sports_ (free news magazine) you can get
it at any sport shop in the downtown area. On Clark Street, north of
the loop, there are a bunch of good stores: City Sweats, Londo Mondo,
Rainbo. They can tell you where the inline scene really is. Londo
Mondo (not on Clark actually) meets once or twice a week for fun
skates, outside. Winter will _probably_ put an end to that though.
I hope that helps a little. The thing is that if you are in the
northwest burbs (for example) you may not want to fight traffic to go
downtown. So call a shop in the area you plan to be (or are) in and
ask them for help. If they don't know anything try Londo Mondo, City
Sweats or Rainbo.
From: VISEWAT@minna.acc.iit.edu (W. Viseskosin)
Date: 20 Jul 1995 18:45:12 GMT
I skate at North Branch Trail 4-5 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat &
Sun). The trail starts at Whealan Pool Forest Preserve (near the
intersection of Devon and Milwaukee) and ends at Chicago Botanic
Gardens. The trail distance is 20.1 miles. It's not overcrowded even
during the weekends (the park might be crowded, but the trail is
not.). I usually park my car at Linns Woods (about 1/2 mile east of
Dempster and Waukegan in Morton Grove) because it's near my house. I
like to skate from there to the Chicago Botanic Gardens.
Please check "Chicagoland Trail Guide by Elleen Kelly" out. It's a
great book about Trails in Chicagoland.
From: tjmartin@prospero.er.anl.gov (Timothy Martin)
Date: 9 Jul 1995 00:19:00 GMT
SCRAP (Skateboards Cycles Rollerblades Action Park)
It is in Hoffman Estates, and is part of the Poplar Creek Sports
Center complex.
2350 Hassell Rd. (708)-884-0945
Take I-90 Exit at Barrington Road. Go south briefly, then turn left at
Hassell Road. Go only one block to a White Hen Pantry on left. Turn
left into a parking lot behind the White Hen that serves the sports
complex.
Monday closed.
Tuesday thru Friday : One session 5pm to 9pm.
Saturday: Two sessions 1 to 5pm and 5:30 to 9:30pm.
Sunday: Two sessions 11:30 to 3:30pm and 4 to 8pm.
Entrance fee is $5 per session. Some modest package deal also that I
forget about now. To use two of the big half-pipes you need to buy a
one year "membership" for $20 in addition to entrance fees.
A general mix of freestyle bikers, bladers, and boarders.
Urbana/Champaign
From: jms41276@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Clueless)
Date: Unknown
The [UIUC] Quad is a good place to do laps and play tag. (a group of
us play almost every night starting between 9 and 9:30)
The north quad has some nice stairs and a couple fountains to skate
over when the water is turned off. Assembly hall parking lot and most
of the other parking garages are good if you're looking for smooth
pavement. (The later are also nice if it's raining :) We've been
playing hockey in Assembly Hall parking lot, but there are problems
with the sewars swallowing the ball. If anyone knows a better place
where a lot of people can play (we had 13 tonight) hockey, please
tell.
There's a trail out near Windsor Road made for bikes and blades which
is a good place to go if you want to skate distance.
From: yesfan@uiuc.edu (Eric Adams)
Date: 26 Apr 1995 03:54:35 GMT
There are several other places to skate around UIUC.
1. parking garages are always fun
2. the philo-Windsor trail/sidewalks
3. the Champaign city bike trails (to get to these, go south to St.
Mary's road, go west, across Neil, hop on the Boulware Trail, then
at the end, pick up Devonshire road for a ways until you come upon
a trail that goes up through a bunch of Condos, this trail then
crosses Mattis and continues west along a creek for quite a ways
and ends up at a big park.) I haven't gotten around to finding a
way around Devonshire (it is a little bumpy in sections).
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Indiana
Indianapolis
From: Fred Pfenninger (pfenning@indy.net)
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 95 20:20:53 -0700
In Indianapolis there is a skatepark called TA (Travel Alternatives).
It is presently located at 25th and Arlington, but in October [1995]
it will be moving about a mile from there. They have an 8 foot pipe,
two 6's with a spine, a quarter pipe, and a wedge. In Oct. they will
be getting a lot more stuff. The cost to skate is $5.00 for the day.
Check it out!
From: GSchmitt@Indyvax.IUPUI.edu (Gary Schmitt)
Date: Unknown
Anyone wishing to skate during some bad winter weather is invited to
Indianapolis to skate at the RCA Dome. For those not familar with the
dome-type skating thing, it's done indoors on the concourse (the
circumferential hallway behind the stands). This makes for a smooth,
1/3 mile circuit, with just a few relatively mild expansion joints for
excitement.
There are usually a fair number of beginers within the group of rec
skaters and there are always speed skaters training as well. The Indy
Inliners have club night on Wednesdays, 5-9 p.m., whenever the Dome is
open on Wednesdays. This season, most Wednesdays are skate dates, but
call (317)824-DOME beforehand. There are also many other skating dates
on the schedule, so call to check.
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Iowa
* Ames
* Iowa City
Ames
From: nwood@iastate.edu
Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 09:24:00 -0500
_Iowa State University, Ames, IA_
The campus area in Ames is really the only decent place to skate in
Ames. Head to the library and Durham center area and you'll probably
see a bunch of us hanging out jumping off of the ledges there. During
the summer the parking lots of the dorm parking lots are nice also.
Towers and Maple- Willow-Larch are mostly empty in the summer. A new
skateshop just opened on Lincoln Way in campus town(Skatesport) which
is nice to have.
Skate West in Des Moines has Inline Hockey leagues several nights a
week.
Iowa City
From: Jason D. Lycke (jdlycke@wrdmail.er.usgs.gov)
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 09:09:18 -0500
For those that are into recreational/distance/excercise skating, check
out City Park on the north end of town. It's got a lot of good paths
right next to the beautful (sort of) Iowa River. If you're into
street/extreme skating, the U of Iowa campus isn't a bad place to go.
Check out the IMU (Iowa Memorial Union) and the Pentacrest, and skate
through the ped mall once just for fun. Also, I've heard that some
people skate in front of Currier Residence Hall, but I've never been
there myself.
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Michigan
Detroit
From: dianne@cbi.com (Dianne Marsh)
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 13:29:31 GMT
It really depends on where you are going in Detroit. I recommend the
"metro" parks in the suburbs. If you are staying in the city, the
closest metro park will (probably) be Metro Beach, ... nice because
the path briefly goes along the water, but flat. One of my favorite
metro parks is Stony Creek (trail: 6 miles), which is about 30 miles
north of the city near Rochester/Utica. If you are visiting farther to
the west, Kensington Metro Park (near Milford/Brighton) has 8 miles of
very hilly paved trails. Both Stony and Kensington encircle small
lakes.
If you visit one of the metro parks, you can pick up a map (free)
which describes all of them. The map describes which parks have paved
trails and includes probably the best street map of the metro Detroit
area.
I believe that the entry fee is $3 daily or $15 for an annual pass.
The pass allows entry to any of the Huron-Clinton Metro Parks. I think
that Tuesday is "free" day.
For more information on the Huron-Clinton Metro Parks, call
1-313-227-2757. The phone book also lists 2 toll free numbers, but
they are under "Metropark Golf Courses". Try them if you like:
800-234-6534, 800-477-2757.
From: SNL1104@aol.com (Larry Sylvain)
Date: Sun, 11 Feb 1996 14:10:33 -0500
I didn't see a mention of Indian Springs metropark in White Lake, MI
in any of the "where to go" listings. Indian Springs has an eight mile
ashphalt bike trail (approx. 4 feet wide) that runs through the woods
in a river headwaters area. It costs $3.00/day or $15.00/year for
entry, which includes entry to all other Detroit area metroparks. The
surface is smoth to moderate with very few wide cracks and is cleaned
regularly. There is an approximate 1/2 mile gradual hill at the course
start/end making for a nice, fast start and a good workout on the way
back. Be sure to wear sunglasses as the trail goes through the woods
and there are bugs! There is ample parking and, as a bonus, a way-cool
playground area near the parking area for the kids and a set of nature
trails about a half-mile away from the parking area (a nice, romantic
walk to cool down after blading). Indian Springs is my personal
favorite as a roller blade site.
From: THECMGKID@aol.com
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 1995 17:07:23 -0400
There are two indoor rinks for inline skating in the detroit metro
area. The first is U.S. Blades located in West Bloomfield (810)
661-4200 which has many times in which you can skate along with being
able to play hockey, get instructions on how to skate and your also
able to rent the rink for private functions. The second is Joe Dumars
field house located in Shelby Township (810) 731-3080. This facility
is used for inline hockey along with housing other sports such as
basketball and beach volleyball. Your able to rent the rink out for
hockey only.
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Minnesota
Minneapolis
If you want a _really_ great place to rollerblade, Minneapolis opens
up the Metrodome to rollerbladers _only_ (I'm not sure about during
the summer, but they do this all winter). It's about a half-mile (I
think) circle of the smoothest concrete you've ever been on. There are
two separate levels, one for serious rollerbladers and one for "the
family." A "must-blade" if you're ever in the area.
From: phil dudero (pdudero@ATK.COM)
Date: Sun, 04 Jun 95 00:06:15 -0500
I [...] was shocked to see that the Metrodome was the only mention for
skating in Minnesota! This is really only true when the Twins aren't
playing baseball (assuming the activity they are engaged in presently
can be called that ;-). And as far as that goes it's around $5 dollars
for a skate (extra for equipment rental), 1/4-mile of smooth concourse
for one circuit (if I remember correctly), with two levels, the upper
level for faster skaters. Unless you've got someone to talk to I find
it boring after a short while, but what else are you going to do on a
cold winter night? Don't answer that!
When the snow isn't on the ground the place to skate in Minneapolis is
around the chain of lakes southwest of downtown. During the summer
Lake Calhoun
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Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:12 PM
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