The Bowie Ice Rink in Allen Pond Park is a nice indoor rink located in a beautiful park setting. The rink facility is smaller than its counterparts in Montgomery County but the ice is well maintained and the heated lobby is clean and well equipped with a pro shop, snack bar, restrooms and skate rentals.
Bowie ice rink has two categories of open skate sessions, family open skate and general open skate. Family Open Skate is held on Sundays from 2 to 4pm and Friday afternoons from 3:30 to 5:30. Admission is $12 for up to 5 family members (not including skate rental). General open skate admission costs $5 for adults and $4.50 for children under age 16 and seniors 55 and over. Skate rental is an additional $3 per person. Skates are available in whole sizes only from toddler 6 to 13 and half and whole sizes from size 1 and up. The proshop and snack bar are generally open from 3 to 8pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm on weekends but call ahead if you are looking for these services as hours may vary depending upon events at the rink.
Once you pay for admission and lace up your skates you have to say goodbye to the heated lobby and enter the ice area which is kept really cold. There is some bench and bleacher seating inside the rink area but I honestly do not know how comfortable you would be sitting here to watch if you were not skating. Vending machines selling both snacks and drinks can be found along the outside of the rink along with locker rentals for 50 cents each. The rink did have a few “learn to skate” balancing aids, i.e. PVC piping contorted into a shape you can lean on if you are a beginner skater. They looked sturdier than their description sounds. The rink piped in radio music during open skate for your listening pleasure.
For older kids and adults the rink offers Friday night DJ Skates. $8 covers admission, skate rental and tunes from a DJ for the 9 to 11pm skate session. Other weekly sessions include Stick and Puck, Adult Pick up Hockey and Pickup Free Skate. View the monthly calendar online for specific dates and times. Several hockey teams and skating clubs have home ice here so be sure to check on the availability of sessions before heading out the door as some weekly events are canceled due to hockey games and/or figure skating competitions.
Bowie Ice Rink’s location in Allen Pond Park gives families plenty of opportunities to extend their visit here. Just outside the rink is Allen Pond itself. Here groups of kids and adults can be found feeding ducks and walking the path that circumnavigates the pond. There are a lot of tall shady trees, plenty of picnic tables and two playgrounds nearby for families to visit before or after their skate. From May through September the pond is also open for boat rentals. A half a mile down the road is the Bowie Town Center, a “downtown” of sorts with shops, restaurants and convenient parking. Barnes and Noble, Panera, Noodles and Company and Chipotle can all be found here for lunch or dinner after skating.
You can visit Bowie ice rink from July through April (closed May and June) for skating fun no matter the season!
