The ice rink under the glass pavilion at Reston Town Center opened for the season on Tuesday, Nov. 10, four days later than planned because rain was in the forecast for the original Friday opening. It runs daily through March, weather permitting, with adult admission starting at $12 this year.
Reston has two places to skate this winter: the outdoor Town Center rink and SkateQuest, an indoor rink a few miles east that runs public sessions all year. New at the Town Center this season are Gondola Lounges overlooking the ice. Herndon has no rink announced this winter, which leaves the two Reston rinks as the closest ice to Herndon.
The Town Center rink is open daily from 11:30 a.m., and adult admission starts at $12
The Reston Town Center rink keeps these hours for the 2026-27 season:
- Sunday through Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- Holidays: extended hours, not yet posted
Admission this season starts at $12 for adults and $10 for youth, seniors and military, FFXnow reported. Both starting prices rose by a dollar from last season, when adults paid $11, while children 12 and under, seniors and military paid $9 and skate rental cost $8. The Town Center has not posted this season’s rental price.
The rink keeps more than 500 pairs of rental skates, plus penguin and snowman skating aids for small children learning to balance. Tickets are sold online through the Town Center’s skating page, and the Town Center rents the ice for private parties and fundraisers. Questions go to the rink hotline at 703-709-6300.
The rink sits outdoors under the open-air pavilion, and the Town Center opens it weather permitting. In doubtful weather, call the hotline before you drive over.
The Town Center added Gondola Lounges overlooking the ice this season
The Gondola Lounges overlook the rink, and the Town Center pitches them as a place for a group to gather and watch skaters with a hot chocolate from one of the nearby restaurants, Patch reported. The Town Center has not published a price, a capacity or a booking process for the lounges.
Parking at the Town Center is free on weekend skates and after 5 p.m. on weekdays
The Town Center garages charge nothing for the first hour, nothing from 5 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. on weekdays, and nothing all day on weekends and federal holidays, according to the Town Center’s parking page. An afternoon skate on a weekday is the one visit likely to cost something, and the ParkRTC app handles validation and payment. Street meters run $3 for an hour and $6 for two, and they are free on Sundays with a two-hour limit.
The free linkRTC shuttle connects the Town Center with the Reston Town Center Metro station on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The pavilion has covered the Town Center rink since 1993
Reston Town Center opened in 1990, and the glass pavilion over the skating rink went up in 1993, according to the Town Center’s history. Families were already skating on a rink on the Town Center plaza by the winter of 1991, before the pavilion existed; a set of slides in George Mason University’s Planned Community Archives shows children on the ice that February.
In recent seasons the rink has opened in early or mid-November and closed in mid-March. The Town Center’s winter calendar runs alongside it: the Reston Holiday Parade and tree lighting fill Market Street on Nov. 27, and the Run with Santa 5K follows on Dec. 6.
SkateQuest runs indoor public skating all year, at $10 admission and $4 rental
SkateQuest at 1800 Michael Faraday Court, off Sunset Hills Road, has operated in Reston for more than 30 years. It runs two indoor sheets: an NHL-size rink of 200 by 85 feet, used for public skating, lessons and hockey, and an Olympic-size rink of 200 by 100 feet. We profiled the rink and its lessons in our SkateQuest guide.
The posted public skating schedule:
- Wednesday: 11:40 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Friday: 11:40 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
- Saturday: 1:10 to 3 p.m.
- Sunday: 3:10 to 5:10 p.m.
Admission is $10 and skate rental is $4. SkateQuest notes that the schedule can change without notice, so check its calendar the day you go, especially around school holidays.
SkateQuest also teaches skating, through the Learn to Skate USA curriculum, from Snowplow Sam for children 6 and under through the Basic 1 to 6 levels, hockey skills classes, freestyle and adult classes. Hockey players have stick-and-shoot and pickup sessions at $15, an adult league, and the Reston Raiders youth hockey club.
The rink’s lot doubles as the main trailhead for the mountain bike trails at Lake Fairfax Park, so riders can pair a Saturday afternoon public skate with a ride or a walk in the woods.
Herndon has no rink announced this winter, and the nearest indoor rinks are in Sterling, Ashburn and Fairfax
The Town of Herndon’s Hometown Holidays program has offered a tree lighting, the WinterMarkt and a Santa Social in December, with no skating rink, and the town has announced none for this season. Herndon skaters have the two Reston rinks closest at hand, plus three indoor rinks a short drive away:
- Loudoun Ice Centre, 22149 Davis Drive, Sterling
- Ashburn Ice House, 21595 Smith Switch Road, Ashburn
- Fairfax Ice Arena, 3779 Pickett Road, Fairfax
Reston’s lakes are off limits for skating, even in a hard freeze
Reston Association’s policy on its lakes is “no skating,” as the association’s chief executive put it in 2014, and the association has warned residents to stay off the ice in cold winters. Lake Fairfax falls under the county, and the Fairfax County Park Authority’s park regulations bar anyone from going onto the ice of any body of water in a county park unless the Park Authority designates a place and time. The Park Authority lists no designated skating area at Lake Fairfax.
The Town Center rink sits a walk from the condos and townhouses around it
The Town Center rink is a walk from the condominiums and townhouses in and around the Town Center, and SkateQuest sits near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. For more on living in Reston through all four seasons, start with our guide to living in Reston. If you are thinking about a move to Reston or Herndon, reach out and we will talk through which neighborhoods fit the way you live.
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