Places to Skate

The best, safest, and most convenient places to skate are at your local indoor skating rink. These are indoor facilities provide a guaranteed great skating service, provided they are maintained correctly, and can be found across the United States. They offer a smooth, cool, and enjoyable place to skate, and are unlikely to present any surprises, so you will have one less thing to concern yourself with. Indoor skating rinks will typically offer lessons, have food, and offer many other services in addition to simply skating. All of these amenities can make your inline skating experience much more enjoyable. To find one of these rinks, take a look in your local directory to find the establishment closest to the area you live.

If you’re interested in skating outdoors, the places to skate are plentiful. Empty parking lots, the streets of your neighborhood, or tennis courts are excellent options. They offer low traffic (people and vehicles) and offer calm, relaxing skate outdoors. For additional fun, you may consider bringing a few cones to the parking lot or tennis court to set up your own obstacle or training course.

When skating in your neighborhood, we strongly recommend that you utilize sidewalks if, and where possible. Always watch for traffic, neighborhoods still have cars.

If you’re looking to become a tad bit more adventurous, we recommend seeking out the local parks, nature preserves, or rail trails in your area. These will usually have biking or running trails that are perfect for inline skating. The outdoors is a great place to gain experience, or fine tune your skating techniques. The paths located at such places are also great because they keep you safe from cars and other hazards that may present themselves in other outdoor settings. Printed guides are available for the best trails throughout the United States, most of which can likely be found on the Internet as well. A great online resource for finding trails in your area and other parts of the US is available at Traillink.com

Lessons:

Lessons are one of the many great ways to start enjoying the sport of inline skating. While it does require a financial investment, it will make learning how to inline skate much easier. Also, the faster you learn, the faster you can start having fun. Lessons are typically conducted at your local skating rink and are available for any age range.

Skating Clubs:

Many states have inline skating clubs that provide a great opportunity to meet fellow skating enthusiast and make some new friends. Each club or association that you find is going to different, but many conduct organized outings and/or trips. Here is a small sample of clubs and associations that exist across the United States.

Arizona

* Arizona Inline Skating Association – The AISA is a statewide skate scene for the state of Arizona. This association covers all styles with indoor, outdoor, recreational skates, speed and area club information.

* Skate Tucson - Home of the Tucson In-line Sk8 Club and is the host of the Cactus Classic inline speed skating race. They also provide information for the inline skating community in Arizona.

California

* As the Wheels Turn – A social roller skating club in the Bay Area with activities beyond just skating.

* California Outdoor Roller Skating Association – News, happenings, videos, events and results. This skating association is buxom with information.

* LA Beach Skaters – Great for Recreational and Speed Skaters. Skate up and down Venice Beach with the Sun, the ocean and all that comes with it.

* Los Angeles Friday Night Skate – A weekly skate group that offers outdoor skates and a dance party. Stake claim to being the loudest and most animated group skates in the world.

Colorado

* Denver Inline Skate Club – A recreational and fitness club that meets for both city and trail skates.

Florida

* Beach Bladers of South Florida - Weekend skating trips, parties, marathons and clinics.

* Central Florida Trail Bladers – A variety of skating styles, from inline recreational, trail, urban, slalom, fitness, speed, and marathon skating. All skater levels welcome.

* Palm Beach Skate Club - Club which meets weekly for fitness and speed training skates at Dyer Park. Show up with your gear and skate.

* SkateTampa.com - Events, News, Where to Skate, links, and more about the local skating scene in the Tampa area.

* The Sunday Bladers - Group of social skaters who meet occasionally for a Blade and Brunch.

Georgia

* Atlanta Peachtree RoadRollers - Participates in outdoor recreational group skates, night skates, instruction and racing. Offer mailing list, event calendar, links, and more at their website.

Illinois

* Thirsty Dog - Features what’s happening on the local Chicagoland skating scene with schedules, news, photo gallery and related links.

Kentucky

* The Louisville Masterbladers - Inline fitness club born from a local aerobics class. Provides schedules, locations, tips, and information.

Maryland

* Rollerquest - A non-profit inline skate and ski organization. Rollerquest encourages a friendly, social atmosphere, as well as providing a competitive training atmosphere for those whose goals are to improve technique, endurance and skill in either sport

Massachusetts

* Inline Club of Boston - Covers the New England area of recreational and competitive skating events. Events, calendar, and an assortment of other information is available.

Michigan

* Farmington Inline Skate Club – Group of all level recreational skaters who skate weekly looped courses.

Minnesota

* Minnesota Inline Skate Club – A club of inline skaters mostly from the Twin Cities but expanded to include the rest of Minnesota (and even parts of Wisconsin). They welcome inline skaters of all abilities to their weekly skating events.

* Northern Inline Skaters – Competitive and non-competitive inline skaters welcome. A nice local trail list with photos and a listing of events.

New York

* Empire Skate Club - Recreational outdoor and competitive speed skaters. Routinely updated event calendar.

* Wednesday Night Skate – An organized weekly skate group that skates the streets of New York City.

Ohio

* Columbus Inline - An informal meeting of people who like to skate using inline skates. All participants are welcome to attend.

Pennsylvania

* Landskaters Inline Skate Club - Purpose is to promote safety, fun and learning for experienced inline skaters and newcomers alike. They offer group skates, city skates, and night skates several times throughout the week.

* Three Rivers Inline Club - Sponsors recreational fitness skates 6 days a week for skaters of diverse skill levels. Formed to encourage and promote the sport of inline skating.

Texas

* Pegasus Flyers – Offer skating activities for speed and recreational skaters on various days throughout the week.

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