The Best Ice Rinks in Nashville
I skate almost every weekday and I’ve been to every rink in town. Here’s the honest answer to “which is best?” — it depends on what you’re doing. Public skate is around $12 an hour everywhere, the staff are friendly everywhere, and you can rent skates everywhere. The differences come down to which sessions, what the ice is like, and how much room you actually have to work.
This is sorted by what I’d recommend.
Ford Ice Center — Antioch
Antioch’s morning matinees are the best public skates in Nashville. They run almost every weekday morning, and they’re usually about 15 minutes longer than Bellevue’s matinee. That doesn’t sound like much until you do the math — it’s a 25% increase, a whole quarter more on the ice. When you’re working on something specific, that’s a lot of extra reps. It’s also enough time that you can hit something you weren’t even planning to drill.
There are also afternoon public skates a couple times a week and weekend slots, though weekends pull in 20-plus people pretty reliably. We track historical attendance and surface a predicted count on every session, so you can check the live schedule before you drive out and see exactly which sessions are quiet.
A small thing that turns out to be real: there’s a chain that blocks off the team-bench area at Antioch, so when you take a break you’re stuck on the bleachers or the boards. It’s annoying because it forces everyone through one doorway. Bellevue lets you walk into the bench area with skates on — two doors, no traffic jam. More direct access to the rink. Some people sit on the bleachers at Bellevue too; the difference is just that you have the option.
Antioch has a real café (full menu, hot food). They even keep cereal and milk on hand — so if you want to feel like you’re doing your morning routine outside of home, you can. There’s also a hockey shop on the premises that’s sometimes open — they can sharpen your skates while you’re there, which is convenient if you’re already at the rink. (Centennial sharpens skates too, but the turnaround is much slower; if you need a fast sharpen, Rainbo Sports in Berry Hill is the walk-in pro shop. They take appointments.)
Ford Ice Center — Bellevue
Runner-up to Antioch. Same matinee pattern, slightly shorter. The big plus, as I mentioned, is bench-area access — you can wear your skates back into the team benches between drills. Two doors instead of one. If you’re someone who works on something for ten minutes, sits to reset, then goes back out, this matters.
One real swap factor: if the live schedule shows Bellevue is significantly less busy than Antioch on a given day, I’ll come here instead — even at the cost of the 15 minutes. Quiet ice beats long ice, every time.
The lighting at Bellevue is also noticeably better than Antioch, in my opinion. There’s a slight flicker that I personally don’t notice, but I know people who are sensitive to light have flagged it (and there don’t seem to be plans to fix it). For most skaters it’s a non-issue.
Bellevue also runs afternoon and weekend sessions, similar volume to Antioch. Check the live schedule for projected attendance.
Snack shop only — if you want food, eat before or after.
Centennial Sportsplex — Wednesday mornings
Centennial’s three-hour Wednesday morning block is the most underrated session in town. Almost no one’s there. Centennial doesn’t actually call it a matinee — it’s just listed as a morning public skate.
The catch: it’s typically right after a figure-skating class, and the ice is chewed up. The pattern seems to be that they only resurface when the rink is busy and the ice is bad enough to warrant it — Wednesday morning rarely hits both, so it usually stays rough through the whole three hours. If you’re working on a specific edge, turn, or jump that fits in a 10-foot patch, the rough ice doesn’t really matter. Three hours of nearly-empty ice is more valuable than a smooth surface with 50 people on it.
There’s also a Wednesday afternoon block. It tends to be busier than the morning, but quieter than the weekends. Centennial doesn’t share registration counts with us the way the Ford rinks do, so we can’t project attendance for those sessions.
Avoid Centennial’s weekend public skates. They probably do resurface mid-block when the ice gets bad enough — that’s the pattern — but it doesn’t matter. The rink is packed beyond reason. No one should be on it. Check the live schedule.
Gary Force Acura Ice Arena
Gary Force barely runs public skate, which is why it’s at the bottom of this list. It does run freestyle sessions, including a 6 AM block that’s usually empty. Even later in the day, freestyle at Gary tops out around five people on the ice — much quieter than the Ford rinks.
Stick & puck has a similar pattern. Sessions vary throughout the day, so check our live projection before you commit.
If a public skate window does come up at Gary Force, the crowd’s usually calmer than the Ford rinks too. Worth checking when it appears.
More ice in Nashville
There are a few other places to skate that aren’t covered here:
- Ford Ice Center — Clarksville and Huntsville Ice Sports Center are real year-round rinks within driving distance, but neither is in Nashville. Different post.
- Holiday on the Cumberland (downtown) and Skating in the Park (Centennial Park) are seasonal outdoor pop-ups that only run November through January. They’re not open right now. When they come back, I’ll update this post.
Last verified April 2026. Schedules and prices change — the live schedule is always the source of truth.