For a fourth year, the U.S. National Whitewater Center, at 5000 Whitewater Center Parkway, is offering ice skating. In addition, a brand new Lights installation is coming to the Whitewater Center, as well as two new 600-foot suspension bridges.
Ice skating and Lights will be available starting November 16th, 2022. Lights will be free to explore (after paying $6 for parking.) Skating will cost $25.
The two new suspension bridges aren’t quite ready yet, but hopefully they will be very soon.
Ice Skating
Once again the Upper Pond of the whitewater channel has been converted into a 24,000 square foot ice skating rink. It includes two ice trails and two free skate zones.
In the middle there’s an on-ice Airstream that serves hot and cold beverages. Off ice, sandwiches, salads, soup, drinks and desserts are also available for purchase.
Enjoy skating or just relaxing by the fires watching skating.
The ice skating program has expanded to include outdoor pond hockey starting in January, in a 3 vs. 3 format, with regular season competition and playoffs.
Skating is available whenever Pass Activities are available. Check the schedule to see Pass Activity Hours.
Learn about all the places for outdoor ice skating this season in the Charlotte area!
Lights
The all-new Lights installation is entered through a tunnel that depicts the history of the Whitewater Center. The Lights installation is on a half mile trail on the woods. It consists of 45 giant illuminated spheres, each representing a feature of the Whitewater Center, like Climbing, Build Your Own Boat, Tuck Fest, the Whitewater Film Series and more.
When the suspension bridges are ready the Lights installation will be integrated into them.
It’s free to explore Lights, after you pay for parking.
Visit Lights once it gets dark, until the end of operating hours, which is 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. depending on the day. See the schedule for hours.
More Winter Activities
This winter the Whitewater Center will host several events, including We Believe – Santa 5K and Dog Job, New Year’s Eve 5K and 10K, A Snowball’s Chance – Short Track Skate Race, Frigid 5k and 10k Trail Race and Plunge, and the Dog Days of Winter festival. In addition, there will be several culinary events, including Zipline & Dine and Skate & Date.
Yoga will take place year round.
Check out our huge day-by-day list of holiday events in the Charlotte area! We update it every day!
Double-Check Before You Head Out!
We make every effort to make sure that everything on Charlotte on the Cheap is 100% accurate.
However, sometimes things change without notice, and we are not always notified. It's also possible that we can make a mistake.
Please verify all deals and events with the venue or organizer before you go.
More Holiday Events
Check out our growing day-by-day list of holiday events in the Charlotte area or see a few here.
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