How many days did Prince Pond actually open for skating last winter? The Downers Grove Park District doesn't publish a calendar for the pond. It publishes a rule. Skating at Prince Pond, 4941 Linscott Ave., is unsupervised and weather permitting. It runs "from approximately mid-December through February," and staff require 8 inches of ice before the rink opens.
Ice that thick takes sustained cold. The Park District says it takes "several days of single-digit and low-teen temperatures" for enough ice to form, and staff maintain the ice only after they finish the day's snow plowing. In practice, the Downers Grove winter outdoors works like a set of switches. Each activity turns on when a condition is met, and some of those conditions don't arrive every year.
So the reliable parts of a Downers Grove winter are the four sled hills and the parks around them, and the pond is a bonus you take when the cold delivers it.
Three activities, three triggers
Each of the Park District's outdoor winter offerings has its own trigger. They all report to the same place, the Park District's weather status page on RainoutLine, which posts daily updates for ice skating, the sled hills and snowshoeing and offers email and text alerts.
| Activity | Where | What turns it on | Hours or slots |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sledding | Gilbert, O'Brien, Concord Square and Ebersold parks | Snow on hills you've checked are safe; sled at your own risk | 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily |
| Ice skating | Prince Pond, 4941 Linscott Ave. | 8 inches of ice, measured by staff; green flag on the pole | 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, roughly mid-December through February |
| Snowshoeing Fun | Lyman Woods, 901 31st St. | At least 5 inches of snow on the trails | 9 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.; $10 per person, ages 5 and up |
The snowshoe program is a pop-up. On a snowy day, Lyman Woods sets out adult and children's snowshoes, shows participants how they work, and hands out a scavenger hunt, binoculars and other materials for spotting wildlife on a self-guided hike. Supplies are limited, so the Park District suggests signing up early on snowy days, and it posts the days the program runs through online registration and RainoutLine. Children have to be accompanied by a registered adult. Private group sessions with more flexible hours are available through [email protected] or 630.963.9388.
What the pond's record shows
The 8-inch rule is a safety standard, and the record shows it is a high bar for a suburban pond to clear. Pulled together, the local record from the past decade looks like this:
- Winter 2016–17: My Suburban Life reported in January 2017 that Prince Pond's ice never reached a consistent 8 inches that season. The report said weather limited outdoor winter recreation in general, and so did skaters going out on ice that hadn't set.
- 2021: The Park District's 2021 annual accomplishments report says skating was not available at Prince Pond that year. The same report counts 5 skateable days at a rink installed at McCollum Park and 17 at the rink at Doerhoefer Park.
- January 2025: Patch reported that skating had reopened at Prince Pond as of Thursday, January 23, after a stretch of frigid temperatures.
- January 2026: The Daily Herald's suburban outdoor rink guide, posted January 28, listed Prince Pond's status as closed.
These are snapshots of past winters and say nothing about this one. The pattern holds, though. When the pond opens, it opens after a run of hard cold, and in some seasons the window closed early or never opened. Two numbers from 2021 make the point: 17 skateable days at one installed rink, none at the pond. The Park District's current winter recreation page lists only Prince Pond for skating.
When the pond is open, the flag pole is the authority. The Park District asks skaters to find it before stepping onto the ice. A green flag means conditions are safe in the cleared spots only, and a red flag means the rink is closed. Skating is unsupervised, so call 911 if you see an emergency.
Why the hills carry the season
The sled hills have no thickness test. They're open 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, and the Park District's only conditions are that sledders take responsibility for their own safety, parents arrange supervision, and everyone checks that a hill is safe before using it. Once there is snow on the ground, the hills are the part of the outdoor winter you can plan a Saturday around.
The four hills differ, and the Park District's own park descriptions show how:
- Gilbert Park, 1500 Gilbert Ave. The land rises sharply to the west, and the hill that slope creates is used informally for sledding.
- O'Brien Park, 6909 S. Dunham Road. Its park description lists a sled hill.
- Concord Square Park, Springside and Concord. A large hill overlooks the detention basin, with a basketball court on top.
- Ebersold Park, 59th Street and Main Street. The sledding hill sits on the park's south upper level.
Neither Concord Square nor Ebersold has a street number on its Park District page, so the cross streets are the address to put into a map.
Concord Square is the one with something new
Of the four hills, Concord Square has changed most since last winter. On October 27, 2026, the Park District announced that the playground renovation there was complete and the new playground was open. The renovation added a separate play structure for children ages 2 to 5 and two more swings. New artificial turf replaced the wood mulch, and the Park District describes the turf as more accessible, durable and comfortable. The old equipment was donated to Kids Around the World, so it will keep serving children in another community.
The surface change matters most in this season. A turf playground sits in the same park as a sled hill, so on a day with too little snow to sled, the trip still has a place to play. On a day with plenty of snow, the playground gives a family with a toddler and an older sledder something for each of them in one park.
What closed for the season before the first snow
Since late October, the parks have been running on their winter setup. Under the Park District's 2026 winterization schedule, the water was shut off to outdoor drinking fountains and the Washington Park fountain beginning October 26. Park restrooms closed beginning October 30, with portable toilets available at select parks. The Park District does this every fall to protect the plumbing in park amenities from freezing.
For a long afternoon at a sled hill, that means bringing water from home and not counting on a restroom at the park you pick.
A short routine for the first real snow
Here is the sequence the Park District's own rules point to:
- Check RainoutLine first. The weather status page updates sled hill, skating and snowshoe conditions daily, and you can sign up for text or email alerts there.
- Choose the hill by what else you need. Concord Square adds the newly renovated playground. Gilbert has the steep western rise. Ebersold's hill is on its south upper level.
- On deep-snow days, register early at Lyman Woods. The Snowshoeing Fun pop-up needs at least 5 inches on the trails, and gear is limited.
- After a cold stretch, look up the Prince Pond flag. Single-digit and low-teen temperatures over several days are what build the ice, and a green flag on the pole is the only signal that counts.
The Park District's December 2026 calendar also has dated events that don't depend on the weather. Whoville Holiday Bash is December 5 from 9 a.m. to noon. Once Upon a Time: The Polar Express is December 6 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Merry & Bright: a Victorian Christmas is December 12 from 3 to 6 p.m. New Year's Eve Countdown to Noon is December 31 from 10 a.m. to noon. Check the Park District calendar for locations and registration details before planning around them.
Our team will be watching the Prince Pond flag along with everyone else this winter. If a question about where you live in Downers Grove, or where you might want to live next, comes up between sled runs, Team Baker is a phone call away. Contact Us.
