Cross-country skiing is available throughout Central New York. Whether along the creek’s edge in Syracuse’s near east side, at Green Lakes State Park in Fayetteville or at Battle Island State Park’s golf course north of Fulton, cross-country skiing is great exercise for the whole family.

Clinton Square Ice Rink is an open air, outside rink that during the non-winter months is part of an open plaza with stores, business’, banks and bars all around. There are memorials to visit, places to sit and eat lunch, and lots of classic buildings to view. From late November till early March, the city of Syracuse converts the lower level of the plaza into a nice ice rink that sees lots of avid skaters. There is even a streaming webcam located on the roof of one of the local buildings that points down at the plaza for all the world to see.

What else can one do to keep the kids, and yourself, sane during the cold months?

The opening of Clinton Square in September 2001 met with rave reviews and the square is currently a spectacular civic plaza for festivals, farmers’ markets, concerts and ice skating. Ice skating is a popular activity during the winter months, and approximately 60,000 people used the ice rink during the 2008-2009 season. Summertime festivals held in Clinton Square include Taste of Syracuse, which drew 75,000 people to the area for the two day event in 2007. Overall, over 200,000 people use Clinton Square each year.