Simply put, some of the best skateparks in the world are indoor skateparks. That’s for several reasons – which we’re going to get into shortly.
Ultimately, as skateboarding evolved outside of California, it evolved into parts of the world where the weather doesn’t allow for skateboarding all year round. And that’s the thing: skateboarders want to skate all year round. So naturally, we found a way to make that happen.
However, it’s not always easy to get in the know-how of where the best indoor skateparks are. Often, indoor skateparks started within a community that greatly was in need, creating an insular and hermetic culture great for skateboarding but sometimes leaving others left out.
At GOSKATE, we never want anyone to feel left out. Our mission to create the most comprehensive skateparks guide in the world continues with our guide of the 10 best indoor skateparks.
What Makes Indoor Skateparks So Amazing?
Obviously, the biggest difference between an indoor skatepark and an outdoor skatepark is the environment. But for the skateboarder or parent on the outside looking in (pun intended) indoor skateparks offer you and your loved ones a unique skate experience quite different from the outdoor public skateparks.
We’ve asked our GOSKATE students and our GOSKATE instructors what they believe make indoor skateparks so amazing.
Wood-based Skateparks: Wood based skateparks have always had a particular allure. Mostly because vert ramps, mini ramps, and half pipes have always been made from wood. But since most public outdoor parks are not made of wood, you wouldn’t find these ramps. Wood also gives in a bit and makes falling less painful. For private skatepark owners, they are a bit costly to maintain however.
Privately Owned and Maintained: Being privately owned means being maintained by a trained employee. Which if you have been to any public skateparks, can get quite dirty with broken glass, graffiti, or just plain dirt and dust. Skateboarding at an indoor park that is privately owned, means you’re skating in the cleanest and most maintained conditions possible.
Designated Beginner Friendly Hours: One of the hardest things for new skaters is to feel comfortable at the skatepark. Many indoor skateparks have designated beginner friendly hours (usually before noon) and operate at a safe space for first time skaters. Nowadays, many indoor skateparks will have “ladies night” so women can also have a safe space to skate and make new friends without the normal intimidation of a male dominated sport.
Skateboarding Only Hours: One of the scariest things for a young skater is to run into a BMX rider or a scooter adult at full speed. While many indoor parks are skateboarding only, (since BMX really takes a toll on the facility) just in case some will have skateboarding only hours. Or at the very least they will let you know when BMX night is or things of that nature so you can avoid the competition for space.
Reserving Private Events and Birthday Parties: Another really cool feature of private indoor parks is often you can reserve a time slot for a private event or birthday party – which we love teaching if you have an inclination to bring an instructor to help the new skaters get rolling in the right direction.
Protection from the Elements: Arguably, there is nothing more beneficial to an indoor park than the simple fact you are protected from the elements. For many kids who are skating in snowy areas or rainy areas, they can expand outside their garage and into an entire skatepark to learn how to skate. This allows for skateboarding all year long!
Vert Ramps and Street Course Obstacles: Many indoor skateparks had to take really careful planning in their construction, and they want to include every type of obstacle. That’s why a lot of indoor parks have a designated street and a designated Vert ramp. The bigger the park the more of each, but no matter what you skate you can rest assured there’s a section designated for you at the indoor park.
Spectator Friendly Viewing for Parents: For years parents made the mistake of dropping their kids off at the skatepark like a day care but they’ve wisened up and are not watching their kids progress. However, sometimes they would stand right in front of a ledge or ramp without knowing they are in the way. Many indoor skateparks will have balconies, bleachers, or other viewing areas for you to spectate. Which also makes them great for contests.
Conducive for Skateboarding Contests: We alluded to this in our last section but because of the great viewing ability of onlookers, the designation of street, vert and other obstacles, indoor parks are often some of the best for holding skate contests. Take the skatepark of Tampa used by Street League Skateboarding, or the Training Facility in California now used for the X Games.
Connected to Skate Shops: For many small towns, their skate shop will be connected to the indoor skatepark. Which is not only super convenient, but also creates a strong meeting point and community hub for the local skaters. Famously, Olympic skater Nyjah Huston grew up with his dad owning an indoor skatepark with an attached skateshop. Having access to all those boards and obstacles is what made him the skater he is today.
Sponsored by Skate Brands: Many indoor skateparks will partner with brands to not only reduce cost and help with upkeep, but throw contests and search for young talent. Vans is arguably the most famous, and many new brands like Primitive have their own private indoor skateparks. The Berrics aw well, the most famous indoor skatepark in the world, operates in partnership with several brands.
Open All Year Round: We know skaters want to skate at all costs, no matter the weather or the time of year. Indoor skateparks are a great way to allow skaters to skate all year long no matter the weather. This can also mean the time of day. Whereas many public skateparks don’t have lights, indoor parks almost always do.
10 Best Indoor Skateparks in the World
Presented in no particular order:
Area 51 in the Netherlands is known for its out of this world skatepark design, as one of the largest sprawling indoor skateparks the world has ever seen. Area 51, like many of the indoor skateparks on this list and like we mentioned above, has a designated vert and transition zone alongside a designated street course. These areas are particularly modular being made from wooden ramps and obstacles, creating a large array of ledges, rails, banks, flat bars, manny pads, and funboxes replicating the complex architecture found in street skateboarding. Big bowls, mini ramps, and vert obstacles have their own unique section and give skaters a chance to skate whatever their hearts desire. However, even with so many obstacles, the sheer amount of square footage at this skatepark allows for plenty of space. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro skater, there is something for everyone at this skatepark.
Okay, we know we used this word a ton in this article – iconic. But that’s because we’re making a list of the best indoor skateparks in the world, so they are going to be pretty iconic. However, the Skatepark of Tampa is particularly iconic for its role in skateboarding history. In fact, if you’re into skateboarding at all for the last 5-10-20 years, you definitely know what the skatepark of Tampa means for skateboarding. But for the newcomers out there, the Skatepark of Tampa holds two of the most legendary skate contests ever: Tampa Am and Tampa Pro. These contests are so legendary, some skateboarders hold them over the X Games, Street League, and yes, even The Olympics. Pro skaters like Eric Koston, Chad Muska, Nyjah Huston, and Jamie Thomas have won the Tampa Pro contest–with skaters like Felipe Gustavo being discovered via the Tampa Am contest, catapulting their career into full-fledged stardom. If you want to be a pro skater, winning Tampa Am is nearly your first class ticket to becoming a pro skater. While the skate contest might not hold the same weight as it once did, the skatepark is still just as iconic, keeping in the tradition of a more simple wooden design true to the foundations the skateboarding community is built on.
Like many of the indoor skateparks on this list, indoor skateparks in local communities are often built to provide skaters a place to skateboard safe from the elements. Skateboarding was born in sunny-southern-California, but has since grown to every part of the world. Skaters in places like London, where it rains much more frequently than California, need a place where they can skate when it rains. Bay Sixty 6 is that skatepark. But it provides much more than just a dry place to skate when it rains. While this skatepark is considered by some to be a hybrid skatepark, with a hybrid outdoor section underneath a bridge, the facility of the skatepark provides lighting, cleaning, chaperoning, and maintenance. What began as a concentration of banks and skater-built obstacles, has grown into a full-fledged skatepark of epic proportions. While it still maintains the structures that keep it connected to its roots, the skatepark also has banks, ledges, funboxes, rails, and mini ramps galore. It’s hard to imagine anyone would ever get bored at this skatepark. While the obstacles of the skatepark are street orientated and provide skaters a robust opportunity to skate whatever they want, the large sprawling open nature also provides new skaters enough space to get comfy on a skateboard.
Vans The Block in southern California is a rad story of a private, pay-to-skate skatepark opening itself to the public. For decades, skaters in southern California would head into Vans at “The Block” an outdoor mall in Orange California. As one of the largest indoor skateparks in the state, skaters would pay sometimes up to $20 to skate for a few hours, renting pads and even skateboards. But a few years ago, Vans unfortunately started losing business and closed down their private indoor parks around the country. Instead, they just kept a few of their biggest ones open and made them free to the public. This is especially rad because it allows for skaters to skate obstacles they normally wouldn’t be able to skate, like the huge halfpipe at the Vans at the Block. Snake runs, iconic bowls, and every street skate obstacle you can imagine is at the Block. Of course, being in partnership with Vans, skaters always have the chance to run into their favorite pros who skate for vans or witness a skate contest in its iconic bowls and halfpipes. With a large viewing area for parents and on-lookers to watch the skating, Vans, The Block, has been a parent favorite for decades.
The Training Facility sprouted up in San Diego a couple years back and has quickly solidified itself as one of the most impressive indoor skateparks ever built. This is largely due to the fact The Training Facility (TTF) literally became a training facility for Pro Skaters training for the Olympics. With its modern design built with the help of California Skateparks, the TTF is famous for its transition and vert section, featuring some of the largest volcanoes, quarter pipes, death boxes, spines, and sprawling pool coping. [Not familiar with this skate lingo? Check out our glossary of skate terminology]. Due to its effectiveness, The Training Facility partnered with ESPN and X-Games for the last two years, hosting both men and women’s street and men and women’s park contests at its facilities. As if the skateparks weren’t impressive enough, TTF has several viewing areas adjacent and above the skatepark, making it one of the best indoor skateparks for skate contest viewing. While the skatepark is reserved for the X games and other contests throughout the year, the skatepark is still generally open to the public. This incredible skatepark isn’t really beginner friendly but once you’re looking to really hone your craft, check out TFF when in San Diego.
The Park Geelong located in Australia, is one of those indoor skateparks that put outdoor skateparks to shame. With its full size halfpipe right on display, its mini mega ramp and fully renovated street course, The Park Geelong is surely one every skater’s travel list when hitting the land down under. It’s not just that Geelong Park has all these street and vert obstacles, but it has the best of the best of each genre. You would think the park was built by video game developers but one thing for sure, this skatepark is world class. It may also be the only indoor skatepark with an actual mega ramp. Can’t skate the giant vert ramp? Don’t worry, the skatepark also has an array of beginner friendly obstacles, like mini ramps and sprawling flow centers with waves and mellow banks. A mix of wood and cement, this park continues to grow each season, adding more and more to its already impressive set up. Does it sound like we’re getting excited over this skatepark? That’s because we are!
Okay, it’s not every day a new skatepark pops up out of nowhere and becomes one of the best indoor skateparks overnight. The Murakami City Skatepark is a testament to skateboarding growth in Japan, the country, if you didn’t know, that won the Olympics for both men and women’s divisions. This skatepark, sleek with modern street design, looks like something out of a competition skater’s dream. The Japanese are certainly training the next new wave of professional skaters with indoor skateparks like the Murakami City Skatepark. But don’t just take our word for it. Check out this video which features the skatepark in a Damn Am contest.
Every once in a while a public skatepark will be indoors – and that skatepark will be absolutely amazing. House of Vans in the London area of the United Kingdom is THAT skatepark. Created from an old network of underground train storage, long halls of ledges, ramps, funboxes and rails, creating a surreal, one-of-a-kind ambiance for skaters to feel completely in their own world. That’s one of the main reasons you’ll see House of Vans in the United Kingdom filled with brands and skaters hosting demos, skate contests and video premiers. The construction of this skatepark is made with high quality cement, which goes really well for when skaters need to escape the rain and skate indoors. This skatepark is so iconic, so unique and so unlike a typical skatepark, it’s basically considered a skate spot.
Known for its revolutionizing of online skate media, the Berrics is arguably the most iconic skatepark in the world. Now in its third installment, the Berrics has always operated as the crown jewel of private skateparks. While now, skaters from around the World have a decent chance of getting into the Berrics if you send the right email at the right time, the secret skatepark began as the most exclusive skatepark for Pro Skaters only. With nothing but a few cameras and a dedicated team of filmmakers and editors, the Berrics started producing bite-sized snackable content that changed the media landscape of skateboarding forever. To this day, people around the world can tell you the layout of the skatepark inch by inch without ever even skating there. Hence, why it is the most iconic and recognizable skatepark in the world. The skatepark is derived from famous street spots, featuring ledges, rails, banks, stairs, gaps, and funboxes.
Throughout the years, pro skaters have banded together to build their own private skateparks. You might wonder why? Think of it this way–when a professional basketball player wants to practice, their team has a private training facility for them to be away from all the press and fans and focus on their craft. Skateboarders for decades could only skate spots or public skateparks, placing them at the mercy of the public. While this is one of the most beautiful aspects of skateboarding, pro skaters sometimes just wanted to skate at a skatepark without any distractions. Eventually, instead of always going to the Berrics, the cream of the crop of pro skaters created their own Berrics. With secret locations and state of the art design. The Primitive skatepark for example has neon lights beneath each stair set, features a full length basketball court with gold plated basketballs, and world class cement structures homaging iconic LA skate spots.
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