The Montclair Girl Team 
The benefits of the extremely cold weather in Essex County are few and far between, with one of them being that Montclair’s Edgemont Pond is frozen solid enough to welcome ice skaters. Lydia from Team MG went to the pond to check it out. Read on for more about Edgemont Pond and ice skating this winter.
About the Park
Edgemont Memorial Park is located at 274 Valley Road in Montclair. The town of Montclair purchased the land, which was previously a golf course, in 1906. It was dedicated in 1925 as a memorial to the 71 Montclair residents who died in the Great War, which we now know as World War I. The memorial has been added to over time, still in honor of Montclair residents killed in conflict.
The park is 15.5 acres in size and has a shelter house, an accessible playground, paths and walkways. It’s best known for the pond, which was created by a dam of the nearby Toney’s Brook. The namesake memorial is on a small island and is a tall obelisk.
Ice Skating
Other Essex County towns have ponds that have been used for ice skating in the past. Both Verona Park in Verona and the pond at Grover Cleveland Park in Caldwell have been used for skating. These ponds are managed by Essex County, and at the time of this writing, no skating has been announced.
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The last time the pond was open for skating was in 2018, according to Matthew Amaral, Communications Director for the City of Montclair. This week’s announcement is the first for 2026. He told us how the city decides whether to open the pond for skating. “The township’s Department of Community Services (i.e. what the township calls our public works department). DCS monitors the ice thickness weekly, but also monitors for open water. If open water is observed in the pond, which is possible even in below-freezing temperatures, that can pose a significant danger. Sub-freezing air temperatures by themselves are not a guarantee the pond will freeze evenly.”
During Lydia’s visit to the pond, she chatted with town employees Garland and Jada, who told her that as long as the pond is frozen over, people can skate. A state law requires there to be 3 inches of solid ice, and Lydia was told that currently, there is 9 inches of solid ice covering the pond. The Parks and Recreation department keeps the surface clean, while the fire department comes by to spray the top with water to keep it slick. The unsafe parts of the pond are blocked off and the staff continues to monitor it.
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Matthew said that residents can find out about the pond by visiting it or checking out the town’s social media pages. “There will either be a red sign indicating no skating, or a green sign indicating it’s open for skating. We also post on township Facebook and Instagram when it’s open and when it closes,” he said.
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