Had an amazing family day here! FYI cash only for the mini golf so bring cash or they have an atm. The mini golfing was leisurely and had different courses. We also got ice cream afterwards. Ice cream does take cards. I believe everything is made in house. I was happy they offered "only 8" so I could enjoy lower carb ice cream with my family. Will definitely return! read more

See all

The homemade hard ice cream was delicious! So many yummy flavors to choose from and we all liked everything we chose. Love the ambiance too with nice outdoor patio seating, pretty flowers and landscaping, fun mini golf right there, etc. read more

My family went to Pirate's Hide-Out on Sunday evening for ice cream. It is a very cool place to go for mini golf - especially when the weather is as lovely as it was on Sunday evening. The coffee-oreo-fudge ice cream may be the best ice cream I have ever had in my life. I think I can safely say that they are top notch for variety and flavor. So why a ranking of only two? One of my daughters who is allergic to nuts, ordered a "Chocolate Thunder" which is described as having "Chocolate based with cake crunchies, cookie fudge, and dark chocolate chunks." My kiddo (an adult really) begins to have a nut allergy reaction. They come on very slow for her, and thankfully, we have never needed to use the epi pen. She goes to the counter to ask them whether Chocolate Thunder has nuts and explains that she is having a reaction. She is told, "Well, there is always a chance of cross contamination." Incredibly, she has never been affected at places like Cold Stone or Stewarts which also serve ice cream with nuts. They rinse their scoopers. Here, there was a complete disregard - an indifference really for what was happening. If I were the manager, I would have offered her another ice cream and made sure that the ice cream scoop was rinsed. We did not want to make a scene. It was father's day and so many families were there enjoying the moment. So we promised that we would go to Stewarts thereafter so she could enjoy a scoop of something - which we did. AND THEN my younger daughter runs up to me to share that there was hair in her ice cream cup. I am sure that this does not happen all of the time. Hair happens, I suppose. The nut allergy response, was just bad. This is the reason for the rating of 2. read more

I have been here quite a few times and the mini golf is pretty fun. The holes that lead to the real hole don't always perfectly lead them to the hole but that's expected. The ice cream is pretty good and there is little to no wait. There are many kind people and it has a nice environment. read more

I came here with my wife and friend to play some golf. Upon arriving, we saw a firetruck and EMS personnel everywhere and discovered they had run a fundraiser tournament that morning. Perhaps that is why the course looked immaculate (aside from some loose paving bricks along the edges). The course was under $10 to play. The holes varied in complexity but none were too difficult. That being said, several had "short-cut" tubes that were very tough to actually sink the ball into, negating any benefit of using them. A couple of the holes did not have a complete border around all of the edges, and on more than one occasion one of our balls rolled off of the green. Finally, for a couple of holes it was easier to play through/over a small rock trap than to try and navigate around them. There were also lots of small "hills" hidden in the green playing areas that must be accounted for or else your ball will roll sideways. In sum, it added up to a fun course to play. The cups/holes are also something to note. If you hit them slowly but in the middle your ball will bounce away from the hole. Instead, you need to approach them at speed to get the ball to actually fall in. It took a while to figure this out. I detected no rim along the edge that would cause this to be required, but there it is. Fun fact: I got my first hole-in-one in many years on hole #7, and my wife one-shot it too on hole #12. That alone makes this course worthy of repeat status! They had ice cream in many flavors, including some unusual ones (peanut butter marshmallow fudge something...). I will need to find out if they are having the tournament next year, as that would be fun to participate in. read more

Last year was my first experience at Pirate's Hide-Out. The soft serve had the best flavor, texture and prices were reasonable. I also appreciate that they accept credit cards when I don't have the cash on hand. In 2022 the rating was 5 stars. The outdoor flowers and mini golf are enjoyable and plenty of seating for everyone, inside and outside. Homemade hard ice cream is amazing all around and will always be my first choice while Pirates is open for the season. Now in 2023, I've returned 3-4 times and sadly it has changed to a negative review. While the soft serve texture is still good, flavors have depleted, sizes have shrunk and prices have gone up. My last 2 orders were banana and cotton candy and they were more of an aftertaste than a flavor. I get it... inflation, but don't sacrifice the product to save a dime. I'd pay more if it was consistent with the previous year. I'm now in search of a new ice cream place since I don't enjoy the soft serve ice cream as much. read more

Starting our summertime ice cream crawl off with a bang. Ended up at this wonderful ice cream shop, with a mini golf course. Mia and Meghan in the ice cream shop were extremely helpful and helped us pick out some wonderful choices. They gave us taste tests, as many as we wanted. I settled on salty dog, and topped it with pistachio. My wife chose Pirates junk and heath bar. Great pairings suggested by both of the wonderful hosts. Definitely earned a five out of five review, and we will be back after we finish our summer long ice cream crawl. read more

Pirate's Hide-Out - Pirates Junk ice cream covered with Heath Bar Ice Cream - Mini Golf Near Me - Waterford, New York

See all

I have been here a few times: twice for ice cream and then once for mini golf. I really enjoyed the mini golf. We around 1:00 on a Saturday and it wasn't very busy! $8.00 for adults and $4.00 for kids, it was a perfect way to spend an hour. The ice cream isn't my favorite but it's cold and on a hot summer day it does the trick. I'm more of a hard ice cream person over soft, that's why it's not my favorite ice cream in the area. read more

See all

Surprised with all the homemade ice cream flavors and vegan options. Not many ice-cream places have this amount of variety. I tried the peach cobbler ice cream and my husband had the vanilla soft serve. Both delicious. Golfed afterwards which is probably my favorite thing about this place. Not only can you get ice cream but also do a fun activity with the kids. Not outrageous golf pricing either, $10 adults, little less for kids. Will definitely bring my children here when they are old enough to know the rules of the game. Very fun but can imagine how backed up it could get on the weekends. Weekday nights are probably the best time. read more

Amazing staff always helping out if needed or just assisting you. Super clean place and definitely family and adult friendly. They are quick serving but dont rush you. Ice cream is amazing they switch it out which is nice and gives you a refresh to want more lol read more

One of the better miniature golf courses locally and ice cream options are spectacular!

They have an extensive menu and they have low calorie options. Their mini golf course is really fun, especially good for a date night idea. Four stars instead of five because they are on the pricey side for their ice cream. read more

This place is an absolute rip off! Will be disputing charge. Absolutely appalled with the "quality" of what they called ice cream and the level of careless nasty gaslighting "customer service". Ordered a KIDDIE vanilla with butterscotch (which you have on your sign for toppings btw) Only to be delivered a dollop of half melter vanilla ice cream with hot fudge. When I nicely asked thats not mine is it? Hadn't evene touched it btw The teenage worker rolled her eyes and said thats the kiddie hot fudge. I said I didnt order that and kindly clarified my order only for her to ask her coworker what that even is and for her to say oh yeah sorry we don't have that so I asked for caramel instead to be greeted with the same pea size dallop with cold caramel with no flavor and barely any of it. Then firther attitude from the worker who said we can't the ice cream back so you have to take it. ZERO apology for their mistake and the fact they hav it plainly listed on their sign. My friend asked for the taco tuesday special which they were also "out of" despite it being all over their boards. So they recommended a waffle cone and hot fudge. Gave ZERO proce adjustment to try to make up for their lack of stock and inability to show they were out of what they advertised. While sitting down my friend asked how much it was for both because we borh dont remember the worker with an attitude giving us a totaly only for me to pull up my cc statement to see it was $15 dollars for both! I asked kindly to speak with a manager and was given what she told me her name wqs "Margaret" aka another slightly older snotty female teenager who just proceded to list the ingreidents in a snotty manner and continue to gaslight my experience then have the audacity to say "well prices are going up for us too and it was all on our website". Again ZERO apology for the poor quality, false advertising, screw up, and rudeness I reporter during our experience.I have lived in the neighborhood thats walking distance from this "local business" for all my life and can say take your money to guptils or hayners. Its worth the extra distance. This place should be embarrassed and should be reported to BB bureau for scamming. read more

It was an alright experience. There wasn't really anything pirate about it other than the mast and the facts about pirates at every hole. No real obstacles on any of the holes, it was mostly just straight lines. Ice cream was average. Overall it was still pretty fun but we probably won't be back. read more

I previously gave this mini-golf course four out of five stars for being a great location to have fun, have lunch or dinner, and even have some wonderful ice cream. As of 2019, I am compelled to downgrade my score. The mini-golf is a lot of fun and they still have great ice cream, but they've changed the inside from being a solid place to get burgers, dogs, and even pizza in favor of being a candy shop. My wife and I used to come in with our two kids and sit down to eat and have ice cream and play afterwards, but we will just hit the outside service window now, get our ice cream and leave. The staff here is incredibly pleasant and helpful, especially the new owner. He's nice and obviously cares about his business, but I feel he's really missed the mark as to what made this place such a nice all-in-one to visit. Candy be purchased in plenty of specialty shops, department stores, and even pharmacies. The ice cream is more than enough sugar and we don't really feel any desire to buy more sugar loaded items during our visit. It's a shame. The previous owner had offered great hot food, and the pizza was some of the best I had in the local area. Still recommending at three stars for the mini-golf and ice cream, especially since it's a convenient spot for clifton park, halfmoon, and mechanicville residents to their fix when they don't feel like driving down route 9 for Guptil's. read more

We were craving some soft serve ice cream today so we stopped by Pirate's Hide Out. We went inside to order as opposed to ordering from the window since it's still a little bit cold. The women at the counter were super friendly and nice! I had ordered a small chocolate vanilla twist in a dish with sprinkles, I did request pink sprinkles but ended up with rainbow, but no big deal since I think she accidentally gave me WAY too much ice cream for a small, so I definitely wasn't complaining!! Also, they serve Perry's ice cream!! Which is made in Buffalo!! Not as many places serve it out here so I love that they do! We will definitely be back when we need our ice cream fix, probably will stop in for some mini golf sometime too when it warms up. We didn't try the food here, and I probably don't really plan to, but it's a good spot for ice cream! This is probably the best place in a relatively short drive (at least for me) for some ice cream! I wouldn't necessarily drive across town for it, but if you live or are nearby then give it a shot! read more

See all

Well-maintained and playable mini-golf course that's a bit of a knockoff on the Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf chain but is cheaper and a bit more scaled down than the original. My expectations were low but this has turned out to be the most playable miniature golf course in the region of the 10 we've tried now, and certainly one of the more pleasurable for overall experience. Another in our ongoing, comprehensive series of reviews of every miniature golf course within an hour's driving distance of Lock 7. $7 for adults, $6 for kids, which ties it for most expensive (excepting Pirate's Cove, which we haven't gotten to in the area but which we've played elsewhere), but you can play all day before 6 PM for $10 for adults and $8 for kids, which quickly makes it into the best bargain in the area if you play at least two games. We do prefer courses with "themes", and this one has got Pirates. But the theme is not really executed in the course. It's a putt-only, up-and-down course with modest obstacles. Each hole has some informative trivia about Pirate history and folkways posted on a sign (which one of my kids just ate up), but sadly they don't have any of these transformed into theme holes. The closest they came was a cannon obstacle on one hole, but that is literally the only hole with a "schtick" -- all the others have simple rocks and small shag-turf bunkers or slight rises as their obstacles. (And disappointingly, they didn't incorporate the cannon barrel - you just hit around the wheels in the gun carriage.) The water course does go through a sort of semi-fake little ship, or at least a mast, but the water course plays no part in any of the holes, which seems like a real waste. (The closest you come is one hole where it's possible to accidentally hit it off the side into the water). Sandtraps are filled with large gravel, which is the way to do it: no sand mess on the course, and you can play the ball out of the trap if you really want. The course does get superior marks for playability, though. The maintenance is by far the best of any of the ten courses we've been on. Greens were not threadbare, and only had a few odd nicks in them. Cups were in good shape, and in general the greens had very little debris on them. But the basic design of the holes gets the highest marks. True shots are rewarded with close proximity to the holes. Most of the multilevels reward making the upper hole shot with a ball very close to the hole with a chance of going in on one shot. There are at least two different strategies available for almost every hole, which always makes group play much more interesting (and encourages going back again). The brick edging, even though it's mostly on a curved layout, provides a fair amount of opportunity for banking because it's not a "hard" layout, and banking around curves is surprisingly enjoyable on this course. And there are only two potential "up and back" holes (which are always particularly frustrating for younger players). Greens are true and medium-speed. I There was some "lippiness" on some cups, and seams in the turf are visible on some holes, and there are no "tee mats" at all, resulting in more turf wear in the tee-off area. So they have room for improvement here, but as noted above, it's still the best-maintained course we've run across thus far. Excellent plus: a full practice green before the first hole, with three holes in it. I appreciate this and if there's a line it's a way of killing time while you wait for the first hole to clear. More Pluses: there's a nice picnic shelter out back in a grassy area; it's quiet (no amplified noise and the road noise is surprisingly low); and it's got the best snack shack (a cafe, really) of any mini golf place we've been to thus far. The latter has espresso/cappucino drinks and pretty reasonable hot grill fare, including hot dogs Michigan style (with meat sauce). All in all, it's not our ideal course -- our ideal would have more original holes with kinetic themes (you HAVE to have at least three moving objects on a mini golf course, in our humble opinion) -- nor our favorite in the area, but it was a lot of fun because of the high playability and good maintenance, and probably the second-best experience we've had, certainly worth going back to. read more

Pirate's Hide-Out - Mini Golf Near Me - Waterford, New York

See all

Fun mini golf and very good ice cream. It was the perfect break on our road trip. Have the Cherry Chocolate Chunk.

It is really a hide-out because if you drive from Half Moon towards Waterford, you might miss it. I saw it because there were a lot of cars parking and saw the ice cream sign. Actually we were looking for some easy eat that day, and we were about the give it a pass, but I saw a small sign says they serve good food too. So we stopped and had a lot of food. The place looks like it's been renovated, pretty clean and looks new. They have a big space in the backyard for small events like birthday party. And mini golf is what we plan to come back for. read more

See all

I used to love coming here, but it's gotten so expensive with all the up charges. The "only 8" is my families favorite, but this place charges extra for it. I love to support local businesses but I left disappointed after my last visit. Over 20 dollars for 3 kiddie cones and a sundae. read more

A pretty basic miniature golf course, no special features which left my younger nephew a bit bummed out. $8.50 a person for as many rounds as you want to play - a bit less for young children. I cannot imagine wanting to play the 18 holes more than once. We went the day after a bunch of rain and the greens were not too soggy but covered with debris and several holes had drainage issues that left you with soggy fingers when collecting your ball. The staff inside the ice cream parlor were very nice and my nephews enjoyed their treats, the small sundaes are not small at all. read more

Nice place for mini golf if you can follow the right path ( we missed 2 holes somewhere along the line ) No windmills or other gadgets, just natural curves and bumps on the "fairways". BUT... the homemade ice cream is just about the BEST any where around! Worth the trip. (We traveled from Wynantskill ) We'll be going back! The chocolate raspberry was outstanding! The raspberry swirl throughout was BURSTING with flavor. Mocha cappuccino too. The owner and employees were the nicest, (REAL) friendly people, making you want to go back. read more

Good, but nothing special. I tried the brownie fudge soft serve on a waffle cone which was one of their special weekly flavors. Although it was good, it tasted exactly like chocolate soft serve. Disappointing. The waffle cone was good though. Prices were very reasonable and the portion sizes were pretty big. There are many places to sit and the mini golf area was nice. I'm not sure how this is considered Waterford because it seems much closer to Clifton Park/Cohoes. Good ice cream if you live near by, but not worth making a trip out of your way. read more

I understand this is primarily a miniature golf place, that aspect of the business is fine. It's one of the newer ones in the area so the course is nicer just because it isn't aged, cracked, and dirty. As an adult I don't care much about miniature golf. If I was writing this a year ago it would be a four star review for their ice cream. However, it's not a year ago, it's now. The quality of the ice cream has gone way downhill. The smooth consistency and shocking amount of flavor is pushed aside for the same grainy crap most other places that try to capitalize on warm summer days have. It isn't quite chinese buffet bad, but it is a pale comparison to what it was a year ago. I went a couple different times hoping I just caught it on an 'off' day, sadly that was not the case. The inconsistency in sizing is something as well. Most recently I went with a group of five people. We all ordered small soft serve cones. The first four people got their cones and the size was acceptable, not generous by any stretch of the imagination, but acceptable. Then mine came out. Keep in mind, we all ordered the exact same size. Mine was HALF the size of everyone else's. I went to complain but the kid behind the counter already moved on to the next customer in line (not their fault it got busy). I decided to just take the hit, take the insult and write yet another local business off. The rest of the food at this place has always been abysmal. Frozen food from Sysco is the best case scenario, it may be serving up the wal mart specials for all I know. Everything I ever tried here (ice cream aside) was horrible. Go to Guptils. It's not much further away and they don't take credit cards but at least the ice cream is consistently good. read more

Great for date night! The ice cream is amazing!! My husband said it was the best strawberry ice cream he has ever had. They have a soft serve ice cream that is lactose intolerant friendly! It was so good. It has been years since I have had an ice cream cone. The mini golf is not amazing but still fun. Not a difficult course. Very family friendly. The grounds are very well taken care of. It is a nice place. We will be going back. read more

Pirates Hideout has the greatest ice cream ever. Ben and Jerry's is the Jimmy Garappolo to pirates hideouts Tom Brady. They have huge portions that should cost more than Brock Osweiler's contract and yet they're only like 2 bucks. read more

Spent several hours at Pirates today. Great round of mini golf followed by yummy chicken wraps and hand cut friends delicious!! The new owners have done a fantastic job changing up the menu! read more

My husband and I stopped over on Sunday Afternoon. I love the Only 8 Frozen Yogurt and can only find it here. What a sweet treat to find the owners have made improvements to the place and really started focusing on the ice cream. We were sitting outside when the owner Bill came over to greet our pup. Very dog friendly place! We tried the Espresso Flavor and it was AMAZING and they have have a chocolate raspberry flavor that was divine. Great place to get ice cream!!!! read more

After my second visit with my hub & 2 boys (7 & 9), I've decided I really love this place! I grew up in this general area & mini golf & soft serve are the very essence of summer in NY. Especially smaller family run places like this, Pirates Hide Out is a perfect little place to spend time and have some sweet summer fun. The golf is good, each hole is different, the course grounds are beautifully landscaped with many plants and water features all well cared for and clean. They have a nice open lawn area with a pavilion for parties - the party price for kids I thought was great for 10 kids, golf etc... After our golf game we got some lunch, kids had burgers, fries & root beer floats, hub had wings, me ice cream, everything was great, large portions, fries appear to be fresh cut, very good. The owner stopped to talked with us to see if we were enjoying our food and visit - we did! He was very kind and made us feel cared for and welcome. We had a great time here, the food & ice cream were great, family feel service - what's not to love?? read more

Friendly staff! Ice cream was delicious although I felt like it was over priced for the portions we got. Mini golf was great! The staff did a great job to ensure social distancing and sanitized clubs/golf balls read more

Ok- golf course was ok. We had a good time, but it wasn't that fancy. Having said that- the owners were great. Checked in on us several times to make sure we were having fun. Enjoyed the frozen custard- homemade on site- really yummy! read more

LOVE THIS PLACE!!!! Great staff, even better ice cream and such a fun mini golf course! Definitely will be back :-)

Best soft serve for the money in the entire area! Good food too! I have mini golfed here a few times and its really nice. All in all its a great family venture, and I heard they have killer birthday parties for the kids. read more

I really enjoyed my time spent at Pirate's Hide-Out (P.H.O.). Pirate's Hide Out makes their own waffle cones, so I had to pay them a visit. They have some rarely-seen waffle cone dips. I tried the chocolate dipped, Butterfinger coated waffle cone, which was spectacular. The chocolate tastes great, which I find is rare in cone dips, and the butterfinger was very tasty and fresh-tasting. The cone itself had a great flavor. The only down-side of the cone was that it was too weak for all of the ice cream. By the time I got to the bottom, the ice cream was leaking through the cone - something I've never seen happen to a waffle cone before. Luckily, P.H.O. puts the cone in a paper cone, so there is no leakage on your hand/clothes/etc. The ice cream was good, as well. I'm really more of a hard ice cream gal, but P.H.O. only has soft serve. On the day of my visit, the special twist was Banana/Chocolate Cake Batter, and it was great!!! I like the banana especially - it had a great not artificial taste. read more

Pirate's Hide-Out - Banana/Chocolate Cake Batter twist in a Chocolate-dipped, Butterfinger-coated homemade waffle cone. Size Small - Mini Golf Near Me - Waterford, New York

We stopped by last night because we heard the ice cream was amazing. The word was correct! We had the chocolate fudge and espresso Carmel crunch. All we can say is WOW! Great flavor and consistency! The service is fast and efficient and Bill the owner is friendly and caring! We'll be back for sure. read more

We had an amazing birthday party for our five year old son. The kids loved the golfing, pizza and ice cream! The staff was AMAZING! They went above and beyond to accommodate us. The pavilion is beautiful: shady and cool. The kids loved running around after. The price is a STEAL!! Please have your kids birthday party here. Everyone will have a blast! read more

Really liked the place. Great ice cream with a lot for your money. My lover and I had a great time at mini golf . The only problem was the water on the coarse was tinted blue and that just ruined my whole fucking night. But other then that wonderful establishment! read more

Don't get me wrong but when you ask for a small dish of ice cream I did not expect a baby size. I know you can't expect to get a med size for the price of a small but I shouldn't get charged for small and get less than you expected. I really wish I took a picture of it so you could see how small it was. read more

It was a little chilly out and no sunshine me and the wife was surching for something fun mid day to do that won't brake the bank. We spent $20 and had a blast for an hour. We haven't played mini golf in awhile. Our ball went into the river and a friendly employee stoped doing his cleaning job to assist us. Great customer service. Girls In the ice cream shop was super friendly and eager to let me sample the store. The ice cream it self is a little expensive but to die for. read more

Our new favorite place for ice cream! So many flavors, and my wife loves the vegan dairy free choices. A great place to play mini golf too - very nicely maintained with some shade for hot days. read more