Roller Coasters in West Virginia

Next in this series we have Roller Coasters in West Virginia! Not a lot to speak of here, just two locations and four coasters total. I think West Virginia is known more for it’s natural beauty than its manmade attractions.

Click on each coaster’s name below for a video of the ride! Ride all the roller coasters in West Virginia from your house!

Camden Park

Camden Park is an old trolly park, operating since 1903. It’s pretty shabby and small, but they boast three roller coasters and a good haunted (“hawnted”) house. The coasters are a 1958 Big Dipper, a kiddie-version Little Dipper, and the Slingshot, one of those figure-8, spinning rides. The Hawnted House is gravity-fed too, and apparently doesn’t have any brakes! You can find in it Huntington, in a corner by the borders of Kentucky and Ohio.

It’s hard to tell what else is in the park. their website doesn’t work at all. According to their Facebook page and some info I found on Reddit, there’s an old Whip, a Paratrooper, maybe a little train, a pendulum ride, a log flume, mini-golf, a carousel, a scrambler, tilt-a-whirl, pedal cars, swan boats, plus some kiddie rides.

There’s equally no information on pricing! Their Facebook page refers to discounts on the website, but that doesn’t seem to be working right now…I have all the questions.

Hovatter’s Wildlife Zoo

The only other roller coaster in West Virginia is a kiddie Roller Coaster at Hovatter’s Wildlife Zoo in Kingwood. I don’t actually see any evidence of a roller coaster either on the website or their Facebook page, so again, it’s a big question mark. But rcbd.com seems to think it’s still operating! Here’s the only video evidence I can find.

You can definitely see animals, at least. Giraffes, lions, leopards, chimps, bears, and lemurs are at least some of the animals at home there.

The zoo is open daily April-October, and on weekends in November. Tickets for adults cost $13, or $11 for kids. There’s no info on if the roller coaster costs extra, which I assume it does.

Honorable Mention: Valley Worlds of Fun

Just because the pickins are slim, I’ll mention Valley Worlds of Fun in Fairmont. There’s no roller coasters here, though. It’s a family fun center with an arcade, bowling laser tag, Himalayan, Tea Cups, Bumper Cars, Bumper Boats, Inflatables, Archery games(?), mini-golf, a climbing wall, and a freefall ride.

A Fun Pass for $22 covers one game of bowling, one game of laser tag, and unlimited access to all indoor and outdoor rides, plus 5 tokens for the arcade. The same costs $17 after 7 pm and the place is open until 10 during the week, ’til 11 on Saturdays, and ’til 9 on Sundays.

Water Parks in West Virginia

Oof, there isn’t much in the way of water parks either – let’s see what we can find.

• Water Ways in Julian has 5 whole slides – 2 body slides that splash down into a catch pool, 2 more body slides that exit into the main pool, and 1 tube slide that exits into the lazy river. There’s also a “kiddie island”, walking trails, picnic facilities, mini-golf, and a concert venue. Admission is $15 and under.
• ACE Adventure Water Park is the most advertised, though it’s more of an inflatables-on-a-lake situation, which I normally don’t include. Besides 50 floating inflatable obstacles, there are two tarp “wet willie” slides into the lake, plus zip lines and a new splash pad. A full day of access costs $33 for adults, a half-day is $23, either in the morning or afternoon. I can imagine it would be a great way to cool off after a day of hiking.

• Jaydee’s Family Fun Center in Inwood is an interesting place – also a preschool and and 24-hour fitness center – they have a small water park with a shallow pool, a big straight slide, a smaller twisty slide, plus a small tot slide and spray fountains. There’s also an arcade, jungle gym, go-karts, mini-golf, batting cages, and gem mining. A $15 Outdoor Pass allows access to the pool and mini-golf; “Outdoor Deluxe” adds a go-kart ride for $25 total; a VIP Pass includes unlimited go-karts and the jungle gym for $35. Otherwise, attractions are priced separately.

• The City of Clarksburg has a city pool with two bigger twisty slides and two tiny tot slides. There’s a splash zone and I think a small lazy river, it’s hard to tell. Daily fees are $10 and under.
• Waves of Fun in Hurricane/Teays Valley is mainly a wave pool, but there are also 3 slides off to one side. Admission is $8 and under.

Did I miss anything? Have you been to any of these parks? What are you looking forward to doing this year? Let me know in the comments below!