Camden Park with Emma - 7/17/2026
This morning Emma and I headed south to Huntington, West Virginia to visit Camden Park. On the drive to the park we stopped for
lunch at Hillbilly Hot Dogs in Lesage, West Virginia near the Ohio River.
We arrived at the amusement park just past opening at noon. Right away we could see that Big Dipper was stuck at the top of the
lift hill. So we headed to some of the flat rides. Under the partly cloud blue skies we rode Whip, Flying Scooter and The
Scrambler.
Whip.
I took Emma for a ride in the Haunted House. While waiting in line she wasn't so sure what she was expecting. Afterwards
I asked Emma if it counts as a roller coaster and she said, "No". To which I replied, "You are correct, it's not a roller
coaster".
Our first coaster of the day was Slingshot. This SBF Visa spinning coaster features a booster wheel lift and a simple
figure-eight layout.
This counts as my 305th roller coaster and Emma first coaster in the state of West Virginia.
Next we rode The Rattler, Carousel, Skyline and Tilt-A-Whirl. Lil' Dipper and Train were closed for maintenance, so we took a
break in the shade with a refreshing drink.
Train reopened so we jumped onboard for a relaxing ride.
With the heat and the short line-up of open rides we began to wind down our visit. We re-rode Slingshot, Whip and The
Rattler.
Rattler.
Emma and I headed out of the park shortly after three o'clock.
The closures of both Big Dipper and Lil' Dipper meant that two-thirds of the park's coasters were out of service. Paratrooper
has been closed all season and has tall weeds growing up through it. Throughout the park and parking lot grass and weeds were
growing through cracks in the concrete and asphalt. There were numerous rides that looked as if they hadn't been touched by a
single drop of paint since Sarah and I visited here in 2010. The park has fallen from a quaint family park to a shady, rundown
park that looks like it could close forever at any time. Emma called the park "janky". I hate to see this park in such
decline. In spite of all this Emma and I still had a good time.
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