Trip Report: Lake Winnepesaukah

I wrote about the history of Lake Winnepesaukah amusement park in a post about classic Chattanooga attractions, but it’s been several years since I have been myself! So last Sunday, my brother and I took his four daughters to the park for their first visit.

It was an almost-perfect day to go. The threat of rain may have kept others away because we had almost no lines at all the entire day, and it only rained on us once for about 10 minutes. We were also able to use buy-one-get-one-free coupons from the Catoosa County Library, so for the six of us, we only paid for three admissions, which is a fantastic savings. (They are only good for three Sundays in August, so keep that in mind if you seek one out–the last Sunday to use them is the 26th.)

SOAK YA WATERPARK

I’ll start in the back of the park with the newest waterpark area, built in 2013. By far, the best slides in here are the Zoom Flume and the open tube slide on the Twist-n-Shout. The Zoom Flume is a 2-person fully-enclosed raft ride with a great drop in the middle of the run. They only had two rafts to use while we were there, so I’m not sure if that is what was left at the end of the season, or if that’s just what they always have! Thus, this was the only line we stood in all day.

The slide I’ll call the “Twist” portion of the Twist-n-Shout has a great spiral near the bottom of the slide that really threw me against the wall on the way out. The enclosed sister slide wasn’t nearly as fun. Ditto for the two body slides–the Splish-n-Splash–they didn’t seem very fun at all to me. Just a face full of water.

I opted out of the Winnie 500 racing mat slides myself but take note: instead of a flat starting position, the launch area on each slide is elevated to about knee-high on an adult. Watching from the top of the Zoom Flume which shares the same tower, some kids couldn’t get over the ledge very well. Kinda takes the fun out of the racing part of it if you can’t get out of the gate!

We really liked the Crazy River–it wanders around the outside of the water park and has a zero-entry lagoon and waterfall, and a section that occasionally has waves like a wave pool. It’s fun! It seems to run faster than your average lazy river.

Note that you must wear a swimsuit to enjoy the water rides, but you have to put real clothes back on to enjoy the rest of the park. People are there to check both ways.

BACK OF THE LAKE

Exiting the waterpark, we really enjoyed the Paratrooper, a gentle spinning ride with some decent elevation. One of my favorites, the Conestoga, wasn’t operating–otherwise, it has fantastic airtime! The Oh-Zone drop tower is simple, but gives a great view of the surrounding ridges! The sign says that you must be wearing close-toed shoes, but I had on Chacos with a back strap, and they were fine.

The big attraction in Lake Winnepesaukah is the classic John Allen Cannonball roller coaster. We rode this right after it had rained and I think it was quite a bit faster than it is normally! It was a fantastic ride. I’m always surprised at how well it holds up. The track at least, if not the trains–the seats are getting pretty worn with a lot of duct tape fixes.

We also rod the Wild Lightnin’ wild mouse coaster just after the rain, so it ran a little faster too. It’s possible that I’m a little too old to be jerked around like that, but the girls loved it and rode several times.

Behind the Cannonball is a classic spinning Orbiter, which we didn’t ride. And it looks like the Genie pin-you-to-the-wall spinner has taken the place of the only remaining classic Fly-O-Plane. I was all for riding the Genie in order to dry off after the water park, but we didn’t manage to make it back there.

Rounding off the back nine is the Wave Swinger which swings out over the edge of the lake. It’s always a good time! Make sure you have good shoes for this one too–they won’t let you ride with shoes that might fall off and you can’t ride barefoot. There’s also a kiddie Frog Hopper, the bumper cars (which don’t operate in the rain!) and the Alpine Way. The Alpine Way is one-way only. Unlike other parks, it’s not a method to get across the park, it’s just a nice way to go across the lake and back.

In this corner, you’ll also find the main spot to eat, with seating near the lake. And back behind the food is a mini-golf course. The golf course is supposedly one of the oldest in existence, but it wasn’t operating when we were there. Back in this deserted little corner, you’ll also find a playground and a kiddie splash area, but you kind of have to go looking for it if you want to find it! It’s well hidden.

The Jukebox Junction stage is back here as well, but it hasn’t seen a concert since about 2014. I’m thinking that it doesn’t work well with the way admission is structured now that the waterpark has been built. It used to be that you could pay admission just to enter the park but ride no rides, which is what you would do to watch a concert. But with the waterpark, they discontinued that, so we’ll see if Lake Winnie hosts any more musical acts in the future.

SIDE OF THE LAKE

Behind the carousel, you’ll find the Antique Cars–which we rode around a couple times in the rain, a kid’s Wacky Worm, and the Scrambler. The antique Carousel is over 100 years old, and while the turntable and the restored music organ work great, almost all of the horses are in bad need of a new paint job. I was very disappointed in the way they looked. But all the horses go up and down–you won’t find stationary ones on the outside like some have.

The old haunted house has been turned into the Wacky Factory. I had some hopes that this would be a decent attraction, but alas, it’s not. It’s just some blacklight props (weakly painted, at that) and you still get blasted by a semi/party bus at the end. Across the way, you can take a paddle boat out onto the lake for some pedal-powered fun.

Most of the rest of this strip is made up of pay-for-play games (we witnessed a few winners!) and an old showboat ride from the 50’s that now houses the only hand-scooped ice cream in the park. (See this page and go to 1956 to view the boat as an actual water-borne vehicle.) On the corner, there’s a spot to get soft-serve and funnel cakes and a second-story seating area.

FRONT OF THE LAKE

I’ll start at the historic Boat Chute from 1927. This is the oldest mill-chute ride of its kind still operating, and it’s still fun! You ride through a tunnel (rebuilt out of metal since I rode it last) around a corner, into the light, and then up and back down a maybe two-story drop to a splashdown in the lake. Also tucked in this corner is a Matterhorn ride.

All the toddler-age rides are in this corner as well, and many picnic pavilions, making this a great spot for school trips and family outings. Don’t miss the 1948 Cake House–a little circular shelter that looks like a cake!

On the lake, you’ve got a swinging Pirate Ship, a Ferris Wheel, Tilt-A-Whirl, a slide, flying elephants, and a balloon spinning ride and a hopping frog ride that both seem aimed at smaller kids. What’s definitely NOT aimed at kids is the Fireball circular roller coaster thing. It was in operation on Sunday, but I didn’t end up riding for lack of time.

What most of us hopped on instead was the last ride on the train at 15 minutes before the park closed. This tiny train takes you around the lake and gives a recorded history of the park while you travel. I always love amusement park trains, and this one is no exception. Take note of the last seat at the back of the train, which faces backward for a unique ride.

SUGGESTED TOURING

For visiting Lake Winnepesaukah, I recommend doing kind of what we did–ride a few key rides on the way back to the waterpark and get the slides in before the crowds gather. Then work your way back through the park to the front, more or less. It’s not a big park by any means, and unless it’s crazy busy, you should have no trouble riding all the rides you want. It’s so small that walking your extra water stuff (towels & extra clothes, etc) back to the car is no trouble at all.

CONCLUSION

I was reminded of just how small Lake Winnepesaukah is on this trip, even with the waterpark expansion! In that, it is a super manageable park, with little of the hassles of standing in line or folks getting too lost. The waterpark addition is really great and worth the investment! I like it a lot.

The rest of the park could use a lot of attention, however. Those carousel horses were just sad looking. And the trains on the Cannonball are looking pretty gross, as well as the rafts on the Zoom Flume. Maybe it’s just that it’s the end of the season and everything will come back a bit refreshed in the spring. At least I hope so! I hate to see a historic park not being taken care of, but I’m sure the owners are doing the best they can. If there ever was a mom & pop amusement park, this is it. I’m sure their resources are limited.

But it’s still a fun park with all the basics, plus one super historic and unique attraction in the Boat Chute, and one very good roller coaster in the Cannonball. The water park area is worth the price of admission and a great decision! This is a perfect “starter” amusement park for your kids and a fun day for the whole family.

*Note–I didn’t tackle this park with the thought of blogging about it, so I didn’t take a single picture! All included pics are taken from the internet.