ACTION. PARK. Of AWSOME.

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls - I give you...ACTION PARK!

"...A few people did not get sufficient speed and they landed face first on the inside of the top of the loop. One person injured his two upper front teeth when he did this... ...The biggest problem is that sand and dirt and such would collect at the botton of the loop and the people would start comming out with abrasions over their entire backs. Then they would have to close it down and clean it out. I believe (and I could be wrong about this) that what finally closed it down was that after it was open for a short while an insurance adjuster finally came around to look at it and went ballistic."

In New Jersey, Action Park is legendary as the most awesome water-slide park ever created. Built up the side of a densely forested mountain it was apparently designed by the bastard son of a thousand maniacs, with a strong emphasis on thrills and little or no regard for the subsequent spills. Accordingly it achieved the crowning glory of any adventure park worth its salt in a less regulated age - multiple injuries and deaths of patrons. Which by all accounts were absolutely worth it.

The owner was borderline criminal, but the punters weren't complaining - presumably because they were dead. There's a Wikipedia page about the place: "At least six people are known to have died as a result of mishaps on rides at the park, and it was nicknamed "Traction Park", "Accident Park", "Class Action Park", "Danger Park" and "Death Park" by doctors at nearby hospitals due to the number of severely injured parkgoers they treated." 

But amongst several wistful internet descriptions of the place, my favourite can be found at DomainOfDeath3. Here, a native New Jersyite has written an excellent and affectionate eulogy for the place, which closed down some years ago - depriving me of the chance ever to risk my life in the Roaring Springs, Cannonball Falls or Riptide Slides. 

For a brief period, it was rendered even more awesome by sitting dormant as an abandoned mountainside water-slide park of death; some bright sparks (presumably Scooby Doo and Shaggy) got a few photos of the place while it languished in glorious, spooky decrepitude. ...Like, zoiks. Let's get outta here, Scoob.
For those images we can be grateful to abandonedbutnotforgotten - another excellent website, for those who love the unsettling frisson of exploring derelict spaces.

These days Action Park has sadly been reopened by some pencil-neck who actually listens to the tedious drone of Health & Safety advisers, with their "loose, rusty bolts" this and "sharp, gouging edge" that. The death-traps have been dismantled and the whole operation renamed Mountain Creek. "Mountain Creek"? Pfft. It is reportedly a very pleasant day out for all the family - which is just sad, considering the glories that once were. 

I strongly recommend reading the essay at 'DomainOfDeath' - it's a highly enjoyable lament for a braver, more stupid age when nobody was counting kids before jumping in the car to drive home, because it had been such an amazingly exciting day that well, who gave a fuck?