Certain thrills are a given when you hop on a coaster at North Idaho's Silverwood Theme Park: the nervous anticipation as you creep up the inclines, the screams of the fearfully jubilant on steep drops, the body-rocking G-force of hairpin turns and, of course, being soaking wet when the ride is through.
Alright... that last one is new.
That's because this year, Silverwood's Boulder Beach water park opened up its latest attraction: Eagle Hunt. Not only is Eagle Hunt the first water coaster in the Pacific Northwest and the first dueling water coaster on the West Coast, it's now the largest dueling water coaster in the entire United States.
The Eagle Hunt name and theme was chosen because Boulder Beach strives not to be a tropical park, but rather one that's more in the Northwest spirit of the Gem State. The ride is meant to thematically capture the feeling of two competing eagles dive-bombing the water in hopes of snapping up a fishy meal. A pair of two-person innertubes are launched down separate slides simultaneously to "race" to the bottom, but along the way there are multiple rollercoaster-style inclines that lift the tubes back up for more thrilling descents and speedy turns around flying saucer corners.
Riding Eagle Hunt is an entirely unique hybrid experience between a water slide and roller coaster. Torrents of water blast from behind to shoot you up the inclines in a manner that's cool and refreshing, followed by zigging and zagging to the bottom, surrounded at times by fiberglass tubes with timber designs and at other times in the open air catching glimpses of rival riders as both parties speed to the finale. It delivers a rush of both excitement and water, one that already has vaulted into the top-tier of Silverwood's offerings.
North Idaho might not seem like the ideal place for a waterpark. In fact, those in charge at Silverwood weren't even certain the summertime addition to their amusement park would work out. But ever since opening in 2003, crowds have flocked to Boulder Beach.
"We didn't know how good it was going to do, really," Silverwood Marketing Director Jordan Carter says. "We only have three months that you can really use it. But our attendance rose by 40% that year."
After initially opening with the Rumble Falls tube slide, a wave pool, a lazy river, and the wet playground called Polliwog Park, Silverwood soon expanded Boulder Beach with more slides and pools. But after years of the status quo, things were due for a major new expansion. That expansion came to fruition this year with the waterpark's new 4-acre Emerald Forest section that includes Eagle Hunt.
"The intention behind the Emerald Forest was to give more space, because on any given day, we have 75% of our attendance coming from Seattle and Portland six-plus hours away. And a lot of people are coming here on the hot days of summer, and just stay on this side of the park," Carter says.
To that end, Emerald Forest includes Salmon Run, a new family area with eight kiddie waterslides and a splash pad; Rapids Grill, a new grab-and-go food option; Northern Flights, a new bar that offers beer and alcoholic slushie flights; and lots of rentable, private shaded spots that range from cabanas for small families to pavilions for corporate gatherings. But Eagle Hunt serves as the crown jewel, drawing folks to all the other elements.
The path to Eagle Hunt taking flight started when the folks at Silverwood connected with award-winning, Ottawa-based water ride design company ProSlide at an industry theme park convention in November 2022. By February 2023 a deal was struck, and ProSlide began the design process.
"Silverwood is a coaster park, so I think when they saw a waterslide that would fit in with their coasters, they all got pretty excited," ProSlide project manager Andrew Good says.
Water coasters are particularly tricky to design because of the combination of technologies involved, but ProSlide's team employed both design software and their own firsthand experience to figure out how to get Eagle Hunt soaring. It actually helped that Silverwood brought plenty of ideas to the table.
"Silverwood was a fantastic client. They definitely had more of the, 'Hey, can you do this? This is what we're thinking,' which is great to work with," Good says. "When you get a client that's like, 'You tell me everything,' often later on they're like, 'Well, why didn't you do this?' It's like, well we can do an infinite amount of things, you just have to tell me what kind of ballpark area you're in."
The sheer amount of electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems required to run Eagle Hunt is "quite enormous," but the ride actually got built surprisingly quickly. Construction began in September 2023, but the mild 2023-24 winter allowed for a fast build. Despite there being "around 1,400 or 1,500 pieces of fiberglass" on the project, the whole thing was built and tested — which takes nearly a full month for a water coaster versus a few days for a water slide — in time for riders to enjoy when Boulder Beach opened its season in early June.
Eagle Hunt still hasn't reached it's ideal form — there are still time trial elements to the ride yet to be implemented, and currently you need a pre-planned partner to ride (with a 150-450 pound combined weight requirement) — but Carter says the water coaster has already become the most popular ride in the park this summer. Those looking to ride Silverwood's newest coaster have until the end of the Boulder Beach season on Labor Day to take the plunge.
Just don't forget to bring a towel. ♦
