One of my best trips of the summer was to Canobie Lake Park in Salem, New Hampshire. Since its start in 1902, Canobie Lake (pronounced can-a-bee) has become one of the best family-owned amusement parks in the country.
Right inside the entrance, you're greeted with a wonderful example of programmatic architecture. The color-coordinated trashcans don't go unnoticed by me. :-)
To get a look at Canobie Lake itself, you can ride the slow-moving miniature train or take a boat cruise.
The Yankee Cannonball was built in 1936 and is a perfect classic coaster. It provides great airtime moments and has a well-paced layout. It was definitely a highlight of the park for me.
The Rowdy Roosters is the most unique Flying Scooter ride I've ever seen. The distinctive shape of the car bodies is because of their former role as WWII "drop tanks," which are airplane fuel tanks that are dropped once they are empty.
The Canobie Corkscrew is a coaster that I have seen but will never ride. After sitting dormant for all of the 2021 season, it has been removed from the park map, pretty much confirming its removal.
Although I'm sure it didn't give an amazing ride experience, I still would've loved to have ridden this coaster because of its history. The ride began life at the failed Old Chicago indoor amusement park as the Chicago Loop and was one of the first four Corkscrew coasters Arrow Development built in 1975. It operated at the Alabama State Fairgrounds before coming to Canobie. If you look closely, you can see fresh welds on the track - likely for inspection purposes - so it's probable that 45 years of use and being relocated twice has caught up to it.
A happier subject is the Turkish Twist, one of two Rotor rides left in America! While this model's ride time was on the shorter side, it's still an absolute thrill sticking to the wall by centripetal force.
One of my favorite rides was the Mine of Lost Souls, a 1980s darkride. I avoided spoilers and was amazed at its quality. The animatronics are the best you'll find at an independent park, and there's an awesome room where you zig-zag on a bridge over a large lake past multiple animatronics.
The other disappointment of my visit was seeing the historic carousel closed for refurbishment. They do have one of the "Luminaires" from the '64-'65 World's Fair, though! I don't know if it still works at night.
I've saved the main reason I wanted to visit Canobie Lake Park for last. The park is the last in America to feature an original Caterpillar ride... with a working canopy that covers riders!
It's not a particularly thrilling ride by any means, but I'm glad to say I checked off something that was high on my bucket list.
Even with a few closed rides, Canobie Lake Park stands out as one of the best amusement parks I've ever visited. No detail goes unnoticed when it comes to guest service, and the mix of classic rides is top-notch.
13 comments:
This looks like a fun park, with nice landscaping and good maintenance. I am a little worried about how regularly they empty their trash cans, though - that giant garbage can in the second photo has popcorn about to spill out of the top!
My dad told me stories as a kid about the amusement area in Walbridge Park, sandwiched between the Toledo Zoo and the Maumee River (actually, the Zoo was originally carved out of Walbridge Park, but I digress). One of the rides he described that I had never heard of or seen before was the Caterpillar. I still have never seen one in person. [sigh] One more reason to visit New England again…when I have enough vacation time…and money…and I can convince a family member it will be a worthwhile expenditure.
Interesting history on the Rowdy Roosters. Now that you explain what the bodies are made from, it jumps out at you like a sore thumb. Because sore thumbs jump. I’ve seen it with my own eyebulbs!
I didn’t know there were only two Rotors left in the US, but now that I think about it, I haven’t seen one in a long time. Those things used to be everywhere. Hmmm…maybe I can include that in my vacation sales pitch?
They had an indoor Scrambler at Busch Gardens: the Old Country on my 1981 and 1982 visits. I can’t remember what they called it (“Catapault,” maybe?), but I do remember it made the experience more intense - loud music, red lights, I think maybe some “storm” (or maybe “battle”) effects.
It’s a bummer when you want to ride something and it’s down for refurb. I didn’t ride any version of the Jungle Cruise for 11 years because it was down on my 1976 DL visit and again on my next Disney Park visit to WDW in 1979 (of course, now that I think about it, as of today it’s been more than 12 years, but I digress - again). My wife and I went back to Six Flags Over St. Louis earlier this summer for the first time since the Pandemic started and were disappointed that the carousel was down but excited that it’s undergoing a full, two-year restoration, which means it’s going to be around for a good, long time. We don’t, however, have a 1964-65 World’s Fair luminaire (they commemorate a different World’s Fair here for some reason).
Nice to see they have a working sky ride of some kind. I love the views those give you. I see a “MiniSkooter.” Is that like a mini-bumper cars?
Thanks again for another great post…and I didn’t have t wait a full month to see it! :-)
Wow Chuck, thanks for such a detailed comment! Taking a glance, Walbridge Park seems to have been a nice classic park, with a Tumble Bug ride!
As always, I'm impressed by your memories of the Busch Gardens Scrambler. They still have it as "Le Catapult," but it's not indoors anymore. Even Kennywood had an indoor Scrambler a long time ago.
I'm okay with a carousel refurbishment if it addresses structural issues, but nothing is more saddening than a park completely neglecting its carousel to the point it needs a year-long closure to reverse the damage.
Luckily my parents agreed to taking an extra day on our trip home from Vermont to visit this park. If you're nearby, I think you would really like it. Apparently it does get really busy some days, though. I'm impressed that you'd be willing to ride a Rotor - there's no way my dad would ever ride something like that! Thanks again.
Willing to ride a Rotor? Man, if I can ride Top Thrill Dragster, I can handle anything. Except clowns [shudder]. Of course, it doesn’t hurt my confidence that I have fond memories of riding Tom’s Twister at SFoMA…. ;-)
I am looking at an aerial photo of Walbridge Park during the era my dad would have been visiting, and the photo clearly shows a Tumble Bug and not a Caterpillar. That doesn’t mean there never was a caterpillar at Walbridge, but it is possible that he may have confused his amusement parks. Cedar Point had a Caterpillar, and I know he visited multiple times in the ‘50s, back in the days before the Causeway was built and you had to take a ferry to get there.
It was bugging me, so I did some research and the Catapault was located in the old Hastings area and themed to the eponymous 1066 battle that changed the course of English history. Here’s a 1977 map of the park for reference.
Wow, this park is packed with personality! I’ve eaten ice cream, hot dogs, and bananas out of buildings shaped like the food they serve, but popcorn is a new one on me! And I’ve never seen an indoor scrambler, but it sounds like a lot of fun.
Canobie Lake Park looks like it is well maintained. I love the trees and landscaping. I would also ride a Rotor! I don't have any problems with rides like that, yet, and I hope I never start! I rode a "Round Up" about 14 years ago, after not having been on one in decades, and I did fine.
Knott's Berry Farm used to have an indoor Scrambler, too. It was called Whirlpool and was themed to being "under the sea." They eventually tore down the building, but kept the ride in storage for many years. It was brought back about 8 years ago, as an outdoor ride.
Were there larger versions of the Caterpillar ride, at one time? I remember seeing one at the L.A. County Fair, when I was in high school, but it seemed much bigger. My friend and I were kind of fascinated by it, but it looked REALLY rickety. It was one of those rides that traveled around to other fairs, rather than a permanent ride. I also remember that the canopy that covered the riders looked absolutely filthy! We opted not to go on it for those reasons, but in later years, I regretted it.
Thanks for the trip report, Andrew. This is another park that I would love to visit one day!
Thanks for the aerial photo and another great comment, Chuck! I hope you liked Top Thrill Dragster and didn't close your eyes. :-D
I didn't get popcorn from that stand, Melissa. Opportunity missed... another interesting stand at this park has a giant spinning hamburger on top.
Wow, I'm impressed you can ride a Round-Up with no problem, TokyoMagic! This Rotor is honestly less intense than those rides because it's pretty short. I'd love to have ridden a rickety Caterpillar! Here's the only super-sized one I've ever seen; it would be really impressive for an old ride that large to be traveling! I'm glad you liked the post.
Andrew, thank you for that vintage postcard image! Yes, that is how big the ride was at the L.A. County Fair! And I forgot to mention that it was themed to a dragon, rather than a caterpillar.
Years ago, I listened to the audio from a presentation on "WESTCOT." There was a description given for a ride in the Asian section of the park, and it was a dragon-themed version of the caterpillar ride. I'm guessing Disney would have built their own, or purchased a new one "off the shelf" and that the canopy on theirs would not have been so disgustingly dusty and dirty, like the one I saw at the Fair! ;-)
I don’t get why the caterpillar would have a canopy. Was it practical? To keep the sun or rain off? It seems like it would just be like riding a coaster in a box
The novelty was that it gave you a chance to sneak a kiss in the dark back when that was frowned upon.
Fun trip report, Andrew! I love the Mine of Lost Souls!
On the caterpillar ride, could you see out, at all? Or was it pitch black?
Looking forward to your next adventure!
Yes, a lot of light leaks through the Caterpillar canopy, Sue. I'm curious... did you ride the Corkscrew when it was at Old Chicago?
Andrew, I most definitely rode the Corkscrew at Old Chicago. During my teens and 20s, I rode on (and LOVED) every ride that spun around and upside down, and flew over big hills. The more spinning and speed, the better (in my younger years).
I should say, “I rode the Chicago Loop” (its original name).
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