A-Z Blogging - Adventure Parks - K is for Kennywood

Kennywood is one of the oldest amusement parks in the country.  In fact, along with Playland Amusement Park in Rye, NY, it is one of only two amusement parks in the country registered as a National Historic Place.  This park was one I had long wanted to visit, and I did finally get the chance to go during that 2010 roller ocaster trip.  Though, I wouldn't recommend the long ride just for this place, I would recommend a visit there f you happen to be in the area.

Like many traditional amusement parks, Kennywood started out as a trolley park, a recreation area for weekend pleasure seekers located at the end of a trolley line.  The place opened up in 1898, operated by the Kenny family, and quickly began to grow in number of attractions and popularity.

Laffin' Sal

Over the years Kennywood has grown by leaps and bounds and today has a stable of rides and attractions to rival many a theme park, but like at Playland in Rye, this place still has the look and feel of a traditional amusement park, steeped in history.  Rides such as the classic woodies, Thunderbolt, Jackrabbit and The Racer hearken back to the early days of roller coaster riding, and attractions such as Laffin' Sal, The Victorian Watermill and Noah's Arc all bring back the folly of yesteryear for people to enjoy.

In order to compete with today's high thrill, high tech amusement market, Kennywood has also added rides and attractions more akin to what can be found in today's theme parks.  There's The Exterminator, a dark coaster experience, Skyrocket, the park's newest steel coaster, a rapids ride, The Pittsburgh Plunge, and my personal favorite, the Steel Phantom...

All in all, Kennywood is a great place to ride rides.  It's located just 8 miles outside of Pittsburgh in a beautiful, hilly setting in West Miffin, Pennsylvania.  All of the photos in this post were taken by me during that trip in 2010, and I hope you like them.  Stay tuned for more Adventure Parks blogging and in the meantime, check out my other entries below...

"K" Coaster of the Day - Kingda Ka

Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, NJ

Today was an easy choice for Coaster of the Day.  It's the one and only, terrifying Kingda Ka...Scary!!!

A is for Alton Towers

B is for Busch Gardens Pipe Dreams

C is for the Coasters of China

D is for The Derby Racer

E is for EPCOT Center

F is for Ferris Wheels

G is for Geauga Lake

H is for Holiday World

I is for Islands of Adventure

J is for Coasters that Begin with the Letter "J"