The Roller Coaster Alley team was invited to Silverwood’s media preview and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Emerald Forest area of Boulder Beach water park on Saturday June 8th, 2024. We’ve got a great photo update for you from our visit including initial rides on Eagle Hunt, so let’s jump right in!
We arrived at the park ahead of high temperatures and blue skies. The perfect day for the 2024 opening of Boulder Beach water park!
Silverwood presented us with these passes, which got us into the new area ahead of the crowds.
We were greeted by a live vocal trio who performed country music hits for us while we waited for the grand opening of the Emerald Forest area.
Warm pastries and drinks were also a welcome surprise – a special Thank You to Silverwood for making this ceremony extra enjoyable with their fantastic morning sweets!
The Ribbon cutting was facilitated by none other than Paul and Gary Norton themselves.
After the formalities it was time to check out all that had evolved since our sneak peak a couple of weeks ago. We walked by the Salmon Run kids play area and found the splash pad had been finished in what had to be record time!
The giant eagle has been installed at the entrance to the Eagle Hunt water coaster slide. It looks fantastic. A sign with the name of the slide is planned to be installed here in the future.
It didn’t take much time for a long line to form at Eagle Hunt. This is, of course, the Pacific Northwest’s first water coaster slide ever.
The first few riders made it down and looked as if they had really enjoyed the experience!
The line for Eagle Hunt continued to grow as the morning went on.
The Salmon Run slides and splash pad area also were very popular and filled up quickly.
Note the restrictions for the Salmon Run slides.
Views from the top of the Salmon Run area.
Each of the eight slides was named after a different type of fish, such as Chinook, Rainbow, or Bass.
The Cabanas were admittedly very underused on Day 1. That’s not unexpected. We anticipate these will fill up quickly as the summer goes on.
They surround the Salmon Run area and will be perfect for those with kids who base most of their day in this part of the park.
The outdoor seating for the new food & beverage outlets is plentiful – despite large crowds all day, we were always able to identify some available tables!
Northern Flights was serving up adult beverages (as well as several options for the kids). Here’s a look at the full menu.
Rapids Grill was open and ready to go. We were happy to see this never really commanded much of a wait.
The layout is extremely intuitive and the food is all grab & go.
It’s a welcome change to the very slow lines we’ve experienced in the past at other Boulder Beach food outlets. Note that most of the menu items here are similar to what was served at the former Granite Grill location near Boulder Beach’s entrance.
As we mentioned in our previous report, that location – now renamed as the Sapphire Kitchen – has a completely new menu this year, shown above.
Thanks to Silverwood, we were able to get some exclusive photos of Eagle Hunt from some of the evacuation platforms.
The four uphill launches are really the highlight of the experience.
Being propelled uphill is great fun, and the complete drenching you receiving after cresting the peak of each incline never gets old.
Warning though: the water in this thing is COLD and those soakings are chilly!
The skyline of Boulder Beach sure has changed over the years with the additions of Riptide Racers and now Eagle Hunt. This water park is really becoming a force to be reckoned with in the greater theme park landscape.
As is normal for any news attraction, Eagle Hunt was up and down throughout the day, as there were issues with some faulty sensors that would auto-shut down the attraction for brief periods. Maintenance crews as well as ProSlide staff were on site and attended to these matters throughout the day.
Silverwood did a great job of keeping the downtime minimal; these are just the realities of opening a new and somewhat technologically advanced attraction in the safest way possible.
A final look at the eagle itself as well as the large crowds. So, what did we think? After multiple rides, this is absolutely a candidate for best slide in Boulder Beach. It’s lengthy, the dual track/racing component is a blast, and the uphill launches are thrilling but not too intense. It should be a great slide for the entire family to enjoy, and if you can survive a bit of a wait in line, you should be very satisfied. Our only complaint was that the water temperature at this slide was way too cold – noticeably more so than any other slide or pool at Boulder Beach – and we hope that was just an opening day technicality that is addressed for the future. It gets hot up in Northern Idaho in the summers – but not hot enough for how chilly that water was!
Moving beyond the waterpark, we noticed a new sign near the train station with a list of showtimes of the day’s entertainment. This is a great addition that will be very convenient for guests no longer needing to walk to each venue to find out the schedule.
This thing still rocks.
We ALWAYS end our day at Lindy’s restaurant. The food is fantastic, and there’s something just very “special” about sitting on the outdoor patio as the train rolls by every hour. It’s one of those magical moments that you can only find at Silverwood.
That wraps up our review for the grand opening of Emerald Forest! To sum up: this is a wonderful addition to Boulder Beach that not only brings a world-class water coaster in Eagle Hunt, but also a massive kids area with Salmon Run, some fantastic new food and beverage outlets, and tons of cabana and group pavilion space for private premium events. This addition should once again take Silverwood up a notch, and in our opinion it puts Boulder Beach in the conversation for best overall water park experience in the country (it’s already had that title in the PNW for years now).
Planning a trip to Silverwood this year? Be sure to check out our Silverwood Trip Planning Guide to help you get the most out of your visit. Also, maximize your time in the parks by using our Silverwood and Boulder Beach 2-day itinerary!
Have you been on the new attractions in Boulder Beach yet? What was the highlight for your family? If not, what are you most excited about for the Emerald Forest? Any questions that we did not address? Let us know your thoughts in the comments - we love hearing from you!
The official Silverwood Theme Park website can be found at: www.silverwoodthemepark.com. All business-related questions should be directed to this site.
Great to hear about the new attraction! Silverwood is great with bringing something new every couple of years. I just hope that Eagle Hunt is more reliable than Stunt Pilot was its first year.
Thanks for the comment! Indeed, it’s been a good steady stream of new attractions these past few years.