Oaks Amusement Park facts for kids
Entrance to Oaks Park (remodeled in 2001)
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| Location | 7805 SE Oaks Park Way Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
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| Coordinates | 45°28′23″N 122°39′38″W / 45.4730°N 122.66061°W |
| Opened | May 30, 1905 |
| Owner | Oaks Park Association |
| Operating season | Spring weekends and daily during summer (rides) Tuesdays–Sundays (rink) |
| Website | http://www.oakspark.com/ |
Oaks Park is a fun amusement park located just south of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It first opened in May 1905. This makes it one of the oldest amusement parks in the country that has been open non-stop.
The park covers about 44 acres. It has many exciting midway games and about 24 rides. These rides are open during certain seasons. Oaks Park also has a skating rink that is open all year. There are also nice picnic areas for families and friends. A special part of the park is the Herschell–Spillman Noah's Ark Carousel. This historic wooden carousel was built way back in 1912.
Discovering Oaks Park's History
Oaks Park was first planned to open with the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. This was a big fair held in Portland. The Oregon Water Power and Railway Company built the park. It opened on May 30, 1905. This was a time when many "trolley parks" were built. These parks were often placed along streetcar lines. This made it easy for people to visit.
In its first year, about 300,000 people visited Oaks Park. It continued to be very popular for its first ten years. In the early 1920s, the park was sold to John Cordray. He was one of its managers. After he passed away in 1925, Edward Bollinger bought the park. He was the park's superintendent.
Early Rides and Fun at the Park
Some of the first rides at Oaks Park were very exciting. "Chute the Chutes" was a ride where people slid down a steep ramp. They would splash into a small lake. The "Barrel of Fun" was a funhouse. It had screaming skeletons, mazes of mirrors, and dark hallways. The "Mystic River Ride" was a boat ride. It took visitors through dark tunnels.
The park also had a floating bathhouse on the river. There was a large dance pavilion too. Famous music groups from all over the world performed there. These included the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the John Philip Sousa Marching Band.
Surviving Floods and Changes
In 1948, a big flood called the Vanport flood covered Oaks Park. The park was underwater for 30 days. Many oak trees were lost, and most rides were damaged. The skating rink took five months to fix. After this, the owners rebuilt the rink floor. They put it on special iron barrels that could float. This way, the rink would float if another flood happened. This design worked during the Christmas flood of 1964 and the Willamette Valley Flood of 1996.
For many years, three steam locomotives were displayed at the park. These included Southern Pacific 4449 and Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700. They were at the park from 1958. The third was Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co. 197. These trains are no longer at Oaks Park. But they are still in Portland. Since 2012, they have been at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center.
After the Jantzen Beach Amusement Park closed in 1970, Oaks Park became even more important. In 2005, the park celebrated 100 years of being open. This makes it one of the oldest amusement parks in the U.S. that has been open continuously.
Exciting Attractions at Oaks Park
Oaks Park has many fun rides and games for everyone. The rides and midway games are open on weekends in spring. They are open every day during the summer.
Current Rides to Enjoy
Here are some of the rides you can find at Oaks Park:
South End Rides
- A narrow gauge C.P. Huntington train (new in 2013).
- Disk'O (added in 2007, made by Zamperla).
- Rock-O-Plane.
- Zero Gravity.
- Adrenaline Peak, a thrilling Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter roller coaster.
East End Rides
- The Spider (Eyerly Spider).
- Big Pink (a giant slide that now has three colors: pink, yellow, and blue).
- Tilt-A-Whirl.
- Herschell–Spillman Noah's Ark Carousel.
- Rock 'N' Roll (a Matterhorn ride with cars shaped like old '57 Chevys).
- Ferris Wheel (made by Eli Bridge Co.). It got a new electric system in 2014.
- Go-Karts for racing fun.
North End (Acorn Acres) Rides
- Cosmic Crash Bumper Cars.
- Up Up and Away (made by Zamperla).
- Chipper's Choppers (kiddie motorcycles, new for 2014).
- Toon Cars (kiddie cars).
- Zoom Coaster (a kiddie coaster made by E&F Miler Industries).
- Sky Fighters.
- Frog Hopper.
- Rockin' Tug (made by Zamperla).
- Chipper's Woods Miniature Golf (new for 2011).
- Tree Top Drop (new for 2016).
Roller Skating Rink Fun
The park has a large wooden roller skating rink. It is 100 feet by 200 feet. This rink is open all year round. For most of its history, the rink has had a special pipe organ. Since 1955, it has been a Wurlitzer organ. This organ has four keyboards. It was moved to the rink from Portland's Broadway Theatre. All the organ pipes are on a platform above the skate floor.
Past Rides at Oaks Park
Over the years, some rides have left Oaks Park. Here are a few of them:
- The Zip was a famous roller coaster. It operated from 1927 to 1934.
- Scenic Railway was a wooden roller coaster. It closed in 1935.
- Mad Mouse was a wild mouse roller coaster. It ran from 1960 to 1976.
- Monster Mouse was another wild mouse roller coaster. It operated from 1977 to 1995.
- Looping Thunder was a steel roller coaster. It closed in 2017. A new Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter roller coaster took its place.
- The Haunted Mine was a dark spook-house ride. It was replaced in 2003 by 'Lewis and Clark: The Big Adventure'. This ride closed in 2013.
- Screamin' Eagle was a KMG Fireball ride.
