Close To Rockford: One Of The Oldest Roller Coasters In The World

Arnolds Park in Des Moines, Iowa is home to a 91-year-old roller coaster that you can still ride today.

MentalFloss - Arnolds Park in Towa has a towering tourist attraction: the 63-foot Legend, on park grounds since 1930. The appeal, according to purists, is a bumpy ride akin to the spin cycle of a dryer. By 2013, the coaster was tossing passengers around so freely that it underwent renovations to make for a smoother ride. In August 2015, Des Moines-area retiree Les Menke took it for a spin; 85 years previously, the 96-year-old and a friend had been the first on board following a bunch of test sandbags.

Hand up, I had never heard of Arnolds Park in Des Moines before coming across this article. It looks pretty cool and possibly even worth the 4 hour drive to the middle of Iowa, which isn't something I say very often. No offense to Iowa, but you can be kind of boring. Iowa City is fun if you're under 25-years-old, but after that, there's really no reason to venture anywhere into Iowa that's not directly across the Mississippi.

The park was built around the turn of the 19th century and is still thriving today with multiple thrill rides, concerts, and even a beach.

I'm not much of a roller coaster enthusiast but this one kind of intrigues me. I don't really love roller coasters, not because they scare me, it's actually the opposite, most kind of bore me. Speed, acceleration, and loops don't really do anything for me. I still feel safe because in the back of my mind I know these things are engineered with safety being the number one concern by a mile. This is why my favorite thrill rides are put together by traveling carnies with a substance problem. That's a thrill ride that will make you anxious. It sounds like they made it safer a few years ago, but you probably can't make it a totally smooth ride.

Have you been to Arnolds Park? Is it worth the trip?