Santa Cruz Beech Boardwalk
Santa Cruz, California
At the beginning of the 20th Century, local entrepreneur Fred W. Swanton decided to build a casino and boardwalk. This "Coney
Island of the West" opened in 1904, but was burned to the ground by a fire just 22 months after opening. Undeterred, Swanton rebuilt, and the new casino, indoor swimming pool, and pleasure pier opened exactly one year
after the fire, June 22, 1907. The Boardwalk is built on a mile-long beach located between San Francisco and Monterey. They have nearly three dozen rides, three arcades, and plenty of shops. Their latest roller coaster
is Undertow, a Maurer Rides Spinning Coaster SC 2000 model that was built in 2013.
Five coasters have left Santa Cruz
- Hurricane (1992-2012) was a S.D.C. Hurricane model. Since 2013, it has been operating as
Hurricane at Western Playland in New Mexico. (See pictures below for details.)
- Jet Star (1972-1992) was a Schwarzkopf Jet Star 1 model. It operated as Ripper at Thrill-Ville USA in Turner, Oregon from 1992 until the park closed in 2007.
Since 2010, it has been Roller Coaster at Lazarevskoye Park in Sochi, Russia.
- L.A. Thompson Scenic Railway (1908-1923) was built by LaMarcus Adna Thompson, considered the father of the "gravity pleasure ride" now called a roller coaster. After building the Switchback Railway at
Coney Island in 1884, he built over 50 coasters including this one.
- Orient Express (1998-1999) was a small "Single Helix" steel coaster from Wisdom Rides. From
2000 to 2024, it operated as Orient Express at
Palace Playland. In 2025, it opened as Orient Express at the Jolly Roger Amusement Park.
- Wild Mouse (1958-1976) was a wooden Wild Mouse ride built in-house by the park.
