Conneaut Lake Park (Conneaut Lake, PA)

Sarah Windisch

Click, click, click, click...is it the Blue Streak? The Kiddie Coaster? No, the only other ride at Conneaut with a chain lift is the darkride, the Devil's Den.

Not many darkrides these days have a chain lift hill, because not many "gravity" darkrides are still in operation. Conneaut Lake Park in Western Pennsylvania has preserved theirs for over three decades.

Built in 1968, most of the ride has stayed the same. Originally called the Devil's Den, it was renamed Dr. Moriarity's Wild Ride in the 1990's. For the 2001 season, the original name returned. The facade of the building has been painted to give the illusion of a red and gray brick building. The eyes of the devil now stare over flames at the oncoming riders from above the lift.

The freshly painted red and yellow handrails and supports now match the cars, giving the ride a whole new look.

Since the ride is gravity driven, the cars have no motors and there are no brakes to control the speed. The pull of gravity makes for a speedy ride, different from the slower, motor-driven cars commonly found in other darkrides.

Back when darkrides were more common, some of them had two sets of "dips"; one in the front of the ride where the car came out of the dark, and another in the rear of the ride, in the dark. Devil's Den is one of the few remaining dark rides with a dip; most other parks removed the dip and replaced it with a flat section of track. This was commonly done to avoid collisions, since a stuffed animal or other item dropped on the track would slow or stop the car, causing the next car to "rear-end" it.

Thankfully, we can still enjoy the coaster-like drop at Conneaut. After that drop, the ride lasts only 45 seconds, making it one of the fastest dark rides you'll ever experience. But if the darkness scares you, that 45 seconds can seem like an eternity.

As you await your ride, you watch the rider ahead of you board a small, single seat car. The ride operator pushes the car through a door and around a bend. The car slowly climbs the lift hill, and as it gets to the second level, the car swings outside for a moment before it turns back inside and plunges into the dip, back up, and disappears into the Den.

Your turn now...have a seat! Your car is pushed around the corner, and you jerk unexpectedly as the car engages the lift chain. As you ascend, you encounter the famous "gum wall", so watch out for those bees!

Up you go, then outside and around the bend. Suddenly, the world drops out from under you and down you go.

As you climb the next hill, you approach the tiger, which seems to leap right at you.

You swing to the right then the left at the lion, and then you are encompassed in total darkness.

...but not for long!

As you plunge into the dark, your eyes strain to adjust quickly to see what you're in for. A monster in a graveyard.

You rush past; the car taking turns every few seconds. Tortured souls greet you at every corner.

Medusa waits your arrival.	A ghoul lurks nearby.
Death bides his time.	Monsters lurk at every turn.
Skeletons!	The "old boy" himself awaits your arrival inside.

Ghastly deeds await you at every turn.

This bag of bones opens his lid to say hello.

Where once the stunts didn't move or "pop out" at you, (some of them are only inches away from you) and many things are backlit or illuminated only with black-light, forcing your mind to fill in the blanks with the details you could not quite see, today better lighting reveals that the stunts are working once again.

Screams follow you, and you may find a few scary sounds coming from your own mouth!

You encounter a huge painting of an escaping gorilla, and as you pass down the final stretch, you go around one last bend and return to the light.

Some enthusiastic ride operators enjoy welcoming you back in an often surprising fashion, so be prepared!

You have survived, and hopefully enjoyed, your journey through the Devil's Den. It has frightened, thrilled, and entertained guests for 33 years and still remains popular. The detailed paintings throughout the ride were done in-house, and though not many specifics are known about the stunts themselves, many are probably original gags. (A few things have been added recently.)

If you haven't been to Conneaut Lake lately, make it a point to get there...the Devil's Den is waiting!

Visit Conneaut’s Web site at www.conneautlakepark.com

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Editor’s Note

As many of you know, Conneaut is now being run by a non-profit organization that is struggling to keep the park going. Folks like Tom Broadfoot (pictured above), a maintenance person at Conneaut, have been instrumental in bringing Conneaut back to life. Tom is one of the folks that have put a lot of effort into restoring the Devils Den.

DAFE supports any effort that will aid in keeping Conneaut going. One such effort is the Blue Streak Challenge, a marathon to raise money to help support maintenance efforts at the park.

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Conneaut's Dark Past

Rick Davis

Today's Devils Den is not the only darkride ever to have graced the midway at Conneaut. From 1973-1985 an electric Pretzel known as the Pit Of Death then Dracula's Cave occupied the former Cuddle-Up ride area, which today houses the bathhouse for the water park.

This wasn't the first Pretzel in the park though. The first one, simply known as the Pretzel Ride was installed in the 1940's and it operated until 1960. This ride was housed about where Skeeball is today.

This same area held the first darkride at Conneaut as well. In 1905 F.W. Pierce and Son installed an Old Mill ride that remained in the park for about 30 years.

Conneaut has had a long history of related attractions dating back to the turn of the 20th Century when the park was known as Exposition Park. A haunted swing was one of its first dark illusion attractions that included a string of funhouse attractions such as the Giggle House, and the Castle Of Fun which became theCrazy Maze from the 50's to the early 60's.

The funhouse most people remember was built in 1961 in the building that was constructed as a bowling alley in 1909. The final year for this classic walkthrough, which included a mirror maze, a slanted room, a slide, pop up gags, moving floors and other traditional stunts, was 1975. At that time the building was gutted and a Scrambler was installed in the dark creating the "Ultimate Trip".

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This article ©2002 Sarah Windisch and used with permission.
Photos ©1999, 2001, & 2002 Rick Davis, additional photos from the Rick Davis collection.
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