Folks might associate me with Meow Wolf, an immersive art company that I co-founded in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I often speak about art, psychedelia, and the metaverse. But at the core of my spiritual being is another passion: roller coasters. Here is my list of the top 10 roller coasters in the USA (I’ve never ridden outside the states).
The roller coaster, to me, is one of the greatest forms of sculpture, architecture, and experience design that exists. These giant marvels of machinery are experiential monumental sculptures designed to produce human sensations that only a coaster can produce. And unfortunately, coasters don’t garner the kind of respect and appreciation that I think they deserve.
See also: Top roller coasters in the UK
There are over 2,400 rollercoasters in the world. I have personally been on 250 of them and in the enthusiast world, that means I’m still a youngin’. But I care about these works of art deeply, and just like in any medium it’s important to know that most of the work out there is actually not very good.
The coasters in this list represent some of the rare masterpieces in this medium that I love so much.
Top 10 roller coasters in the USA
1 Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa – RMC
Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) has created a masterpiece at Busch Gardens Tampa and it is called Iron Gwazi. The intensity of pure thrill is combined with a constant flawless grace, stringing together element after element unlike any coaster on this planet. Iron Gwazi is a perfect roller coaster.
Highlights: The Death Spiral needs to be experienced to be believed. And the purple wash of lighting at night creates an unforgettable and dreamy ride.
2 Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point – RMC
Steel Vengeance, or “Stevie” as it is known in enthusiast circles, is yet another perfect rollercoaster by RMC. This ride is an absolutely behemoth, spanning across a massive section of lakeside at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. The coaster produces ridiculous airtime and multiple dynamic inversions, and does so like a knife cutting through hot butter.
Highlights: The Outer Bank Airtime Hill is jaw-dropping every time, and the overall ride time feels like it goes on forever.
3 The Voyage at Holiday World – Gravity Group
The Voyage at Holiday World is the best wooden roller coaster in the world and it is not really even close. Sorry, El Toro. The relentless ferocity is almost unbelievable, tearing through the forests of Indiana like a runaway train from hell. The Voyage is a ride that you actually have to learn how to ride, it is an animal, and carries its absurd pacing all the way to the end.
Highlights: The Spaghetti Bowl, which is the iconic section of the ride embedded in the forest that converted me into an enthusiast. For a true legendary experience, ride The Voyage at night without the trims.
4 Velocicoaster at Islands of Adventure – Intamin
The hype is real. Velocicoaster at Universal Studios Orlando (pictured, top) delivers pure joy with high intensity and grace. By far Intamin’s best creation to date, combining slick trains with perfect restraints and incredible theming to create a coaster that feels truly next-generation. The multiple launches are a dream, the elements are divine, and it truly feels like you are being chased by raptors in their raptor cage.
Highlights: The Mosasaurus Roll along the is so dope. This is a barrel role near the end of the ride that ejects you out of your seat in the most pleasant way possible. Also, the elongated Zero-G Stall and of course The Top Hat are premium elements.
5 Fury 325 at Carowinds – B&M
It is impossible to overstate the sheer power and force that Fury 325 delivers. This giga-coaster at Carowinds, outside of Charlotte, North Carolina is one of the tallest coasters on this planet standing 325 feet tall, and simulates the feeling of flying better than any coaster I’ve ever been on. The speed, the g-forces, the unreal magnitude of this ride is truly mind-numbing.
Highlights: The first drop, no doubt. Fury is 325 feet tall, and the first drop is absolutely terrifying and exhilarating. Your brain can barely comprehend what it is experiencing, reaching 95 mph at the bottom of the drop.
6 Maverick at Cedar Point – Intamin
Such a zippy and twisty ride! Maverick at Cedar Point in Sandusky packs a major punch in a very small footprint, using snazzy banked turns, endless inversions, and feisty airtime hills to simulate the sensation of riding on the back of a bucking bronco. The first drop is beyond vertical which kicks the ride off with the sense of being off the rails.
Highlights: The launch in the tunnel comes out of nowhere and still brings me total joy every time I ride it. I love experiencing the launch with friends who have no idea it is coming, pure coaster excellence.
7 El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure – Intamin
Airtime. Like seriously, airtime. It is almost unfathomable just how ejector the airtime is on El Toro’s first drop and first two hills. The first 20 seconds of this ride may be the best 20 seconds you’ll find on any coaster in the world. You’ll probably ask yourself “how is this coaster even legal?” El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure could be the best wooden coaster in existence, except the second half of the ride is a bit lackluster. But that first 20 seconds, though…
Highlights: You guessed it – the airtime hills. You see God. You reach a different paradigm of consciousness.
8 Lightning Rod at Dollywood – RMC
Rocky Mountain Construction has revolutionized the coaster industry with their redesigns of existing wooden roller coasters. Lightning Rod at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is one of the rare moments that RMC built the coaster from the ground up, using the hills of the park’s nearby The Smoky Mountains to create a terrain-coaster that is pure joy.
Highlights: Lightning Rod’s Quadruple Down, which is four cascading airtime hills down the side of the mountain, is the reason to ride this ride. In fact, The Quadruple Down is my favorite element of any coaster.
9 Twisted Timbers at King’s Dominion – RMC
Yup, yet another RMC on this list. You could call this ride “Stevie Jr.”, sharing many characteristics with Steel Vengeance but just on a much smaller scale. Twisted Timbers flies incredibly low to the ground through an insane series of bunny hops and heartline rolls, providing a coaster experience that is surprisingly effective for such a small footprint.
Highlights: The barrel dive as the first drop has to be one of my favorite first drops of any coaster. It’s so weird, and immediately sets the stage for the wackiness of the rest of the ride.
10 Hagrid’s Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure at Islands of Adventure – Intamin
This is not the scariest ride by any means. In fact, Hagrid’s is considered a family coaster. Most coaster enthusiasts would call this ride “tame”. But I don’t care. The ride is simply fun. Riders get to either sit on the seat of a motorbike or in the side car of the motorbike, a train system that adds significant levels of joy to the experience. There are multiple launches, and even a surprising track-drop designed into this wonderfully themed coaster.
Highlights: The train itself is the highlight. Riding the ride while you grip the handlebars of a motorbike makes you instantly feel like a kid again. Or choose the sidecar, where you can kick back and leisurely enjoy the high-speed views
