Ohio’s Cedar Point named the best amusement park in America for roller coaster fans

via Marina Kaiser – please credit and link to https://solitaired.com/

America’s best amusement parks for daredevils revealed – with Cedar Point named the most extreme

• Cedar Point in Ohio ranks as America’s best amusement park for daredevils, scoring 99.65 out of 100.
• Six Flags Magic Mountain in California places second, while Kings Island in Ohio completes the top three.
• Cedar Point’s Top Thrill 2 is the tallest and fastest coaster among the top 10 parks, reaching 420 feet and 120 mph.

A new study has revealed the best amusement parks in America for daredevils, with Cedar Point in Ohio taking the top spot.

Siren's Curse at Cedar Point gave riders quite the experience on Saturday as it got stuck while vertically tilted. This lasted almost 30 minutes, with riders facing straight down. A mechanic had to manually return riders to an upright position from the top.

📹: Stephanie Nilges pic.twitter.com/GFbrZhK3lg

— Tyler Sebree ⚡️ (@TylerSebreezy) June 7, 2026

The research, conducted by Solitaired, looked at roller coaster data for amusement parks across the US to find out which parks offer the most extreme rides for thrill seekers.

The study looked at the number of thrill and extreme coasters at each park, as well as the total number of roller coasters, maximum coaster height, maximum drop, maximum speed and inversions. These factors were then combined to create a final daredevil score out of 100.

Cedar Point has got to be the most “alive” amusement park I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/w0SUr2Ix7q

— Top Thrill Bry (@ThemePark_Bry) June 9, 2026

The 10 best amusement parks in America for daredevils

Rank	Amusement park	State	Thrill/extreme coasters	Daredevil score
1	Cedar Point	Ohio	16	99.65
2	Six Flags Magic Mountain	California	15	94.02
3	Kings Island	Ohio	11	92.48
4	Carowinds	North Carolina	10	92.12
5	Kings Dominion	Virginia	11	91.61
6	Six Flags Great America	Illinois	14	91.39
7	Hersheypark	Pennsylvania	13	90.12
8	Six Flags Over Texas	Texas	11	90.06
9	Six Flags Great Adventure	New Jersey	10	88.89
10	Six Flags New England	Massachusetts	10	87.61

Cedar Point in Ohio ranks first, scoring 99.65 out of 100. The park has 18 roller coasters in total, with 16 classed as thrill or extreme rides. It is also home to Top Thrill 2, which reaches 420 feet, has a 400-foot drop and hits 120 mph.

Six Flags Magic Mountain in California takes second place, with a score of 94.02. The park has 17 roller coasters in total, including 15 thrill or extreme rides. Its tallest coaster is Goliath, which reaches 235 feet and has a top speed of 85 mph.

Kings Island in Ohio ranks third, scoring 92.48. The park has 15 roller coasters, with 11 falling into the thrill or extreme categories. Its tallest ride is Orion, which reaches 287 feet, drops 300 feet and reaches 91 mph.

Carowinds in North Carolina places fourth, with a score of 92.12. The park has 14 roller coasters in total, including 10 thrill or extreme rides. Its biggest coaster is Fury 325, which reaches 325 feet, has a 320-foot drop and hits 95 mph.

Kings Dominion in Virginia ranks fifth, scoring 91.61. The park has 13 roller coasters, including 11 thrill or extreme rides. Pantherian is its tallest coaster, reaching 305 feet, with a 300-foot drop and a top speed of 90 mph.

Six Flags Great America in Illinois takes sixth place, with a score of 91.39. The park has 16 roller coasters in total, including 14 thrill or extreme rides. One of its standout coasters is Raging Bull, which reaches 202 feet and has a 208-foot drop.

Hersheypark in Pennsylvania ranks seventh, scoring 90.12. The park has 14 roller coasters, with 13 classed as thrill or extreme rides. Its tallest coaster is Candymonium, which stands at 210 feet and reaches speeds of 76 mph.

Six Flags Over Texas places eighth, with a score of 90.06. The Arlington park has 13 roller coasters in total, including 11 thrill or extreme rides. Titan is its tallest coaster, reaching 245 feet, with a 255-foot drop and a top speed of 85 mph.

Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey ranks ninth, scoring 88.89. The park has 13 roller coasters, including 10 thrill or extreme rides. Nitro is one of its tallest rides, reaching 230 feet, with a 215-foot drop and a top speed of 80 mph.

Six Flags New England in Massachusetts rounds out the top 10, with a score of 87.61. The park has 12 roller coasters in total, including 10 thrill or extreme rides. Its biggest coaster is Superman the Ride, which reaches 208 feet, has a 221-foot drop and hits 77 mph.

Neal Taparia, co-founder of Solitaired, commented on the findings:

“For a lot of people, amusement parks are about the whole day out, but for daredevils, the roller coasters are usually the main event. What stands out here is that Cedar Point is still very hard to beat. The park does not just have a lot of coasters, it has several genuinely extreme rides, including Top Thrill 2, which reaches 420 feet and 120 mph.

“It is also interesting to see Six Flags Magic Mountain landing second place. The park has a huge number of thrill and extreme coasters, and that really helps it stand out, even without having the tallest ride in the top 10.

“The ranking also shows that this is not only about one famous coaster. Parks that scored highly tend to have a strong mix of height, speed, drops and ride variety, which is exactly what thrill seekers are usually looking for. And the parks with the highest daredevil scores are not necessarily the ones with the biggest marketing budgets. Parks like Carowinds and Kings Dominion consistently invest in extreme ride lineups, and for pure thrill seekers, that matters more than brand recognition.

“For anyone planning a trip around roller coasters, it is worth looking past the biggest theme park names and focusing on the ride lineup itself. Some parks are built much more clearly around thrill rides, and that is where daredevils are likely to get the most out of a visit.”

ENDS

If using this story, please credit and link to https://solitaired.com/

Sources

Roller Coaster Database

Methodology

The study analyzed roller coaster data from the Roller Coaster Database for amusement parks across the US.

Each park was ranked using a weighted index based on the number of thrill and extreme roller coasters, total roller coasters, maximum coaster height, maximum drop, maximum speed and maximum number of inversions. Only active roller coasters were taken into consideration.

Each park was given a final daredevil score out of 100. Higher scores indicate parks with a stronger combination of extreme coaster quantity, speed, height, drops and inversions.

Rank	Amusement park	State	Thrill/extreme coasters	Total roller coasters	Max height	Max speed	Max drop	Daredevil score
1	Cedar Point	Ohio	16	18	420 ft	120 mph	400 ft	99.65
2	Six Flags Magic Mountain	California	15	17	235 ft	85 mph	255 ft	94.02
3	Kings Island	Ohio	11	15	287 ft	91 mph	300 ft	92.48
4	Carowinds	North Carolina	10	14	325 ft	95 mph	320 ft	92.12
5	Kings Dominion	Virginia	11	13	305 ft	90 mph	300 ft	91.61
6	Six Flags Great America	Illinois	14	16	202 ft	78 mph	208 ft	91.39
7	Hersheypark	Pennsylvania	13	14	210 ft	76 mph	180 ft	90.12
8	Six Flags Over Texas	Texas	11	13	245 ft	85 mph	255 ft	90.06
9	Six Flags Great Adventure	New Jersey	10	13	230 ft	80 mph	215 ft	88.89
10	Six Flags New England	Massachusetts	10	12	208 ft	77 mph	221 ft	87.61
11	Six Flags Over Georgia	Georgia	11	12	200 ft	70 mph	175 ft	87.35
12	Six Flags Fiesta Texas	Texas	10	11	179 ft	70 mph	171 ft	85.93
13	Busch Gardens Williamsburg	Virginia	8	11	205 ft	73 mph	210 ft	85.44
14	Six Flags St. Louis	Missouri	9	10	218 ft	70 mph	150 ft	85.05
15	Kennywood	Pennsylvania	7	8	220 ft	85 mph	228 ft	84.34
16	Busch Gardens Tampa Bay	Florida	7	9	206 ft	76 mph	206 ft	83.85
17	Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom	Pennsylvania	7	8	200 ft	75 mph	205 ft	83.13
18	Six Flags Discovery Kingdom	California	8	10	150 ft	65 mph	150 ft	82.85
19	Six Flags Darien Lake	New York	7	8	208 ft	73 mph	205 ft	82.81
20	Knott’s Berry Farm	California	7	9	205 ft	82 mph	109 ft	82.66
21	Worlds of Fun	Missouri	7	8	205 ft	75 mph	205 ft	82.60
22	Valleyfair!	Minnesota	7	8	207 ft	74 mph	196 ft	82.21
23	SeaWorld Orlando	Florida	6	8	200 ft	73 mph	200 ft	81.92
24	Dollywood	Tennessee	6	10	163 ft	73 mph	165 ft	81.11
25	California’s Great America	California	7	9	108.2 ft	55 mph	91 ft	78.12
26	SeaWorld San Antonio	Texas	5	7	150 ft	65 mph	150 ft	77.58
27	Silver Dollar City	Missouri	5	7	120 ft	68 mph	162 ft	77.03
28	Indiana Beach	Indiana	7	7	108.3 ft	53.4 mph	100.9 ft	76.78
29	Silverwood Theme Park	Idaho	5	7	177.2 ft	61.5 mph	99 ft	76.75
30	Holiday World	Indiana	4	6	159 ft	67 mph	154 ft	75.52
31	SeaWorld San Diego	California	5	5	153 ft	62 mph	143 ft	75.39
32	Morey’s Piers	New Jersey	5	7	116.5 ft	55 mph	100 ft	75.35
33	Lagoon	Utah	7	10	197 ft	72 mph	–	74.58
34	Elitch Gardens	Colorado	5	6	116.5 ft	55 mph	47 ft	73.44
35	Lake Compounce	Connecticut	4	5	150 ft	62 mph	115 ft	73.41
36	Universal’s Islands of Adventure	Florida	3	5	155 ft	70 mph	104.9 ft	72.75
37	Six Flags Great Escape	New York	4	6	116.5 ft	55 mph	87 ft	72.39
38	Knoebels Amusement Resort	Pennsylvania	4	6	101.6 ft	55 mph	89.6 ft	72.24
39	Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park	Wisconsin	3	5	136 ft	60 mph	140 ft	70.42
40	Kentucky Kingdom	Kentucky	3	6	100 ft	55 mph	100 ft	69.78
41	Magic Springs Theme and Water Park	Arkansas	3	4	151 ft	65.3 mph	41 ft	69.56
42	Adventureland	Iowa	5	7	133 ft	65 mph	–	69.29
43	Luna Park	New York	5	8	114.8 ft	60 mph	–	68.86
44	Michigan’s Adventure	Michigan	5	7	122 ft	57 mph	–	68.55
45	Fun Spot America Atlanta	Georgia	2	3	155 ft	64 mph	146 ft	67.34
46	Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park	Colorado	3	4	75 ft	56 mph	110 ft	67.27
47	Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park	New Jersey	4	5	141 ft	62.1 mph	–	66.77
48	Frontier City	Oklahoma	3	5	80 ft	47.8 mph	65 ft	66.51
49	Wild Waves Theme & Water Park	Washington	3	4	75 ft	50 mph	64 ft	66.38
50	Nickelodeon Universe	Minnesota	3	5	74.5 ft	43.5 mph	40 ft	65.84