My Review of Camden Park

I remember when I was planning my first trip to Huntington, and I was perusing Pinterest for fun things to do in this small city. I kept seeing photos of this super vintage amusement park that had an intriguing vibe to it. I read some reviews, most of which said 'This place isn't worth your time unless you have young children,' but I still had an urge to check it out. Needless to say, a few of my friends and I hopped on over here to see what West Virginia's only amusement park was all about.

To give a brief introduction of this place, Camden Park was built in 1903... Yeah, it's about 120 years old!! It was created as a trolley park, an attraction meant for those coming off of trolley lines, and is one of 13 that are still around in the United States. So if you haven't already noticed, this park is RICH in history!

While walking around and checking everything out, you can definitely tell that this place is old... Some in good ways, and some not so good. The decor, signs and pretty much just about everything made me feel like I had been transported back into the 1950's. I actually found this pretty cool, as it made this historic park keep its vintage feel. But in some places, it felt like I was in an apocalypse. Some areas of the park were empty, covered with trees and felt eerie. Speaking of which, this park was featured as a location in a video game, Fallout 76, which essentially has to do with an apocalypse after a war.... crazy!!

It's important to know that visiting here is nothing even close to going to a Six Flags or Disneyland. The rides are very similar to ones you'll find at state or county fairs. We came at the beginning of the summer on a Saturday. $20 for an adult, which seemed like a good deal for how many different rides there are here.

Just like the park, the rides themselves are also old and outdated. I still remember watching the planks holding up the roller coaster jiggle as the trains would go by. There were little to no safety checks by employees, so riding some of these rides were a bit nerve-racking. And going back to the reviews about it being more for kids, well, yeah that is pretty much right. But there were a lot of gentle rides that we enjoyed, too! There are a couple 'big kid' attractions, but most are fairly tame.

Overall Thoughts

I want to preface this by stating that I cannot compare this park to the average American one. It's too unique in its own way and has literally been around for over a century, which is one of its coolest qualities. Unfortunately, its age does show and it shows pretty bad. I feel like if this park ever got some revamping, it could become a lot more interesting to check out. While I wouldn't come here for a day of thrills or adrenaline, it would much rather be because of its old past... kind of like walking around the ruins of an ancient park. I probably would not have a desire to come back, but it was neat to check out at least once.