Boulder Dash
Just a lap barairtime hill after airtime hill Through the woodsbuilt on a mountain

Lake Compounce, Bristol, Connecticut

Boulder Dash

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4,725ftNo. 29 longest of 398 US coastersBoulder DashWildcat 2,746 ftZoomerang 935 ft2:30ride time60mphtop speed
POV
Ride it: back row POV
the out of control minecart feeling
What riders love
  • It has the greatest setting of any coaster I’ve ever been on by a landslide and it uses it so well to have some of the best pacing I’ve experienced.
  • This coaster rips through the woods with awesome airtime moments, but due to it being built on a mountain, you’re close to the ground the whole time so it feels like you’re going even faster.
  • Speeding through the forest is a ton of fun.
  • As a local and someone who actually shares an exact birthday with this coaster, what I can say is that this ride has some of the most aggressive airtime pops in the front row that you will find anywhere.
  • The airtime and layout of this ride is so great, just airtime hill after airtime hill.
  • God like ride with so much floater! I got 22 rides in one day and it was amazing every time!
  • Lots of strong airtime and laterals, plus great roughness as you’re going non stop what feels like 1000mph through the woods on a never ending ride.
  • The duration for this one is also insane and has great value.
  • Such a long ride and honestly feels like an endurance test but a crazy fun one for sure.
Boulder Dash Watch Performance Should I ride it? Where to sit Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Boulder Dash - Lake Compounce - Front Row (4K HD POV) - June 2023

youtube.com › ThemeParkMark

Boulder Dash POV 5K Back Row Lake Compounce Bristol, CT

youtube.com › East Coasters

2023 Boulder Dash Roller Coaster On Ride 4K POV Lake Compounce

youtube.com › Theme Park POV

Boulder Dash and Kiddie Coaster Off Ride July 2021 [4K] | Lake Compounce

youtube.com › Coliwood Studios

Boulder Dash Review Lake Compounce Roller Coaster

youtube.com › Coaster Studios

Boulder Dash Titan Track Review | How did Lake Compounce's Famous Wood Coaster Change in 2023?

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

Lake Compounce with Theme Park Review - Boulder Dash POV

youtube.com › robbalvey

My AmAzInG ExPeRiEnCe With Lake Compounce’s Boulder Dash

youtube.com › CycloneProductions

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Lake Compounce

The layout is spectacular, flying up and down the mountain through the trees, with ejector filled hills and violent lateral slams mixed in.

Scott Quisenberry

From there on, the ride is nothing but speed and airtime as you charge back up the mountain on a pretty long trip out to the turnaround by the lake.

Coaster Critic

First, the positives: Unbelievable airtime throughout the course.

Max S.

The turnaround itself doesn’t do nothing noteworthy, but the return run contains several hills of floater airtime.

Bubble Gaming

The front is definitely the best and is where the most airtime is, although not too strong.

Adrenaline Central

The titan track on the first drip really helps enhance the ride by allowing a smooth and fast run into the full wood sections.

Tom Fairnie

The rough rides and the fact that I had to deliberate between a 9 and a 10 are enough.

Coaster Critic

It is an endurance test, the ride will beat you up like few others do, but it’s worth it for the incredible experience that the ride gives.

Scott Quisenberry

It’s a wild ride experience mostly throughout, just with some odd dead spots and some hills that really should hit harder than they do.

Ethan S.

And along with some intense g-forces, the speed just seems to increase that much more.

Coaster Critic

I feel like I have a decent tolerance for getting beat up on woodies but this was excessive and too much.

Max S.

The first drop is more intense than it looks, and at around 60 mph, it is nonstop action from start to finish.

Clayton Latone

If it was smoother, I think it might have a shot due to its intensity and surroundings but nah…

Cameron Davis

I recently rode Boulder dash september 2021 and it is one of the most intense wooden roller-coasters I have ever ridden.

@ZeacorZeppelin

The layout is nicely done with lots of great airtime, and the closeness to the terrain makes it feel like it’s going faster than it really is.

Coaster Nut

...**and it feels about as fast as a woodie should be able to go** **even if it isn’t the wooden coaster speed record holder.** My...

Coaster Critic

It looks like they retracked a portion of the first part which felt great but then the speed it generated made the rest of the rough ride almost unbearable.

Max S.

Lots of strong airtime and laterals, plus great roughness as you’re going non stop what feels like 1000mph through the woods on a never ending ride.

Carter Eckhart

It does slow down though at the end

Tom Fairnie

Along with that, the 2 train ops this coaster operates now means that the longest I waited was just 20 minutes.

Bubble Gaming

A full queue is only 30-40 minutes and after 5 rides on a Sunday, the average wait was about 15 minutes.

Blathers

Obviously the layout is great and setting is gorgeous but one train ops and a rough ride really bring this coaster down a bit.

Lucas Tikkala-Cutler

The thing about this ride is that lines can get long, and many times, one train is operating, and as of August 20, it has been operating with only one train, extending lines.

Enzo Andres

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Where to sit

Front of trainBack of train

1
2
3
4
5
6

Car 1, the front: 4 of 6 riders who named a rowBack row: 2 riders

Specifications

110 ftHeight
150 PhobiaPhearCoaster 116 Zoomerang 110 BoulderDash 85 Wildcat
115 ftFirst drop
135 PhobiaPhearCoaster 115 BoulderDash 78 Wildcat
60 mphTop speed
Phobia PhearCoaster62 Boulder Dash60 Wildcat48 Zoomerang47 062 mph
59°Drop angle
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

Rider favouriteGreat viewsStrong airtimeFeels fastGreat layoutLong rideFloaty airtime

Criticised for

Rough or rattlyPainful or bruising

Some of the best airtime out there, yes it’s getting rough at times but the double down is one of my favorite elements on any coaster.

Ethan Poole, Captain Coaster review

Unfortunately, I felt like I was Spongebob and Squidward in the pizza delivery episode when they were backing up if they were going forward.

Emily Y., Captain Coaster review

I heard many things about this being an elite woodie, but when I got on it yesterday, it just... didn’t deliver.

Danielle Pluzsik, Captain Coaster review

An extremely rough but delightfully intense ride! The way the coaster soars through the woods/mountainside is thrilling, and it has some great airtime moments.

Chris Ringer, Captain Coaster review

However, even with the modern thrill, Boulder Dash reigns supreme at Lake Compounce, and has made the park a mandatory stop on any Northeast coaster road trip.

Coaster101, published review

Now it is unbearably rough with a couple glass-smooth steel sections.

David, Captain Coaster review

Photos

Boulder Dash is a wooden roller coaster located at Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut
Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Boulder Dash
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Boulder Dash
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Boulder Dash from the Giant Wheel
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Boulder Dash
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Boulder Dash & Wipeout
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Boulder Dash from C.P. Huntington Train
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Boulder Dash
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Boulder Dash
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Boulder Dash
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0
Boulder Dash
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0

11 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History and awards

May 21, 2000Opened

Built by Custom Coasters International, designed by Larry Bill.

$6 millionTo build

Past incidents

  1. June 2001On June 13, 2001, a 23-year-old worker was killed after being struck by one of the coaster's trains.

Golden Ticket Awards, top wood coaster: ranked in 26 polls, 2000 to 2026

12th2000, its first poll
1st2004, its best placing
10th2026, most recent
1incident blamed on the ride

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, coastercritic.com, youtube.com, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Roller Coaster Philosophy (CC BY 2.0), Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia (Public domain). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Aurora C., rider review on Captain Coaster: “The location is one of the prettiest I've experienced,…”; CT Devourer, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It has the greatest setting of any coaster I’ve…”; Logan Barer, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This coaster rips through the woods with awesome airtime…”; Colin M., rider review on Captain Coaster: “Speeding through the forest is a ton of fun.”; Clayton Latone, rider review on Captain Coaster: “With just a lap bar, be prepared to yeet…”; Cam Mooers, rider review on Captain Coaster: “As a local and someone who actually shares an…”; Noah Gutfleisch, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The airtime and layout of this ride is so…”; Waluigi’s Perfect Potato, rider review on Captain Coaster: “God like ride with so much floater! I got…”; Bubble Gaming, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This whole ride is extremely long, which I value…”; Carter Eckhart, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Lots of strong airtime and laterals, plus great roughness…”; Max S., rider review on Captain Coaster: “The duration for this one is also insane and…”; Cooper Zimmerman, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Such a long ride and honestly feels like an…”; Lu, rider review on Captain Coaster: “the scenery/setting, the out of control minecart feeling, everything…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: East Coasters's back row POV, Boulder Dash POV 5K Back Row Lake Compounce Bristol, CT (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.