Sierra Sidewinder's train in 2025
Cars spina spinning coaster built by Mack Backwards seatsfun climbing the lift, riders say

Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California

Sierra Sidewinder

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POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
What riders love
  • I'm usually sensitive to any dizzying kind of ride but this one was the perfect amount of spin and intensity to not make me sick the rest of the day.
  • Climbing the lift in one of the backwards seats is also fun.
  • sierra sidewinder is a very fun experience and quite intense for a camp snoopy ride.
  • This was the biggest surprise from my trip to Knott's. It's very intense for something that's considered a family ride.
  • it doesn't look super crazy from the ground, and it's in the little kid's section of the park, so ur not expecting it to be very intense. but the spinning cars make it surprisingly thrilling
  • It doesn’t look too enticing, but the spinning really adds to the coaster.
  • You will come off with a great gut punched aftershock, and you'll definitely want to ride again... this ride is fun for the whole family.
  • A surprisingly intense family spinning coaster. Everyone getting off this ride seemed to really enjoy it.
  • Very intense and good ride for a family spinner.
Sierra Sidewinder Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Sierra Sidewinder Spinning Roller Coaster 4K Front Row POV Knott's Berry Farm

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Sierra Sidewinder Back Row (HD POV) Knott's Berry Farm

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2019 Sierra Sidewinder Spinning Roller Coaster On Ride HD POV Knott's Berry Farm

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Sierra Sidewinder Review: The BEST Spinning Coaster in California? (Knott's Berry Farm)

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Sierra Sidewinder Review at Knott's Berry Farm Fun Spinning Coaster

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Sierra Sidewinder - Knotts Berry Far

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Sierra sidewinder Knott's berry farm

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Sierra Sidewinder - Knott's Berry Farm - MACK Rides - Spinning Coaster

youtube.com › Ride View

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Knott's Berry Farm

It has a good layout and is smooth with it being very fun.

Lightning Productions

Now, if there is one nice thing about Sierra Sidewinder, the trains for this coaster are comfortable, and most people can sit in them easily.

Gridiron Coasters

The layouts pretty good just a bit short, and it does have a vibration and there’s a bad pothole entering a high banked turn.

RThirtyEight Coasters

The ride has pretty poor capacity and it is rough. The trains are pretty bad too, but the ride is worth it though because of that intensity (it is definitely overstated though)

Zach

The layout is pretty good and has a couple intense moments near the ground, but it is also too short in my opinion.

Erik C.

A wee bit too intense for the kids.

Arizona

My 2nd ride was the most intense because I rode next to another person and nobody got in the car behind us.

Max S.

The spinning is actually much more intense than I expected from a ride placed in the kiddie section of the park.

Gabe S

Spinning coasters have become a common sight at theme parks around the world, but Mack’s version has really refined the idea and provides a great balance between excitement and family friendly fun.

Theme Park James

There are many moments of powerful positive Gs, laterals, crazy speed you get out of nowhere, and some pretty crazy spinning on some parts.

Eli Lassiter Michael

If you load one side with heavier passengers and with with lighter ones, your car will spin EXTREMELY fast.

@hellacia8151

The day I went it was nearly a walk on on almost every ride I had.

Sean Elkins

The main cons for this ride are its short length and capacity; if this ride is only running one train as it often does, prepare to wait in a mind-numbingly slow queue.

Gabe S

The ride has pretty poor capacity and it is rough.

Zach
Motion sickness risk

I don’t like it when they spin too much because I can get nauseous but this one doesn’t do that so it’s just fun.

Finn V.

i remember i rode this ride when i was young, and it made me feel sick- especially bc my hat flew in front of my face and i couldnt see ANYTHING 😭

@zmll099

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

37 mphTop speed
Xcelerator82 HangTime57 GhostRider56 Silver Bullet55 MonteZOOMa:The Forbidden…55 SierraSidewinder37 082 mph
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

FunIntense

Criticised for

Too shortLong waitsRider fit issuesMade riders sick

As far as ‘kiddie’ rides go, this one is actually pretty intense and fun.

Ryan Armstrong, Captain Coaster review

Interesting as my first 4D ride, overall boring though with not enough drops or airtimes or even spins (which depend on the ride I think, but there could’ve been more opportunities)

Declan, Captain Coaster review

Sierra sidewinder is a fun family coaster I didn’t really spin at all though but it was more intense than it looks some of those turns are actually pretty intense, doesn’t belong in camp Snoopy.

Connor, Captain Coaster review

This ride packs one hell of a punch with the out of control spinning and intense helixes.

Francisco Perez, Captain Coaster review

Spinning coasters have become a common sight at theme parks around the world, but Mack’s version has really refined the idea and provides a great balance between excitement and family friendly fun.

Theme Park James, published review

While this ride is a small scale spinning coaster, it is still quite fun. The layout is pretty good and has a couple intense moments near the ground, but it is also too short in my opinion.

Erik C., Captain Coaster review

Photos

Sierra Sidewinder at Knott's Berry Farm
ParkThoughts, CC BY 2.0
Sierra Sidewinder at Knott's Berry Farm
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
Sierra Sidewinder at Knott's Berry Farm
ParkThoughts, CC BY 2.0
Sierra Sidewinder at Knott's Berry Farm
METRO96, CC BY-SA 4.0

4 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History

May 26, 2007Opened

A spinning coaster, built by Mack, designed by Ing.-Büro Stengel.

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, youtube.com, themeparkjames.co.uk, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Jeremy Thompson (CC BY 2.0), ParkThoughts (CC BY 2.0), METRO96 (CC BY-SA 4.0). 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): Jack Jack J., rider review on Captain Coaster: “The spinning created some really great moments of intensity…”; Max S., rider review on Captain Coaster: “I'm usually sensitive to any dizzying kind of ride…”; Gabe S, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Climbing the lift in one of the backwards seats…”; Esme B., rider review on Captain Coaster: “sierra sidewinder is a very fun experience and quite…”; Nathan F, rider review on Captain Coaster: “These expectations were absolutely shattered by my first ride…”; Dalia, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This was the biggest surprise from my trip to…”; kitty diana, rider review on Captain Coaster: “it doesn't look super crazy from the ground, and…”; Ethan Finn, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It doesn’t look too enticing, but the spinning really…”; Eli Lassiter Michael, rider review on Captain Coaster: “There are many moments of powerful positive Gs, laterals,…”; Francisco Perez, rider review on Captain Coaster: “You will come off with a great gut punched…”; Your Coaster Friend, rider review on Captain Coaster: “A surprisingly intense family spinning coaster. Everyone getting off…”; Zach, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Very intense and good ride for a family spinner.”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: coastercrutchfield's back row POV, Sierra Sidewinder Back Row (HD POV) Knott's Berry Farm (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.