The UK’s tallest log flume, situated in Canada Creek, is “...the wildest ride in the wilderness.”

Location: Canada Creek


Official Thorpe Park Description:

From a 1989 leaflet “Just imagine yourself a-whirling and a-whooshing along in a hollowed-out log on a breath-taking ride through the middle of a Canadian lumber-mill.”

From the 2000 Thorpe Park website “Wet and wild log flume ride through the Canadian Rockies. Our world famous Logger's Leap has the highest log flume plunge in the UK. Logs carried in fast moving water drop down a pitch-black tunnel and swish past rugged mountain scenery and the Canada Creek Railway. From the crest of the ride guests can view the whole park as they drop down 50 feet into the water trough below.”

From the 2005 Thorpe Park website “Relax on the lazy river where all is not what it seems.” “Enjoy being gently carried upstream before being submerged into darkness and plummeting 20ft into the unknown. Riders are given just enough time to convince themselves that the worst is over, when they are propelled over a 50ft drop before coming to a soaking wet stop.”

From the 2010 Thorpe Park website “Don't be fooled by the calm waters - you're in for a thrill and a hair-raising, hair-wetting double drop aboard Logger’s Leap!” “This classic THORPE PARK log flume is the perfect ride to psyche up for the day - or cool down after a full dose of extreme rides action!”


The Ride:

Loggers Leap opened in 1989 in a new area of the park called Canada Creek. It was built by Heinrich Mack GmbH from Germany. At 53ft (16m) high and with a 50ft drop not only was it the tallest attraction in the park at the time, but it was also the tallest log flume in the UK.

The ride is themed around logging the in the Canadian countryside, with the boats resembling hollowed out logs. These logs seat up to 5 people with two in the front and three in the back.

The ride has a number of fun sections to it. The first of these occurs not too long after leaving the ride station when you see up ahead a slightly imposing mine tunnel style entrance. As you enter this into the darkness you start your ascent up the first of Loggers Leap’s two hills. This part works really well as you can’t see either when you are going to fall or how far the drop is as it happens in darkness. After the drop, as your boat turns a corner you then see the daylight ahead.
As you leave the indoor section your boat passes a white Native American style eagle statue. This is one example of the western style themed items around the ride and the rest of Canada Creek, other examples around Loggers Leap include items like old fashioned rotary saws, wooden barrels and crates.

Your boat then floats through calmer water and passes under a wooden structure that drips water on you as you go under. A bit further down the track you then reach the foot of the very imposing second hill. After your boat has slowly climbed to the peak of the hill you are rewarded with great views of the park just before your boat races down the double drop as you have your On-Ride Photo taken on the way down. The straight section in the middle of the drop adds great airtime to the ride just before you hit the splash section that can actually get you quite wet, sometimes soaked. Since 2008 the fun doesn’t stop there as they added a couple of water guns in the viewing area of the ride at the corner of the splash area. These guns are well positioned as riders are still recovering from their soaking and wiping the water from their faces as they get hit in the face by the water from the guns without seeing it coming. The boats then return to the station.

One nice element of Loggers Leap is its slight interaction with other attractions around it. In the 1990’s when the Hudson River Rafters were operating near the Loggers Leap queue line you could enjoy watching people out on the lake while you waited to ride. Another nice touch is how the train track for Canada Creek Railway runs around the outside of the Loggers Leap Track. Offering riders on Loggers Leap great views of the train as it goes past and Canada Creek Railway passengers great views of the back section of Loggers Leap.


Loggers Leap Record

The UK’s tallest log flume = 1989 – 1993 then 2005 – Now

When Loggers Leap opened in 1989 it was the tallest log flume in the UK. It retained this title until 1994 when Nightmare Niagara opened at The American Adventure, near Derby.

Loggers Leap then regained its record in 2005 when The American Adventure closed and Nightmare Niagara was removed. And from 2005 to now it has remained the tallest log flume in the UK.


Ride station building

The Loggers Leap station building has seen a number of small changes over the years. These are some of those changes:

The Diana Memorial

The late Princess Diana visited Thorpe Park with the two young princes, William and Harry, three times in the early 1990’s. On one of these visits they were all famously photographed riding on Loggers Leap.

After her death Thorpe Park added a memorial to her, near a flagpole, in the viewing area at the bottom of the second hill.

It is a stone memorial with a metal plaque that bears the following dedication:
“Diana, Princess of Wales
Dedicated in fond memory by the Thorpe Park Team
September, 1997”

Photos of this memorial can be seen in the photo section below.



Memories of Loggers Leap:

Phill: I remember being quite scared of this ride when I was young. I would be ok until we started to climb the second hill when the ‘Clunk-Clunk’ noise of the anti-rollback devices moving into place behind the boat would really scare me and remind me how high we were going.


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