Grizzly is a wooden roller coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, that has been rattling through the park’s forested Old Virginia section since it opened on March 27, 1982. Designed by noted coaster engineer Curtis D. Summers, its double-figure-eight layout closely follows the blueprint of the long-demolished Coney Island Wildcat, giving modern riders a taste of a classic early-20th-century coaster design reborn in the woods of central Virginia.
What makes Grizzly memorable isn’t extreme height or speed, but the way its 3,150-foot circuit weaves tightly through dense trees, creating the illusion that the train barely clears the trunks and branches lining the track. At 87 feet tall with a top speed of 51 mph and zero inversions, it’s a ride built on old-school pacing, tight turns, and out-of-control-feeling drops rather than modern thrill-ride statistics.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Kings Dominion, Doswell, Virginia
- Manufacturer: Taft Attractions Group
- Opened: March 27, 1982
- Height: 87 ft
- Top speed: 51 mph
- Length: about 3,150 ft
- Inversions: 0
The Ride Experience
Grizzly’s layout is a double figure-eight that threads through a heavily wooded ravine, a design choice that makes the coaster feel faster and more chaotic than its numbers suggest. The dense tree cover close to the track creates tight sightlines, so riders get the sensation of narrowly missing branches as the train banks through its turns.
The coaster runs two trains, each with seven cars carrying 28 riders total, and completes its circuit in about two and a half minutes. Its first drop, originally set at 45 degrees, has become steeper following a modern retrack, giving longtime fans of the ride a slightly punchier opening plunge than the original 1982 version delivered.
A Classic That Keeps Evolving
After Labor Day 2022, Kings Dominion closed Grizzly for a major refurbishment handled by The Gravity Group, a firm known for modernizing vintage wooden coasters. Crews retracked roughly 1,040 feet of the ride and increased the first drop’s angle from 45 to 55 degrees before it reopened to the public on May 13, 2023.
That renewed track quality helped Grizzly earn a spot in the 2025 Golden Ticket Awards rankings of the world’s top wooden coasters, a notable achievement for a ride now well into its fifth decade of operation.
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Grizzly Photo Archive: July 2001
These are original ThrillZing photos of Grizzly taken at Paramount’s Kings Dominion on July 13, 2001, restored and upscaled from the original camera files. They show the 1982 wooden coaster deep in the woods behind the park: the entrance sign, the yellow trains loading in the station and climbing the lift, and a run of on-ride frames from the lift hill, the crest, and the drops through the trees. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
Keeps your phone strapped to you, not in a loose-article bin. Zip it before the lift hill and walk straight off the exit ramp.
Rapids, log flumes and splash zones without the rice-bag aftermath. The touchscreen still works through the window, so you can still take photos.
Cheaper than the $15 poncho at the gift shop and you get a whole bag. Toss one in every backpack for water rides and pop-up storms.
Grizzly FAQs
When did Grizzly open at Kings Dominion?
Grizzly opened to the public on March 27, 1982, and has operated at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, ever since.
How tall and fast is Grizzly?
Grizzly stands 87 feet tall and reaches a top speed of about 51 mph over a course of roughly 3,150 feet, with no inversions.
Has Grizzly been renovated recently?
Yes. The Gravity Group retracked about 1,040 feet of the ride and steepened its first drop from 45 to 55 degrees during a refurbishment that closed the coaster after Labor Day 2022 and reopened it on May 13, 2023.
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