Hoosier Hurricane is a wooden roller coaster at Indiana Beach in Monticello, Indiana, running along the shore of Lake Shafer beside the park’s boardwalk. When it opened on May 27, 1994, it became the park’s largest wooden coaster and the first wooden coaster built anywhere in Indiana in fifty years, giving the ride its name as a tribute to the state.
Designed by Dennis McNulty and Larry Bill of Custom Coasters International, Hoosier Hurricane was only the young manufacturer’s third coaster project, but it broke new ground as the first modern wooden coaster built on a steel support structure, a technique CCI would go on to use throughout its later designs. The coaster still shares a short stretch of track structure with the park’s later wooden coaster, Cornball Express, near the S-curve leading into the first drop.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Indiana Beach, Monticello, Indiana
- Manufacturer: Custom Coasters International
- Opened: May 27, 1994
- Height: 77 ft
- Drop: 98 ft
- Top speed: 51 mph
- Length: 2,891 ft
- Inversions: 0
The Ride Experience
Riders climb the 77-foot chain lift before plunging down a 98-foot first drop, longer than the lift hill itself thanks to the elevated station. From there, the train snaps through an S-curve, a double-up hop, and a series of airtime hills before sweeping through a large turnaround at the far end of the boardwalk near the Giant Gondola Wheel, then racing back through more hills into the brakes.
Because the layout hugs the lakeshore for most of its 2,891-foot circuit, riders get a close-up view of Lake Shafer’s waterfront in between the coaster’s bursts of airtime, making it as much a scenic ride as a thrill ride.
History and Legacy
Hoosier Hurricane was originally slated to be called Cornball Express during its design phase, but the name was changed before opening; the Cornball Express name was later reused for the park’s second wooden coaster, built in 2001. In 2019, for its 25th anniversary, Indiana Beach refurbished the ride’s trains in royal blue with new decals.
As one of Custom Coasters International’s earliest projects, the coaster holds historical significance in wooden coaster design for pioneering the steel-supported wooden track structure that became a CCI hallmark on later rides across the country.
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Hoosier Hurricane Photo Archive: June 2002
These are original ThrillZing photos of Hoosier Hurricane taken at Indiana Beach on June 28, 2002, restored and upscaled from the original camera files. They show the coaster in its ninth season: the entrance sign, trains climbing the lift, and the wooden track carried on the white steel bents that take the ride out over Lake Shafer. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
Hoosier Hurricane FAQs
How tall is Hoosier Hurricane?
Hoosier Hurricane has a lift hill height of 77 feet and a first drop of 98 feet, made possible by its elevated station.
When did Hoosier Hurricane open?
It opened on May 27, 1994, as the first wooden roller coaster built in Indiana in fifty years.
Who designed Hoosier Hurricane?
It was designed by Dennis McNulty and Larry Bill of Custom Coasters International, one of the manufacturer’s earliest projects.
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