Deep in the wooded hills behind Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, The Beast has been devouring riders since 1979 — and no wooden roller coaster on Earth has ever matched its sheer size. At 7,361 feet (2,244 m) of track sprawled across 35 acres of forest, it has held the title of world’s longest wooden coaster for its entire life, a record recognized by Guinness World Records.
But ask how tall The Beast actually is, and the answer is deceptively modest: its lift hill tops out at just 110 feet. The ride’s real trick is using Ohio’s ravines and hillsides instead of raw height — its biggest drop is actually taller than its own lift hill. Built in-house by Kings Island’s own team — designers Al Collins and Jeff Gramke, with design consultant John C. Allen — for $3.2 million, The Beast is less a traditional coaster than a runaway train through the woods.
Quick Answer
The Beast’s lift hill stands 110 feet (34 m) tall. That’s the ride’s official “height,” but it’s not the biggest vertical drop on the course — that distinction belongs to the second drop, which plunges 141 feet (43 m), deeper than the lift hill itself, into a wooded ravine and straight into a helix tunnel.
How Tall Is The Beast? Height, Lift Hills & Drops Explained
The Beast uses two separate chain lift hills to haul trains across its enormous 7,361-foot footprint, and each one feeds a different drop — which is why you’ll see slightly different “height” numbers depending on the source.
The first lift hill rises 110 feet (34 m) — when The Beast opened in 1979, that tied it with Six Flags St. Louis’s Screamin’ Eagle as the tallest wooden coaster in the world at the time. From there, the train dives down the first drop, about 137 feet (42 m) at a steep 53-degree angle, straight into a tunnel carved into the hillside. That 53-degree angle is steeper than it was when the ride opened; The Gravity Group increased it from 45 degrees during the 2022 retracking.
After winding through the forest, the train climbs a second lift hill, 107 feet (33 m) tall, before dropping a final 141 feet (43 m) at a shallower 18-degree angle — the tallest single drop anywhere on the ride, and deeper than either lift hill. That drop empties straight into The Beast’s famous double-helix tunnel finale.
So while “the height of The Beast” is technically its 110-foot lift hill, the ride’s real scale comes from stacking two lift hills and two drops — including one taller than the lift itself — across more than 200 feet of overall elevation change carved into the terrain.
Key Stats
Lift hill height: 110 ft (34 m). First drop: about 137 ft (42 m) at 53°. Second lift hill: 107 ft (33 m). Second (tallest) drop: 141 ft (43 m) at 18°. Length: 7,361 ft (2,244 m). Speed: 64.78 mph (104.25 km/h). Duration: 4:10. Max vertical angle: 53°. Inversions: 0. Type / Manufacturer: Wood — built in-house by Kings Island. Opened: April 14, 1979. Capacity: 1,200 riders per hour.
The Longest Wooden Coaster on Earth
The Beast’s defining number isn’t its height — it’s its length. At 7,361 feet, it is not just the longest wooden coaster in the world, it is one of the longest coasters of any kind, and it sits high on our list of the longest roller coasters in the world. Because the lift hills are only 110 and 107 feet tall, the ride achieves its scale by burrowing into the landscape rather than climbing above it.
That length translates directly into stamina. With a ride time of about 4 minutes and 10 seconds, The Beast also ranks among the longest ride times at any theme park — an eternity by coaster standards, where most rides wrap up in under two minutes.
How The Beast’s Height Compares to Other Wooden Coasters
At 110 feet, The Beast’s lift hill isn’t especially tall by modern standards — it’s not even the tallest wooden coaster Kings Island has ever operated. That title briefly belonged to Son of Beast, a 218-foot wooden hypercoaster that opened at the park in 2000 and was demolished in 2012 after years of mechanical and structural issues; part of its footprint later became Banshee.
The Beast has never chased height the way Son of Beast did. Instead, it proves that a wooden coaster doesn’t need to be tall to be a record-holder — it just needs enough terrain to build a course around, which is exactly what its 35 wooded acres provide.
History and the 2022 Retracking
When it opened on April 14, 1979, The Beast was the tallest, fastest and longest wooden coaster in the world. The tallest and fastest crowns eventually moved on, but the length record never has.
Ahead of the 2022 season, The Gravity Group completely re-tracked 1,090 feet (330 m) of the ride and steepened the first drop from 45 to 53 degrees. The reprofiling actually added two feet of track, nudging the official length to 7,361 feet — extending the record it already held.
Ride Experience
The Beast is famous for what you can’t see. After the first tunnel-piercing drop, the train snakes through the forest at a sustained clip of nearly 65 mph at its fastest, with long, low straightaways and lateral-heavy curves.
The finale is the stuff of legend: off the second lift, the train slides down that 141-foot second drop and slams into a double helix tunnel at full speed, hitting forces up to 3.6 G in the dark. Ask any enthusiast and they’ll tell you: ride it at night. With no lights in the woods, the final helix becomes one of the most disorienting — and beloved — coaster moments anywhere.
The Beast Photo Archive: 2001–2006
These are original ThrillZing photos of The Beast taken at Paramount’s Kings Island on April 7, 2001, and August 13, 2006, restored and upscaled from the original camera files. They show the 1979 wooden coaster from the Eiffel Tower: the second lift hill and its brake shed rising out of the bare April woods, a train topping the lift and another descending the trestle, plus the entrance sign. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
Photos
The Beast Photo Archive: 2001–2006
These are original ThrillZing photos of The Beast taken at Paramount’s Kings Island on April 7, 2001, and August 13, 2006, restored and upscaled from the original camera files. They show the 1979 wooden coaster from the Eiffel Tower: the second lift hill and its brake shed rising out of the bare April woods, a train topping the lift and another descending the trestle, plus the entrance sign. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
August 2006
April 2001
Ride with your glasses on and keep them. Many parks allow glasses on rides if they're strapped, so check the ride rules first.
Small enough to ride with on most coasters, big enough for a phone, card and keys. Two zippers mean nothing falls out upside down.
A fan and a mist in one, rechargeable. Very popular in queue lines once the afternoon sun hits.
the beast kings island height FAQs
How tall is The Beast at Kings Island?
The Beast’s lift hill is 110 feet (34 m) tall. But its biggest drop is actually taller than the lift hill — the ride’s second drop plunges 141 feet (43 m) into a wooded ravine.
What is The Beast’s biggest drop?
The tallest drop on The Beast is 141 feet (43 m), at an 18-degree angle, coming off the ride’s second lift hill. The first drop, off the 110-foot main lift hill, is about 137 feet (42 m) at a steeper 53-degree angle.
How long is The Beast at Kings Island?
The Beast is 7,361 feet (2,244 m) long — the longest wooden roller coaster in the world, a record it has held since opening in 1979. The full ride lasts about 4 minutes and 10 seconds.
How fast does The Beast go?
The Beast reaches a top speed of 64.78 mph (104.25 km/h), achieved on its descents into the wooded ravines that give the ride its scale.
Is The Beast still the longest wooden coaster in the world?
Yes. As of 2026, no wooden coaster has surpassed it, and the 2022 retracking by The Gravity Group actually added two feet to its length.
Who designed The Beast?
The Beast was designed in-house by Kings Island’s own team, led by Al Collins and Jeff Gramke, with design consultant John C. Allen, and built for $3.2 million using the natural terrain of the park’s wooded hillsides.
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