Wolverine Wildcat is a wooden roller coaster at Michigan’s Adventure in Muskegon, Michigan, that opened on May 18, 1988. Built by the Dinn Corporation and designed by Curtis D. Summers, it was the first collaboration between the two, who would go on to build nine more coasters together over the following four years. Its double out-and-back layout was loosely inspired by a former Wildcat coaster at the old Coney Island park in Cincinnati.
For a decade, Wolverine Wildcat reigned as the most thrilling ride at Michigan’s Adventure, until the towering Shivering Timbers opened in 1998. It remains a park favorite, prized for its old-school wooden coaster feel, airtime-filled hills, and status as one of only two coasters at the park still fitted with manual braking systems.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Michigan’s Adventure, Muskegon, Michigan
- Manufacturer: Dinn Corporation
- Designer: Curtis D. Summers
- Opened: May 18, 1988
- Height: 85 ft (26 m)
- Top Speed: 55 mph (89 km/h)
- Length: 3,000 ft (910 m)
- Inversions: 0
The Ride Experience
Wolverine Wildcat’s double out-and-back layout sends riders through a series of pops of airtime across its wooden structure, with a first drop of 78 feet at a max angle of 50 degrees. A single train with four cars carries 24 riders at a time, two across in three rows, for a ride lasting about two minutes at a capacity of roughly 700 riders per hour.
The coaster has been retracked and reprofiled over the years by Martin & Vleminckx, smoothing out the ride while preserving its classic wooden-coaster character. It’s also notable as one of just two rides at Michigan’s Adventure that still uses manual braking, a nod to its late-1980s roots.
History and Legacy
When it opened in 1988, Wolverine Wildcat was the marquee thrill ride at Michigan’s Adventure and held that title for a full decade. It was the debut project of the Dinn Corporation and designer Curtis D. Summers working together, a partnership that went on to produce nine more wooden coasters in the years that followed.
Although it was eventually overshadowed in size by Shivering Timbers in 1998, Wolverine Wildcat has endured as a fan favorite for its compact, high-energy layout and its place in the park’s history as a foundational wooden coaster.
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Wolverine Wildcat Photo Archive: June 2002
These are original ThrillZing photos of Wolverine Wildcat taken at Michigan’s Adventure on June 27, 2002, restored and upscaled from the original camera files. They show the 1988 Dinn wooden coaster’s entrance sign, its weathered gray structure, and a train cresting the lift seen through the trestle. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
Wolverine Wildcat FAQs
Where is Wolverine Wildcat located?
Wolverine Wildcat is located at Michigan’s Adventure amusement park in Muskegon, Michigan.
How tall is Wolverine Wildcat and how fast does it go?
The coaster stands 85 feet tall with a 78-foot first drop and reaches a top speed of 55 mph.
Who built Wolverine Wildcat?
It was built by the Dinn Corporation and designed by Curtis D. Summers, opening on May 18, 1988.
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Photo: Larry Pieniazek / CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.