Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Chicago is a 20-acre water park in Gurnee, Illinois, sitting right next to Six Flags Great America. It opened on May 28, 2005 following a $42 million construction project, after an earlier, more ambitious plan for a full “Entertainment Village” on the site was voted down by local residents in 1999.
Since 2021 the water park has run as its own separate gate rather than a bundled add-on to the neighboring amusement park. Over nearly two decades, Six Flags has expanded the property well beyond its original footprint, adding a funnel slide, a four-acre wave-pool complex, and eventually a record-setting water coaster that became the park’s signature attraction.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Gurnee, Illinois
- Opened: May 28, 2005
- Area: About 20 acres
- Water slides: 25
- Pools: 2
- Signature attraction: Tsunami Surge, an 86-foot-tall water coaster (2021)
- Notable expansion: Riptide Bay, a 4-acre addition opened in 2011
- Owner: Six Flags
The Ride Experience
Hurricane Harbor Chicago’s lineup grew in stages rather than all at once. Tornado, a ProSlide funnel slide, arrived for Memorial Day weekend 2006 and later took second place for “Best New Water Slide” from Amusement Today. The 2011 Riptide Bay expansion added the Surf Rider wave simulator along with the Mega Wedgie and Dive Bomber drop-launch slides, the Wipeout funnel raft slide, and the Monsoon Lagoon activity pool.
The park’s biggest moment came on May 29, 2021, when Tsunami Surge opened as a WhiteWater West water coaster standing about 86 feet tall, marketed at the time as the tallest water coaster in the world. It went on to win a 2021 Leading Edge Award from the World Waterpark Association and placed third in that year’s Golden Ticket Awards.
History and Access
Before the water park existed, Six Flags floated a far larger “Entertainment Village” concept in 1997 that would have added a hotel, convention center, and shopping alongside a water park across Interstate 94. Gurnee residents organized against the plan and rejected it in an April 1999 referendum, and the company later scaled back to the water park that opened in 2005 on land adjacent to Six Flags Great America.
For its first 16 seasons, admission to Hurricane Harbor Chicago was typically bundled with a Six Flags Great America visit. That changed on March 22, 2021, when the water park began operating with its own separate entrance and ticketing.
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Hurricane Harbor Chicago FAQs
When did Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Chicago open?
It opened on May 28, 2005, after roughly seven months of construction that began in November 2004.
How many water slides does the park have?
The park features 25 water slides along with two pools across its 20-acre footprint.
What is Tsunami Surge?
Tsunami Surge is a WhiteWater West water coaster standing about 86 feet tall that opened in May 2021 and was marketed as the world’s tallest water coaster at the time.
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Photo: Harobouri / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.