Raging Waters Sacramento once packed 25 water attractions onto 20 acres of the Cal Expo fairgrounds, but the gates have been locked since November 2022 — and the plan to bring it back has now fallen apart too.
If you’re trying to figure out whether the Sacramento water park at Cal Expo is open, what happened to the CaliBunga rebuild announced in 2023, or where else to swim this summer, here’s the full picture: the closure, the failed rebuild, the rides people still remember, and where things stand today.
Quick Answer
Raging Waters Sacramento — the water park that operated on the Cal Expo fairgrounds — is permanently closed and has been since November 2022. A planned rebuild called CaliBunga Waterpark, announced in 2023 for a 2027 opening, collapsed in February 2026 when Cal Expo terminated the developer’s lease over more than $200,000 in unpaid rent. As of mid-2026, the 20-acre site at 1600 Exposition Blvd sits vacant while Cal Expo looks for a new operator or use for the land.
Is Raging Waters Still Located at Cal Expo?
Yes — Raging Waters Sacramento was never a separate property from Cal Expo. The water park sat on roughly 20 acres inside the Cal Expo fairgrounds at 1600 Exposition Blvd, the same state-owned complex that hosts the California State Fair every summer. Cal Expo, a state agency, owned the land and leased it to a private operator over the years: first Premier Parks, then Six Flags, then Palace Entertainment, and most recently California Dreamin’ Entertainment.
That arrangement is why the water park’s fate has always been tied to Cal Expo’s decisions rather than to one company’s brand. When Palace Entertainment walked away in 2022, the rides and slides didn’t move anywhere — they sat idle inside the fairgrounds until demolition began in 2025. Today the fenced-off, partially cleared lot is still Cal Expo property, visible from the same parking areas used for the State Fair and other Cal Expo events, but there’s no operating water park on it, and none is scheduled to open there.
From WaterWorld USA to Raging Waters: A Four-Decade Timeline
The Cal Expo water park has carried four names since it opened in 1980 as WaterWorld USA, originally run by Premier Parks under a lease with the state-owned fairgrounds. Premier Parks rebranded the site Six Flags Waterworld Sacramento ahead of the 2005 season, but that lease ended after the 2006 season when Six Flags pulled out.
Palace Entertainment picked up the lease in May 2007 and reopened the park as Raging Waters Sacramento, the name it kept for the next 15 seasons. Palace Entertainment terminated its lease on November 8, 2022, ending the water park’s run at Cal Expo after 42 years under one operator or another.
Why Did Raging Waters Sacramento Close?
Palace Entertainment closed the park in November 2022, pointing to a company-wide review of its business priorities. The closure came after the pandemic forced Raging Waters Sacramento to sit out the 2020 season entirely and reopen in 2021 under capacity limits and modified operations — losses the operator said the park never fully recovered from.
Unlike some seasonal closures that get reversed the following spring, this one stuck — Palace Entertainment did not reopen the park for 2023, and Cal Expo began fielding proposals for what to do with the vacant 20 acres.
What Happened to the CaliBunga Waterpark Rebuild?
In 2023, California Dreamin’ Entertainment — a brand operated by Silverwood Entertainment — signed a new lease with Cal Expo to demolish the old park and build a new one called CaliBunga Waterpark, targeting a 2027 opening. This Sacramento project was a separate park from the similarly named CaliBunga that Silverwood opened in San Jose on July 4, 2024; the two are not the same facility. Demolition of the old Raging Waters structures was underway by summer 2025, and the project appeared to be moving forward.
That changed on February 3, 2026, when Cal Expo’s board terminated California Dreamin’ Entertainment’s lease, citing breach of contract after the developer fell more than $200,000 behind on payments and missed several extensions to resolve the debt. Silverwood Entertainment acknowledged the termination but disputed how the situation was characterized, saying it didn’t consider it appropriate to litigate a business dispute in the media. With the lease terminated, the partially demolished site reverted to Cal Expo, and the CaliBunga Sacramento project is no longer active.
The Rides and Attractions That Made the Park Famous
At its peak, Raging Waters Sacramento offered 25 water attractions. The signature thrill ride was the Cliffhanger, a pair of 60-foot dual-racing free-fall body slides that dropped riders side by side into a splashdown pool. Splashdown added a trapdoor-style drop slide that ejected riders straight into a plunge pool, while the Shark Attack Slide Complex, Dragon’s Den, and the Honolulu Half Pipe rounded out the high-speed slide lineup.
Families spent most of their time at Treehouse Reef, a multi-level interactive water playground with slides and spray features, and at Hook’s Lagoon, a gentler area built for younger kids. The 800-foot Calypso Cooler lazy river offered a slow-paced float, and Breaker Beach — billed as Northern California’s original wave pool — and Hurricane Bay delivered ocean-style surf to a landlocked city.
What’s Next for the Cal Expo Site
Cal Expo has said it is exploring new partnerships and development proposals for the water park property, but as of mid-2026 no new operator, timeline, or concept has been announced. The site sits within a broader period of change at Cal Expo, which has also been winding down horse racing contracts and discussing a possible stadium partnership with Sacramento State, so any decision about the water park’s future will likely be made alongside those larger plans.
For now, there’s no active construction, no announced brand, and no reopening date for a water park at Cal Expo. Anyone hoping to visit will need to wait for Cal Expo to select — and this time, hold onto — a new development partner.
Where to Swim Instead: Water Parks Near Sacramento
If you’re searching for Raging Waters hoping to buy tickets this summer, the closest working alternatives are all within roughly 25 to 45 minutes of downtown Sacramento. Golfland Sunsplash in Roseville is the closest traditional slide-and-wave-pool park, with a wave pool and a lineup of body and tube slides about 25 minutes northeast of the city.
Velocity Island Park in Woodland and Wake Island Waterpark in Pleasant Grove take a different approach: both are lake-based parks built around cable wakeboarding and floating obstacle courses rather than traditional slides, so the day feels more like a wake park than a classic Raging Waters visit. All three set their own seasonal hours and ticket prices independently of Cal Expo, so check each park’s official site before you go — none of them are connected to the former Raging Waters lease or its closure.
Raging Waters Sacramento FAQs
Is Raging Waters Sacramento open in 2026?
No. It has been permanently closed since November 2022, and the site at Cal Expo remains vacant as of mid-2026 after the planned CaliBunga rebuild fell through.
Why did Raging Waters Sacramento close?
Palace Entertainment terminated its lease in November 2022, citing a review of company priorities after pandemic-related closures and capacity limits in 2020-2021 left the park unprofitable.
Where exactly was Raging Waters Sacramento located?
It sat on about 20 acres inside the Cal Expo fairgrounds at 1600 Exposition Blvd in Sacramento — the same complex that hosts the California State Fair. Cal Expo owned the land and leased it to a series of operators; the water park was never a separate address from Cal Expo.
What is CaliBunga Waterpark, and was it replacing Raging Waters Sacramento?
CaliBunga was the name announced in 2023 for a planned rebuild of the Cal Expo site by California Dreamin’ Entertainment, a Silverwood Entertainment brand, targeting a 2027 opening. Cal Expo terminated that lease in February 2026 over nonpayment, so the project is no longer active.
Is the Sacramento CaliBunga the same as the CaliBunga in San Jose?
No. Silverwood Entertainment’s CaliBunga in San Jose (at Lake Cunningham Regional Park, formerly Raging Waters San Jose) opened July 4, 2024, as a separate park from the Sacramento project. The City of San José has since announced that park is temporarily closed for summer 2026 while it plans a future redevelopment of the site with a new operator. The Sacramento CaliBunga, meanwhile, never opened before its lease was terminated.
Is there a water park at Cal Expo during the California State Fair?
No. The former Raging Waters site is fenced off and partially demolished, and it is not part of State Fair programming. The fair operates elsewhere on the Cal Expo grounds without an on-site water park.
What water parks are open near Sacramento right now?
Golfland Sunsplash in Roseville is the nearest traditional slide park, while Velocity Island Park in Woodland and Wake Island Waterpark in Pleasant Grove offer lake-based cable wakeboarding and floating obstacle courses. None are affiliated with Cal Expo or the former Raging Waters lease.
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