The oldest coaster in the park, the Dahlonega Mine Train is an early generation steel roller coaster, built by Arrow about 30 years ago. The ride itself can be fun, and can be rough, so the rating can fluctuate greatly between people. The ride features a series of short hills, helices, and tight turns through a layout that twists around trees, and has an un-intentional water splash when it has a rendezvous with Splash Water Falls. The ride has three sections, separated by three lift hills. Leaving the station, your endeavor begins with a nice run through the maintenance shop. Up the first lift you go, no more than 30-40 feet, and you (fairly) slowly run the track through some turns and little hops. After hitting the second, and then third lift, you take a wide turn left (where you pass SWF), enter a house, and emerge as you dive into a tunnel at 30mph, coming back up and into the station as the ride ends. The ride itself can be really fun, but also rough. The ride in the front row seems to generally be smooth, but the farther back you go, the more you will get tossed around.
On good days, this is my favorite of three Arrow mine train’s, but on other days, it is second to Gold Rusher, but in order to rate it, I will average my scores for both, coming up with a 4 (5 when good, 2 when bad).
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