This review may simply be an affirmation of what has already been said below, but, nonetheless, I will take great joy in sharing my thoughts on this wooden monster. Like seemingly every other review has stated, this ride is "different." In more ways than one, it is simply awesome, yet not as "perfectly" consistent as some coasters of this day and age are. But is this perfect similarity really what you want in a good coaster? Do I want to ride the same ride, any time of the day, at any seat and experience all the same forces and feelings? In my opinion, Boulder Dash personifies greatness in the unexpected, the surprising, the illusive. I do believe, that MOST great rides will be at least GOOD from any seat at any time of the day. Same holds true for the Dash. Despite my countless POV views of this monster, absolutely nothing could prepare me for my first ride. This ride was good. The airtime was good, the laterals were good, although it seemed a bit uncomfortable and perhaps overly challenging. Once I knew a little bit about the ride, and the sun crept ever further beneath the looming mountain, I seemed to be able to ride it better, and the Dash, in turn, gave me better and better rides. I will make this as clear as possible: DO NOT get stapled on this ride! Perhaps the best way to ride it is one hand in the air and the other pushing up on your lap bar in order to prevent stapling. The stand-up air you get on the second half of this ride is absolutely extraordinary. The only comparison I can make as far as airtime goes is to the one and only Phoenix. However, Dash is no doubt faster and more restrained than the Phoenix is, so the airtime comparison is harder. The bottom line is: the airtime on the return trip is nothing short of fantastic, especially when taken from the back seat at night. The triple up at the end is incredibly unique and fantastic, and unlike anything I have ever experienced before. The turnaround before this second half airtime run is very climactic: unbanked, lateral producing and fast as ever right by the lake. It is a great way to set up one of the best airtime runs in the world. Moving backward to the first half of the ride: The lift has got to be my favorite lift-hill of all time. Long, but straight up a mountain in the thick forest. Nothing I had been on prepared me for that. Most of the first-half is lateral heavy, and even a bit "rough," but a fun, challenging type of rough, which doesn't leave the rider injured at all. There are two or three incredible airtime moments on this first half, but again it is primarily a lateral-heavy section of track. Another "different" thing about this fantastic coaster was the recognizable LACK of airtime during the first-half double-down! So, as far as my assessment of Dash goes: after my first ride I was convinced that it was very good, perhaps world class, and certainly in my relatively week top-5. After my two night rides, I basically fell in love with the thing and bumped it all the way ahead of Intamin's Superman:ROS and El Toro into my number 2 overall spot. So, do yourself a favor and head out to America's oldest amusement park today, and remember: DON'T GET STAPLED!!!

I have only been in the New England area once, and it was to ride Superman and this. Coming from Six Flags and 2 1/2 hour waits for Superman, I was stoked to see 20-30 minute waits for such an amazing looking coaster like this. Its absolutely picturesque how the coaster carves the mountainside. Beginning with an insane first drop (theres no air, but its just crazy), Boulder Dash sets the tone and after that comes a lightning quick ride packed with air on every following hill. In addition, the ride is amazingly smooth and unpredictable at the same time, even though its an out and back. It kept me guessing the whole way through!

Wow!!! this is the epitome of a terrain coaster. Flying through the woods over 60 mph past trees and boulders. At night this ride is amazingly fun when you have no idea where you are going and just see trees everywhere.

Excellent wooden coaster. The setting along the mountain is great and the first drop down the mountain as always is a thrill. The ride was very long as well and many of the hills had great air. However, the ride was a tad rough in some spots, but nothing to ruin the ride.

I love Boulder Dash! Its a classic example of what a woodie should be. Fast, steep, and has lots of airtime. Everything is an absolute plus. Great scenery too, and with a night ride, you dont know whats happening. My favorite coaster ever.

Boulder Dash is undoubtedly a legendary experience, but I must urge all who read this review that one must ride the Dash repeatedly to get the full effect of this masterpiece of wooden coaster construction.

Our first ride on Boulder Dash just as the park opened was subpar to put it lightly. My friend and I were pretty disappointed, although we did not really admit it at the time. We had such high expectations for Boulder Dash, and it seemed to fall severely short. I would have ranked it as maybe a 7.5 after this initial ride. Nonetheless (and thankfully), our disheartening first spin did not deter us from hopping right back in line.

Now, I had read some reviews warning of the bizarre yet glorious phenomenon that Boulder Dash undergoes each day as the ride begins to heat up, but nothing truly prepared us for our second ride on this beauty. The wooden coaster gods must have flipped some switch, because our second ride on Boulder Dash was a completely different experience altogether than the first. The airtime seemed so much more forceful, the laterals were brutally enjoyable, and the ride was overall much more intense.

Something truly magical happens as Boulder Dash warms up. What begins as a slightly-above-average-woodie-in-a-spiffy-setting at park opening rapidly transforms into an epic experience worthy of world-wide recognition. Indeed, Boulder Dash progressively got better with each of our rides, culminating in our 7th and final ride which essentially altered our very perception of what a world class roller coaster consists of.

There isnt much use in describing Boulder Dashs layout in detail, because its nearly impossible to translate the Dash-experience into a coherent paragraph. Suffice to say, Boulder Dash is a turbulent skid down Compounce Mountain, rich with airtime, solid lateral gs, and thrilling close calls with intimidating boulders, topped off with a frantic series of bunny hills before slamming into the final brakes.

I would venture to say that Boulder Dash is the most complete coaster I have ridden to date:

1. It has an unmatched setting, lurking ominously in the shadows of Compounce Mountains dense foliage

2. Top notch airtime, and lots of it

3. A sustained level of intensity

4. Character, and soul

While I still find rides like El Toro, Maverick, and Phoenix "better" than Boulder Dash, I still hold firmly that Boulder Dash is a more complete experience when viewed from all possible angles.

I thoroughly enjoyed Boulder Dash, and I would credit it as the reason I am now decidedly a wood-advocate when it comes to coasters!

It throws you around quite a bit, it would have been a lot better if it werent so rough.

I am not a big fan of Out and Back coasters, but Boulder Dash is more then just any old Out and Back. It uses the mountain, not only for the great scenery, but because of its location, the first half of the ride (the "out"is higher up then the second part (the "back" which makes this ride keep up its speed until the very end. Boulder Dash also has some of the laterals you can find. The track has little to no banking, so the turn arounds and random shifts in the track, give nice laterals. Boulder Dash has also been retracked, for your riding pleasure, it is just as smooth as the day that it opened, but still gives that out of control feeling. Boulder Dash is s must for anyone.

im pretty sure there is a skunk living under boulder dash. i thought i smelled it while riding, but sure enough during my sunset stroll down the footpath along the ride not too far from the turnaround was the undeniable olfactory twang of a skunk. it shouldnt come as too much of a surprise because the setting of boulderdash is not unlike the setting of a nice hilly hiking trail. how our little coaster skunk can get about to general foraging business with all that racket goes to show the ingenuity of animals and im sure that with the exception of the growling PTC trains that pass through the area this skunk is the master of that side of the mountain. and speaking of ingenuity, damn was i impressed with boulder dash, holy smokes! what a unique work of ride engineering. while indeed the park may have saved money on timber costs, im sure they put in quite a bit extra for R&D. it would have been a hell of a lot easier to put a big fast woody on a flat midway somewhere. not only is the coaster magnificently paced and virtuistically engineered in terms of pure ride experience, but the custom fit into the hillside is downright clever and without peer, IMO. it is no small feat that they built and continue to maintain this ride on a steep and jagged, rocky glade. there are no obvious roadways or footpaths under the ride as on the beast and grizzly, and it may have just as well have built by beavers (though the cement piles may surpass beaver technology). while the engineering prowess of the creators and the formidable skills of the construction team may not eclipse the classic marvels of structural innovation as the taj mahal and the brooklyn bridge, it is still damn awesome. and unlike the two aformentioned architectural masterpieces, grueling slave labor was not necessary to complete the project and no lives were lost (i assume). although im sure that many people from BDs construction team at the very least got poison ivy, cause i definitely saw a bunch of it from the lifthill. the ride itself is a decidedly modern wooden coaster ride. it does not have the crude ejector drops of the cyclone or the spasming burps of the phoenix. like most modern woodies ive been on, it isnt really about flatulent seat launches (exception being el toro). it is much more in line with the turn-of-the millenium woody style of rambuctiously agile swooping lines and designs that seem to unfold into deeper and deeper layers of profound speed and ultimately careen into cathartic finales. the old, raunchier style and the new, more precise extreme speed designs both have their plusses and minuses and boulder dash certainly has many plusses. the first drop is fantastic from the rearmost seat. i dont love curving drops off of chainlifts but this one snaps the back car over into a nice hand-chopper with several trees hanging just over the track. the first two curves, especially the one that buzzes the station, are outrageously forceful and f**king ridiculously fast. these two curves rattle and pulsate like a wooden coaster should and they feel more than any other part of the ride that the train could rip itself right off of the rails, fly through the air and then roll down the hill taking out the restrooms, carousel, and theatre before rolling into the lake and splashing all of the water out of it. this ride is certainly not the smooth snappy fox it was in its inaugural season. there are multiple lateral slams and a few potholes and jackhammers on boulder dash that are extremely brutal and gloriously painful. i both hit and WAS HIT BY other riders on each ride i took. my brain was still quivering inside of my skull each time i came drifting back into the station. it may not be easy maintaining this ride, and time is slowly taking its toll, but with that said it still screams into the final brakes and the park at this point has not trimmed the ride at all. in spite of the nasty ride you get on boulder

Im a native of Connecticut, but I only visit The Lake on a yearly basis. I first rode Boulder Dash in 2001 as my first BIG coaster, and it is still one of my favorites out there. I last rode it in 05, and it has gotten rougher. However, this Connecticut gem still deserves a 10/10 for its usually short lines, quick dispatches, and incredible ride.