By Linda Weber
Want the thrill of surfing without heading for the coast? Catch a wave this summer at Silver Rapids Indoor Waterpark in Kellogg, Idaho, and along the way save on gas and avoid a whole lot of "Are we there yet?" sniping from the backseat.
The 42,000-square-foot, year-round facility at Silver Mountain Resort, opening in June, is expected to make its biggest splash with the Flow Rider wave simulator. As a wide sheet of water gushes at 35 mph up a gentle, wipeout-forgiving slope, surfers lying or kneeling on soft bodyboards or standing on rigid surfboards dart and dodge in the flow, hollering like the shredders at Waimea.
Lots of other attractions keep parents and kids safely immersed. Little ones toddle around Cub Cove, an interactive, nonskid deck with spraying fountains and misters, or splash in Pollywog Pond, where they can coast down slides into shallow water.
Slightly older kids head for Minor’s Island, a multilevel play structure with stairs, ramps, and a tipping bucket for surprise dousings. They can also drench each other with squirt guns and plunge down body flumes.
Older kids can whoosh down enclosed slides on tubes or rafts, or shoot baskets, practicing free throws in three-foot-deep water. At the end of it all is a 316-foot tube float along the park’s indoor "lazy river." (866) 563-4964, www.silvermt.com.
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