The best water parks in the USA to beat the heat

Best for: thrill seekers

Atlanta’s muggy summers are no match for this water park, part of the Six Flags network of theme parks. Like the other Six Flags water parks, this one also boasts a large collection of slides and pools. But unlike the others, White Water is a stand-alone park, so no efforts have been wasted on rollercoasters. The ride Typhoon Twister features a toilet bowl-like swirl and the Atlanta Ocean Wave pool serves up regular swells.

Best for: chilling out

Schlitterbahn’s original water park is a soaring maze of water slides, wave pools and lazy rivers. It’s so big, in fact, that showing it requires two full maps on their website. Schlitterbahn rates its slides by their degree of scariness, similar to ski slopes. Serious thrills abound at rides like the Boogie Bahn, Backsplash, and Deluge. The park also features multiple calm pools for chilling out. 

Best for: tunnel slides

Six Flags operates Hurricane Harbor water parks in New Jersey, Texas and Los Angeles, and all three feature a vast array of water slides. The Jackson, NJ, park caters to crowds from Philadelphia and New York City, and in the summer months, it provides a refreshing cool-off from the muggy East Coast heat. The park has more slides (20!) than anyone can do in a single day, including the funnel-like Tornado and the world-famous King Cobra, which resembles an enormous snake. We recommend taking in Hurricane Harbor on a weekday, as lines can become exceptionally long on the weekends.

Best for: a fun, retro theme

Cowabunga Bay Water Park is one of the largest water parks in the U.S., featuring more than 12 levels, 300 interactive water toys and 11 water slides. If you're looking for the most thrilling ride, head to the Mondo tube slide, which features more than 800 feet of twisting and turning in total darkness before it shoots you out into the water below. The whole park is a '60s theme, decked out with surfboards and a VW bug that will splash you. 

Best for: Disney World fanatics

Walt Disney World features two separate water parks at its Orlando HQ, and both serve up a dizzying amount of soggy fun for the price of one ticket. Blizzard Beach is where water slide lovers can experience the thrill-ride drop of the Summit Plummet and Slush Gusher. Typhoon Lagoon emphasizes its enormous surf pool—the largest in North America—where 6ft swells and smaller bobbing waves pop up all day long. Both parks are ringed by their own lazy rivers, which transport riders to and from various attractions.

Best for: an indoor option

In Texas, the name 'Schlitterbahn' is synonymous with waterslides, as the family-owned chain of water parks has operated since 1979. Always looking to push the limits of water-themed fun, Schlitterbahn boasts the world’s tallest and fastest slide at its Kansas City park and the world’s largest water coaster at its park on Galveston Island. We put Schlitterbahn’s South Padre Island destination on our list due to its jaw-dropping size, indoor/outdoor floor plan and close proximity to the actual beach. South Padre is a renowned party destination for spring breakers, making Schlitterbahn a favorite for water lovers of all ages.

Best for: kids

Legoland is heaven for any kid, and Legoland Water Park is no different. Located in Carlsbad, California, this 10-acre park features various slides, beaches, and plenty of other attractions for all ages. One of the most unique is Build-a-Raft-River, where you can build your own lego raft to help you float downstream. Another favorite: Pirate Reef, where you can blast water cannons as you race down the slide. 

Best for: adrenaline junkies

Action Park is built into a hillside, which gives it a creative layout and lots of elevation changes for the various slides. With 28 total attractions, the park serves up a day’s worth of slides and pools. The H2-Oh-No plummets riders down a 99-ft drop. Tarzan Swings allows anyone to do his or her best rope swing into a pool. The Bombs Away and Cliff Jumps simulate real-life cliff plunges.

Best for: theme park fans

Universal's Volcano Bay isn't just a water park—it's a water theme park. Packing in thrills and storytelling details in every corner, a day spent here goes above and beyond an ordinary water park experience. Located at Universal Orlando Resort, the park's towering centerpiece is the Krakatau volcano, which is the base of four different water slides. The park features 19 different attractions, including a lengthy lazy river, a wave pool and more than a dozen waterslides. 

Best for: beach lovers

Not as big as some of the other parks on this list, Myrtle Waves made the cut due to the balance of pools, slides and attractions, as well as its proximity to the sand. The park still serves up plenty of slide fun, with the toilet bowl-like Arooba Tooba and the open-air slides on Snake Mountain. Want a real thrill? Check out the purple Turbo Twisters slides, which sent riders on a twisting, twirling descent. And when you’re done, the beach is just a short drive away.

Best for: families

Noah’s Ark is a soaring water park, with nearly 70 acres of space and 22 different water attractions, including two wave pools. The park has an incredible balance of traditional tube slides, such as the Quadzilla and Scorpion’s Tail, and open-air slides, like the Congo Bongo Rapids and Bermuda Triangle. The park’s pinnacle attraction is the Black Anaconda tube slide, which gives riders a quarter-mile journey from the top to splashdown.

Best for: avoiding crowds 

Part of the Holiday World theme park, Splashin’ Safari features two wave pools, numerous tubes and open-air slides and two fun zones for children. The park also features the Mammoth, which is one of the longest water coasters on the planet. The ride propels a tube up and over hills, and then down into splash pools, before finishing with a huge drop. As an added bonus, the water rides sit next to the theme park’s roller coasters, allowing water worshippers to gaze upon overheated park guests.

Best for: adventure lovers

With 49 total attractions, including the theme park-quality Voyage to the Center of the Earth and Lost River of the Pharaohs rides, Water World is the Mt. Everest of water parks. Visitors often require multiple days to ride each water slide, and instead focus on the park’s various slide clusters. The Mile High Flyer water coaster shoots riders up and over hills. The Screamin’ Mimi shoots riders down a wheeled sled into a splash tank. And the recently added Warp Speed combines traditional tube slide action with a virtual gaming experience.

Best for: visiting year-round 

Water parks don’t all have to be outdoors—visit Avalanche Bay and see for yourself. Michigan’s largest indoor water park is located at the base of a ski mountain and provides year-round fun, even when it’s snowing. While the park lacks the size of the other parks on this list, Avalanche Bay makes up for it with innovative, space-saving rides. The park has its own man-made surfing wave. And its most recent addition, the Big Colouir, provides an unexpected and terrifying drop.