Ever wonder what an abandoned water park looks like?
There is one along the I-15 between LA and Vegas. As I was growing up, it was actually in operation, but I never had a chance to visit it.
Here are some old commercials for it: https://youtu.be/Uuj6_SxlHZI
These blogs have a little history: Rock-A-Hoola Waterpark / Exploring the Abandoned Water Park Between LA and Vegas
And this one has some history and interesting night shots: The Rock-A-Hoola Waterpark
I was totally freaked out when I first got there – the wind was blowing through the buildings, there were noises, and it seemed no one was around (despite two other vehicles I saw). I had read there may be drug and gang activity around the property, so that certainly didn’t help my nerves at all.
Then I saw two guys and a dog off in the distance. I wondered, were they dangerous (after all, I was a woman, I was alone and there was not much cell signal). As they got closer, I realized they didn’t look like transients and the dog ran up to me in a friendly manner, so I said hi. Then I noticed one had a Canon 80D – definitely not transients. I chatted with the a bit and they mentioned other people were around, too. I started noticing more people who hadn’t been visible before.
It seems that a lot of people tag up the place, not just the graffiti artists. There was a lot of “fun” graffiti (and some that was more profane). Some was just names and dates, some were slogans. Someone even said “Don’t vandalize.”
Once I felt comfortable being there, it was actually really cool to see it. It has basically become a giant community canvas. I kind of regretted not taking one of the other visitors up on his offer to let me borrow his spray can…
