Wild Rivers Returns

Photo credit Jeremiah Lawrence

A quarter of a century ago, Wild Rivers went dry. After the Irvine Company decided Irvine’s Lion Country Safari land (a drive-thru zoo before water slides replaced wild animals) was better suited to yet more apartment buildings, the water park was done. But a decade later, the tides have turned: Wild Rivers is coming back to Irvine.

In April 2020, the Irvine City Council approved a location and lease for the water park. In November, the Irvine Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the twenty acre project at the southeast corner of the Great Park.

Wild Rivers plans feature in-ground slides, pools, and thrill slides. As currently proposed, there will be twenty attractions available on opening day, including an Adventure River, kids’ slides, a shallow activity pool, a multilevel play structure, family raft rides, a tube slide complex, drop slides, body slides, mat racers and a wave pool. Additional attractions are planned for the water park’s future.

“I’m beyond thrilled to bring Wild Rivers back to Irvine,” says Mayor Farrah N. Khan. “The water park has been a special place for many community members, and I’m glad our residents will once again have this amenity in their backyards.”

So where will everyone park? Adjacent to the water park, a new city parking lot with approximately 1,230 parking spaces will hopefully provide enough parking for everyone. The lot will be available only for the water park when it is in operation from mid-May through mid-September, and it will be available for other uses within the Great Park during the rest of the year. The city of Irvine will construct the parking lot, but will lease the it to Wild Rivers.

Construction begins this week and the water park is scheduled to open around late spring/early summer of 2022. Find more information online.