Shawnee Landing

Opened: 1972

Closed: 1976

Location: Rivertown, current location of The Beast entrance and station

Former Names: Also referred to as War Canoes

Manufacturer: Old Town Canoe Company

Model: Canoes

Vehicles: Each canoe was 33-feet, 10-1/8-inches long and could hold 20 passengers 

Description: Shawnee Landing was the larger of two canoe attractions at Kings Island. Up to 20 passengers would work together to paddle a long canoe, led by “Indian guides” at the front and back of each vessel. The guides narrated a history of early Ohio and its Native American inhabitants. Riders would paddle around a large pond with a small island at its center. Theming on the small island included tepees and Native American figurines.

History: Cincinnati’s Coney Island also included a canoe attraction, though it is uncertain if those specific canoes were relocated to Kings Island and used on either Shawnee Landing or the nearby Kenton’s Cove.

The ride made an appearance in the Cincinnati Kids episode of The Brady Bunch partially filmed at Kings Island in 1973. Characters Jan (Eve Plumb) and Marcia (Maureen McCormick) found the missing park expansion plans in a Shawnee Landing canoe.

Shawnee Landing was expensive to upkeep with its number of employees and low capacity. It closed after the 1976 season and some of the figurines on its central island were relocated to the Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad. The attraction was ultimately replaced with The Beast in 1979, which retained most of the old lake around its station and lift hill. Most of the water was drained with the addition of Vortex in 1987, and the remaining water (to the right of The Beast’s station) was removed shortly thereafter.