Steel Force
Steel roller coaster at Dorney Park

Steel Force is a steel roller coaster located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania. At 5,600 feet (1,700 m) in length, Steel Force is tied with Mamba at Worlds of Fun as the ninth-longest steel coaster in the world as of 2026.
Built by D. H. Morgan Manufacturing and designed by Steve Okamoto, the roller coaster opened to the public on May 30, 1997, and was billed as "the tallest and longest roller coaster on the east coast", featuring a 205-foot (62 m) drop, 5,600 feet (1,700 m) of track, and a maximum speed of 75 mph (121 km/h).
01History
On September 16, 1996, Dorney Park announced that Steel Force would be added to the park. The ride opened on May 30, 1997.
Steel Force has been ranked among the top steel coasters in the world several times. Its logo was originally intended to be used for the stand-up coaster Mantis (now Rougarou), which opened at Cedar Point a year earlier. Mantis was originally going to be named "Banshee," but the name and logo were changed prior to its debut. Dorney Park adopted it for its Steel Force coaster a year later.
02Ride experience
The train departs the station, entering a slight decline followed by a slight left turn leading into the chain lift hill, ascending 200 feet (61 m). At the top, the train drops down 205 feet (62 m) at a 61-degree angle. At the bottom of the first drop, the train passes through the first of the two tunnels, each 120 feet (37 m) in length. The train then enters a 161 feet (49 m) camelback hill, where riders experience airtime. The train then ascends another hill, before descending into a 510° downward helix. Upon exiting the helix, the train enters a decline into a slight left turn, and ascends into the mid-course brake run, before entering a series of three consecutive airtime hills and a double-up. The train passes through the second tunnel before the second of these hills, and a camera takes on-ride photos at the bottom of this hill before the third hill. Following the double-up element, the train makes a slight left over the base of the lift hill, leading into the final brake run, before making a 180° turn to the right to return to the station.
03Awards
| Year | 1998 | 1999 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | 5 | 4 | ||||||||
| Year | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Ranking | 4 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 20 | 18 | 23 |
| Year | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Ranking | 27 | 26 | 39 | 37 | 37 | 45 | 37 | 44 | , | , |
| Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |||
| Ranking | N/A | 45 | , | , | , | , | , |
04Characteristics
Track
Steel Force's track is 5,600 feet (1,700 m) in length. Each track piece weighs 2,000 tons, with concrete footers for the support structures weighing 12,150,000 pounds (5,510,000 kg). Approximately 2,742 anchor bolts were required to assemble the coaster.
Trains
Steel Force operates with three trains. Each train has six cars that can seat six riders per car for a total of 36 riders per train. Each train is fitted with individual seat belts and lap bar restraints.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Steel Force”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Steel Force (Lift).jpg by Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0
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