Silverwood surprised the theme park industry with a major announcement that our beloved home park will be acquired by Herschend Family Entertainment. In this post, we’ll share the announcement, a bit of background and history, as well as our initial thoughts.
We’ll start with the official press release from Herschend:
“Atlanta, GA & Athol, ID (November 12, 2025) – Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation (“Herschend”), the world’s largest family-held themed attractions company, and Silverwood, Inc., owner of Silverwood Theme Park (“Silverwood”), have signed an exclusive term sheet for Herschend to acquire Silverwood.
Silverwood, a beloved family-owned theme and water park in Athol, ID, has been operated by the Norton family for more than 35 years. This partnership marks a new chapter for Silverwood, as it joins Herschend’s portfolio of family brands, while continuing its tradition of delivering memorable experiences to guests of all ages. Founded in 1988 by Gary Norton and operated by his family for three generations, Silverwood has grown into one of the most successful independently owned parks in the U.S., attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year to its 400-acre site. The park is home to more than 70 rides and attractions, including Boulder Beach Water Park.
Paul and Gary Norton at the opening ceremony of Emerald Forest
“Silverwood has been our family’s life’s work for more than three decades,” said Paul Norton, Silverwood’s Chief Operating Officer. “When the time came to pass the torch, Herschend was the only choice. They share our values, our long-term approach, and our belief that parks like this are built by people with heart.”
Herschend operates more than 40 family entertainment brands across North America, iconic destinations such as Dollywood Parks & Resorts, Silver Dollar City Parks & Resorts, the Harlem Globetrotters and recently acquired properties such as Kennywood, Adventureland, and Lake Compounce, continuing its mission to bring families closer together by creating memories worth repeating.
“This is more than a business transaction—it’s the continuation of a legacy,” said Andrew Wexler, CEO of Herschend. “We are honored that the Norton family has trusted us to carry their vision forward and excited to welcome the Silverwood hosts and guests to Herschend.”
The parties have begun the due diligence process and are working toward finalizing the transaction.”
Admittedly we’re a few days overdue for posting this article. And there’s a reason for that. Despite the fact that we all knew this was coming – eventually – it’s hits different when it really happens. And so here we are.
If you’re unfamiliar with Herschend, you’re not alone. It’s not exactly a household name like Disney, Universal, or even Six Flags. The family got their start in the theme park industry in Branson Missouri, giving tours of what is now known as the Marvel Cave attraction. That spawned what would eventually become Silver Dollar City, which is an outstanding theme park to this day. The company has partnered with and acquired several other parks over the years, most notably the fantastic Dollywood in Tennessee.
Rumors have been flying for years that Herschend was looking at acquiring Silverwood. And why wouldn’t they? All the right boxes are checked. Silverwood is remote, growing, and reaching a turning point as Gary Norton approaches retirement and the family contemplates the future. Herschend has a terrific assortment of parks and attractions, is family-owned, and specializes in balancing thrills and family fun.
We’ve been visiting Silverwood since 1993. At that time, Corkscrew was the only coaster, Thunder Canyon was brand new, and Boulder Beach Water Park wasn’t even on anyone’s radar. It was a tiny little upstart park, each year doing little more than trying to prove itself and its viability. Time has shown not only that Silverwood was a good idea, but that the idea is here to stay.
All of this was confirmed in an interview back in 2023 at the time of the Emerald Forest expansion announcement. Gary Norton recounted receiving an “insane” offer from Herschend a few years prior, that was almost too good to pass up. “They thought we had the best park they had seen, so they wanted it and were willing to pay premium price” he said. Ultimately, he didn’t feel like the time was right to sell the park, so he passed on the offer. Clearly, those conversations didn’t stop there, as Gary and family have now officially signed on the dotted line. As the saying goes, one chapter ends, another begins…
Sure, there’s reason for concern. Any time any business changes owners, things evolve. No matter what the official press releases tout, there is zero chance that the Silverwood we have known for all of these years does not change as we move forward. That’s just what happens when different people at the top are calling the shots.
Thankfully, there are plenty of reasons to get excited about this new chapter. First, there’s the financial piece. No doubt Herschend has much deeper pockets than the Norton family, and there are ample reasons to suspect Silverwood will get a healthy infusion of capital investment in the coming years.
Second, Herschend knows what they are doing, and they do it well. We’ve visited both Silver Dollar City and Dollywood numerous times. These are the two largest theme parks in Herschend’s portfolio, and feel like “sister parks” in terms of their quality, size, and offerings. The product at both is consistently high quality. Both are authentic and heavily themed, balancing world class thrills and solid entertainment, running clean, safe, and respectable parks. We’d put them just below Disney and Universal in the quality of the overall product, and that’s a high compliment.
Finally, this passing of the torch means that Silverwood’s future is much more secure. Yes, the park and its attendance have been growing, but the reality is that this is a relatively small park in a very remote part of the country run by a family with finite resources…and things can change quickly and drastically. There are never any guarantees in life, but this acquisition feels like a way of securing the park’s existence for the foreseeable future.
Having said all that, we’ve got a hefty list of predictions, wishes, hopes, fears, dreams and more about what the future holds for Silverwood. We’ll be posting another article that covers all that in a couple days, so stay tuned! For the time being, the pros seem to vastly outweigh the cons. We’ll miss the charm of what Gary Norton created, as there is no way Silverwood’s “vibe” isn’t impacted at least in some way by this change. But based on our experiences at Herschend’s current offerings around the country, we’re excited for the future. This is a company that just gets it, and there’s every reason to think that Silverwood 5 years from now will be better than Silverwood today.
The one thing that is not changing any time soon is our coverage of the park. We’ve had an incredible time following Silverwood for more than 3 decades, and we’ll continue to do so as Herschend takes over the reins. It’s an exciting and incredible time to stay close to the Northwest’s biggest theme park as it prepares to undergo perhaps it’s biggest transformation ever.
We hope you’ll join us for that ride.
Planning a trip to Silverwood? Be sure to check out our Silverwood Trip Planning Guide to get some great ideas on how to plan your trip. Also, our Silverwood Rides and Attractions Guide and Boulder Beach Attractions Guide have even more details on which rides, slides, and shows to hit up while you're there!
What do you think about the news of Herschend acquiring Silverwood? Are you excited, nervous, indifferent, or a mix of everything? Let us know what your thoughts are in the comments below!
The official Silverwood Theme Park website can be found at: www.silverwoodthemepark.com. All business-related questions should be directed to this site.
I hope prices don’t change much,
Will we lose the magic show that would be a bummer
Maybe the new owners will bring back the old time photos
Would also be nice to have a motel within walking distance to the park even though the tv park there not all of us gave tents or rvs
Were from Oregon and we buy season tickets and stay for a week be nice to have a motel that’s cluster then CDA
We,re looking forward to coming in July 2026 my son graduates High School in Oregon and he wants to celebrate it at Silverwood
Thanks for the comment! We’ve got another article in the works that touches on our thoughts on several of these topics. Stay tuned!
Oh yeah I saw their Facebook post about it. It’s exciting, but I’m also really nervous about what they might do to the Park.
Having visited a few of their parks, there’s a lot to look forward to, but we get it that there’s always uncertainty during situations like this. What are you most worried will change?