The Water Mine Family Swimmin' Hole offers more than an acre of slides, flumes, sprays, showers, floatables and interactive play features, circled by Rattlesnake River with a 2.5 mile per hour current that gently nudges tubes along. A bit of the old west is recreated here. Kids careen off covered wagons, float on rattlesnakes and dash through showers tipped from water-filled ore carts.

The centerpiece is Pete's Peak, a craggy mountain dotted with boarded up mine shafts and tunnels. Twin gang slides - Big Pete and Little Pete - jut from the mountain, giving youngsters a thrill ride they'll return to again...and again...and again.

 Mountain and slides are named for Pete the Prospector. According to Lake Fairfax legend, he staked his claim there in 1849, searching for gold. Sadly for Pete, his years of digging found only water. But now, with The Water Mine, the Park Authority is turning Pete's worthless old strike into the golden fun of summer.

While the Water Mine's attractions are designed for elementary-aged children, there's something here for everyone. Tenderfoot Pond, with its pint-sized slides and gentle bubblers, gives toddlers a perfect place for water play. Teenagers can join a game of water volleyball, and everyone will enjoy going with the flow in a tube on Rattlesnake River.