Pocahontas Aquatic Center

"My first time here even though I lived here for over 30 years. Wow, makes me sound old. Ha. Anyway, it was cool, or hot rather. I couldn't take it and got wet. I wasn't trying to, but it felt great. The kids had fun, we were there for about 1.5 hours before they closed it as someone pooped in the pool. It was a good experience other than that. I didn't get to check out the food. Maybe next time. They did offer a rain check but since the park will be closing soon, I just didn't stand in line for mine."

"We paid to get into the Aquatic center and was in the facility for about 15 minutes when staff started blowing whistles and making everyone get out of all of the pools. Everyone was out for about 5 minutes and then they told everyone to get back in. About 5 minutes after getting back into the water, everyone was ordered back out again. There was about 250 kids from "camp" classes there that were allowed to get into a separate pool in a corner of the facility but it was definitely not meant to hold that many people. Everyone else was forced to stand in the scorching heat on the concrete. After standing outside for about 15 minutes my husband went to the front to ask about what to expect and expressed concern for our immunocompromised family members that were present. It was clear at that time that they were cleaning feces from the pool with a net and vacuum. The front desk staff said that they only refund if the pool is closed down for 40 minutes and the pools were expected to open back up just under the 40 minute mark. They were still vacuuming up feces at that time. I am not sure why they had all of those kids get into another pool when all of the other pools had to be shut down due to the issue but it definitely looked like a safety concern because of how overcrowded it was. Many people who were not with the camps began to leave at that point. We were very concerned about the sanitation standard after watching what was occurring and also chose to leave. We were there to celebrate a birthday and it was a very disappointing experience to say the least. It was a lot of money wasted. I do not recommend and would not return."

"Had a great time, but theres almost no shade inside the pool fence. What little there is was loaded with people that were settled in for the day. Bring a canopy tent or some sort of coverage or you’re gonna get crispy."

"Nicely maintained. Good signage. Does cost to enter. Under 3 years old are free. Water play area is a great design. Adult pool, kiddie pool, and large water features in the center. Wish there were more shaded areas in the pool area. Will visit again!"

"If you're staying at Pocahontas State Park, admission is free for the duration of your stay. We camped 3 days/2 nights and received 4 punch cards good for 3 admissions per person. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a walk from camp to the aquatic center, so we had to drive. The aquatic center opened at 11am on the Saturday that we went. We arrived around noon. Plenty of close parking, but we couldn't believe the pool was already packed. There aren't enough shade structures or chairs for the amount of people so people were making do huddling in patches of shade by the fence and camping out on park benches. There needs to be way more seating and larger shade structures, especially beside the pool with the kid slides. Tip: check the website before you go or give them a call to see what water features are open/closed. We already knew from the notice on their home page that the splash pad area and large water slides would be closed, but as we had little kids with us, it wasn't a deterrent. Our kids spent the entire day here. They loved two of the three pools (one about 1.5' deep, one about 3.5' inches deep and another 5.5' deep) and of course the kid play area in the pool. There's a small concession stand that sells pizza, nachos, hot dogs, ice cream + a bunch of swim essentials like swimsuits and ear plugs. You're allowed to bring a cooler and your own food though. Bathrooms are large, reasonably clean, and have showers. In most water parks we have visited, the crowd seems to peak at around 1pm and then taper off around 4. This was not the case here. By the time we left it was much more crowded than when we arrived and there was a line to get inside. Definitely get there early, especially on a weekend."