The Matterhorn: A Family Adventure

posted in: Nostalgia Culture | 10

The Matterhorn Entertainment Park

I have a vague memory of visiting a restaurant inside of a mountain as a kid. For a while, I thought it might have been some random dream I mistook for reality, but it turns out this was not so. What I remember was driving a long time to a large fake mountain next to the highway, and then eating inside a large area inside of the mountain that had a pool, waterfalls, slides, and divers as part of a show. Also, I remember there were many back rooms, side caves, rooms hanging from the ceiling, and pretty much a maze of hallways to explore.

Sound like a weird kid dream? Turns out, it is real.

After years of searching for more information, I finally found out that this place was real: The Matterhorn. The Matterhorn was a Bavarian-themed amusement park in Prairie Dell, Texas that operated briefly in the early 1980s right off of the I-35 frontage road. I think I only went at night, as I don’t remember the park part. But apparently this park featured a train ride that went through tunnels, carnival rides (such as a tornado), slides, an inside roller coaster, an indoor roller rink, bumper boats, bounce houses, smaller carnival rides, ponies, a merry-go-round, a fake casino, a health spa, large-screen televisions, an arcade, and a dance floor with live bands on the weekends. As one person remembered it: “It was called the Matterhorn, since the main attraction was a huge fake mountain surrounded by Bavarian style shops. The inside had a waterfall and slide, where for a fee you could swim or just dine in the restaurant while watching professional divers. It also boasted of having the world’s largest indoor roller rink.” As you can see in the picture above, this “large fake mountain” was a replica of the Matterhorn itself.

By the way, fans of horror films might also recognize this place, as the park’s ruins were used for scenes in the 1986 movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre II after the park closed.

It seems that at first The Matterhorn was a success, but that changed fast. Apparently it had wonderful steaks and large crowds at first, but a change in management led to it flopping after only a few years. Kids loved it, of course, but apparently since it did not serve alcohol, adults weren’t as keen on making the drive (Prairie Dell is between Salado and Jarrell in Texas – South of Waco and North of Austin by a good drive from either direction).

Inside of the main Matterhorn was a restaurant in a large room with a large lake. This lake had cliffs around it with performers that would dive and slide into the lake for a dinner show. This is the part I remember. I also remember off to the side of the lake was a maze of dark rooms and caves that you probably weren’t supposed to go into at night, as they were usually abandoned. My brother and I would sneak off into these caves and look around. Eventually we found some stairs that went up to some hanging platforms above a large room that I now assume was either the dance floor or the roller rink (or a room that served as both). We thought it was the coolest thing, because it was actually a series of open platforms with bridges between them hanging from the ceiling like a mixture of tree houses and the Ewok village (without the trees).

Later on, the land became the Emerald Lake RV Park. That is now closed and the land seems to be private property.


It turns out that the Matterhorn was not the beginning of the story. The Matterhorn was created by a Temple, Texas restaurant owner that had previously made his Tex-Mex restaurant look like a cave. Basically, they used a paper mâché or blown-on expandable insulation like material to cover the walls and create a maze-like cavern. At one point the walls were even sprayed over with a layer of plaster and finished with sprinkle glitter. The man’s name was Frank Weis, who along with his wife Susie ran this restaurant, called El Chacho.

El Chacho (at the corner of 3rd and French) was described as a labyrinth that you could easily get lost in. There were different rooms, with different themes. Small gift shops were said to be scattered throughout the caves, complete with a man in a tamale costume that would hand out cheap toys. People remember seeing a toy train going through the restaurant as they got lost. One room had a waterfall. They had a wishing well right inside the front door. They even tried some dinner theater where a singer would go around singing to the guests. Sound familiar?

Part of the popularity was due to the food. People remember the sopapillas being “crazy good.” Many also fondly remember the queso. There was even a buffet on the weekend. The owner was famous for serving all-you-can-eat steaks that were cooked outside on pecan wood. Servers would even give you free cheese slices from a block of cheese while you waited for your table.

The other part of the popularity was the owners. Frank and Susie would pull in teenagers and special abilities kids, becoming like substitute parents to many. Frank was said to have big plans for the teens that worked for him. They even took the staff to Monterrey and Saltillo in Mexico as a thank you for their hard work.

However, it was the unique design that eventually closed the restaurant down (but possibly opened the door for the Matterhorn?). The fake walls and ceilings started to fall apart and land on customers. There were said to be lawsuits from this. All of this led to the restaurant caves being declared fire hazards and the restaurant shutting down. The fire department was worried about people getting lost in the case of an emergency, plus all of the candles on tables in rooms with flammable material falling off the walls was a source of concern as well. There is now a Cefco gas station where the restaurant used to be.


I don’t really know if people open roadside places like the Matterhorn any more. I am a bit too young to know much about Route 66, but the Interstate Highway system I traveled on for family vacations in the 70s and 80s still reflected the distinct influence of the Mother Road. There is a lot about the Route 66 days that fascinate me, especially how people would put together a bunch of cement and cheap building materials to make a “roadside attraction.” You can see by the pictures above and below that these were often not high quality attempts by any stretch. Probably not exactly safe, either. Route 66 is not a popular route anymore, and most of its influence has been removed from the interstate highway system to make way for wider, newer roads. My nostalgia definitely makes me remember these places as being cooler and more realistic than they were. I seem to find that a lot as I dig into the past: what seemed so cool as a kid turned out to be cheap plastic and cardboard (or cement and foam). A metaphor for modern life, or just progress at all costs? Hard to say.

The Matterhorn Entertainment Park

10 Responses

  1. David Fox

    My father was Frank Wies partner, two of my brothers were likely someone you saw diving. I was 3 at the time and only have some vague memories of this place. Also some random pictures. Should anyone see this I would be over the moon if you have any photos of the interior. Most of the pictures my family had were lost to time. Just reading this has me in tears, I loved it there. We lived in an appartment that was above some of the shops. One of my memories is a tornado that passed through, knocking down the sign, “my sign” is what my parents said I called it when we finaly got out to see the damage.

    • Linda

      David do you know what’s become of Frank Weiss and his wife?
      We operated the Dutch Indonesian Cookery out of the pizza building across from the bakery in the early 80’s

  2. Jennifer Christman

    As a child, our family ate dinner at the Matterhorn frequently when I was about 7. Why did it disappear so quickly? I would love to see photos of the inside!

  3. Randy

    I not only remember this place but when you drove into the parking lot there was a huge wood burning pit that the steaks were cooked on. I was the guy cooking the steaks the first year the restaurant was opened. I helped lay down some of the railroad tracks for the train that people could ride. Frank was a devout Christian that lived by his morals. It was fun working their with Frank and his family, his son’s were some of the divers. Frank’s parents ran and made the fudge and candy in the candy shop. The head chef was Chef D. Cook and he was very skilled and a pleasurer to work for. Thanks for bringing back great memories. I left before the tornado and wish I could find my pictures.

    • Stephen Robinson

      I worked with Frank and Darryl Cook at El Chacho in Temple they were indeed Great guys.

  4. Linda

    David or Randy
    do you know what happened to Frank Weiss?
    We operated the Dutch Indonesian cookery
    in the pizza building across from the bakery
    It was a neat place.
    Frank and Susie were awesome Christians.
    We might have some pictures of St Nicholas
    riding a white horse.

  5. Vanessa

    I remember going here as a kid. We would beg my dad to take us. They would ring a bell to let you know when the divers were going to perform. I wish it was still around; my kids would love it!

  6. Daniel Womack

    My name is Daniel Womack. I was fresh out of high school about two years when one of my classmates introduced me to Frank who was looking for a masonry contractor which was my chosen profession. My brother-in-law Steve Jennings was my business partner so I took him to meet Frank and struck a deal to install the floors which were made out of gray field stone taken from the top of the ground on the property where the restaurant existed. It was during the middle of winter and work around central Texas was very scarce. The price we were paid was below our normal fee but the work was plentiful. We installed over two acres of stone floors with railroad tracks down the middle filled with red brick paving which served the train and used as a guiding path through the maze of caves which served as small gift shops or for lack of better words “ flea market vendor’s” who sold anything from hand made leather goods,homemade quilts, homemade jelly’s to novelty items. In the beginning I honestly thought Frank was a little bit crazy! After we completed the floors Frank asked me if We would install some fireplace’s . When we agreed I had no idea we would be installing ten different fireplace’s with ten different types of materials and designs. I soon came to realize that Frank was not crazy but instead just the opposite. The man was off the charts in the Genius level. If you’ve ever been around anyone who has a very high IQ level they are very hard to talk to, this was Frank I had a very hard to keep up with his thoughts. Sometimes I thought he would be kidding me, he said “you know when I was a kid I never Had a treehouse so I think I’ll build one right here,” and he did. He air-conditioned the place by using the old water cooler method of cooling he built huge filter‘s and pumped water down them from troughs that look like a creek and had huge, huge fans blowing air through them which cooled the place In the summer. He hired a woman named Jewl Smith Who is in her 80s to paint Muriel‘s on the walls that seem to come alive. She painted a clock that was in a tower on a hillside surrounded by all sorts of flowers that no matter where you stood in the room the clock was facing straight at you. She painted a waterfall that turned into a flowing creek that flowed into an actual flowing body of water that Frank had instructed me install earlier that week. He said “just make a creek or a river out of this stone that goes from here and dumps into here. Make it as natural looking as you can and I will take care of the rest.” When Jewell smith finished her painting of the waterfall mural and Frank turned on the water pump i was working on another one of Frank’s ideas and I honestly could not tell where Jewell Smith’s work stopped and mine began. It was incredible! There were so many other thoughts or ideas that Frank had us build all from his thoughts of places he had been or seen pictures of. Frank Wise was a modern day pioneer, a man ahead of his time. Had he waited ten years or so I believe the matterhorn would be open today. I will never forget the lesson he taught me, Never underestimate what a person can achieve if they follow their dream’s!

    • Stacee JENNINGS Caseltine

      Uncle Daniel ! Stacee Renee Jennings here. I’m sooo glad to find this. But I only want to clarify that it was not my uncle Steve that built it. He bid it but couldn’t complete it (no disrespect to him love Steve) and daddy (ROGER) of JENNINGS CONSTRUCTION came immediately pulled it out of disaster while running his own crews. Uncle Daniel, you’ve always been my favorite uncle, and I love you always and wish you well. I’m on hospice ready to see daddy again. Love to see you

  7. Stephen Robinson

    In 1973 El Cha Cho also had its own radio station, actually a glorified PA system, that went by the call sign KAVE radio El Cha Cho. I built the system for Frank and then he said it was so complicated I was the only one who knew how to run it. So, I became the dic jockey. I was stationed at Fort Hood and my wife was one of the waitresses there. It was indeed a labyrinth when I worked there, we had 32 dining rooms and Frank was adding to it. on my first visit, I thought I was tripping. “A lot of folks have been asking where can I find KAVE radio El Cha Cho on my radio dial? well friends I’m going to tell you, we’re on such a high frequency that we’re coming in on your toaster.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *