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By ANN PINSON / The Dallas Morning News

It's time for walking across sizzling concrete, followed by the sweet relief of hitting the cool water. Yes, water park season is upon us, as are months of scorching heat. If you and your family like to frequent water parks during the summer, now's the time to check out season passes, which are offered by all the spots listed here. Check the Web sites for info on passes and other discounts before you get to splashing.

BAHAMA BEACH
The Calypso Cooler tubing river flows in the center of this park, taking visitors past waterfalls and two beachlike areas. A water playground includes pulleys, rope ladders, water buckets and some small slides. Larger slides, including a headfirst thriller called Tortugas Express, dot the 7.6-acre Bahama Beach landscape.

Where: 5150 Mark Trail Way at Thurgood Marshall Park. Opens May 27.
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday noon to 7 p.m.
Contact: 214-331-4900. www.bahamabeachwaterpark.com
Prices: $12.99 for those 48 inches and taller; $6.99 for those under 48 inches, people who aren't going in the water and seniors 60 and older; free for children 2 and younger.

File 2004 / DMN

Tubing ribers wind through Hawaiian Falls in The Colony (pictured) and Garland.

NRH2O
The Green Extreme, a seven-story water slide that's 1,161 feet long, towers over everything else in the park. A wave pool and a tubing river are less extreme, as are about 160 water activities in an attraction that opened last year called Frogenstein's Splashatory. This city-owned water park will mark its 10th birthday with crafts and entertainment on June 1 from 2 to 4 p.m. (there will also be reduced admission prices all day). It's a kickoff for the Wacky Wednesdays series, which will offer different activities each week through July 27.

Where: 9001 Grapevine Highway, North Richland Hills.
Hours: Monday-Thursday, Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday noon to 8 p.m.
Contact: 817-427-6500. www.nrh2o.com
Prices: $17.99 for those 48 inches and taller, $14.99 for those under 48 inches, free for ages 2 and younger.

SIX FLAGS HURRICANE HARBOR
If Dr. Seuss designed a water slide, it might look a lot like the Tornado. It's one of the newer rides at this 47-acre park, the largest of its kind in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The blue-and-yellow striped giant shoots thrill seekers down a tunnel into the funnel-shaped bottom of the slide, where four-person rafts splash back and forth. But there's plenty more in store at Hurricane Harbor, including a large family area with a pirate theme, a slide that plunges riders into darkness and continuous waves in the Surf Rider attraction for body boarders.

Where: 1800 E. Lamar, Arlington.
Hours: May 27-June 9 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. General hours: Sunday-Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Contact: 817-265-3356. www.sixflags.com.
Prices: $29.99, $22.99 those under 48 inches, free for children 2 and under. Parking is $7 to $10.

WATER WORKS PARK
A sand volleyball court is planned for this Denton attraction by mid-June. Highlights that will be there all season include leisurely floating on the tubing river, zooming down the four large slides and splashing in the two indoor pools.

Where: North Loop 288 at Sherman Drive, Denton.
Hours: Opens May 28. Park hours: Saturdays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sundays noon to 7 p.m., Mondays and Tuesdays 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesdays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Contact: 940-349-8800. www.dentonwaterworks.com.
Prices: Denton residents: $10 for ages 12 and older, $8 for ages 6 to 11, $5 for ages 2 to 5. All others: $12 for ages 12 and older, $10 for ages 6 to 11 and $7 for ages 2 to 5.

Published in The Dallas Morning News: 05.27.05