In the 1960s, Roger Tofte began building a park located on 20 acres of a hillside south of Salem, Oregon. Many people in the area started calling it Idiot Hill as they thought the idea of a homemade
amusement park was crazy. After working the property for seven years, Roger opened the park to the public in 1971. At the time, it consisted of many buildings and characters based on fairy tales, but the park grew and later added rides.
Much of the park was constructed personally by the Tofte family including the unique Fantasy Fountains musical light and water show. Roger's son Ken designed and built the park's animatronic figures. Roger's daughter Susan Vaslev composed and recorded the
musical plays that are performed at Enchanted Forest as well as all of the music heard throughout the park. Roger did most of the park's sculptures and paintings.
The park struggled as it was forced to remain closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the park suffered damage from a massive ice storm the next year, but support from the community and nearly a half a million dollars in donations helped
the small park to make it through those rough years. Roger Tofte kept working on the park and adding to it right up until he passed away in February 2026 at the age of 96. The second and third generations of the
Tofte family continue to operate the park to this day.
