The tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world is scheduled to make its debut next month at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio.

The Top Thrill Dragster is a $25 million machine that will be one of the largest single investments in the 132-year history of the park.in Sanduskey, Ohio, on a scenic Lake Erie peninsula.

Riders will be wowed by an extraordinary 420-foot first hill drop – at an imposing 90-degree angle — and speeds up to 120 mph over the 2,800 feet of track.

Cedar Point bills itself as the “best amusement park in the world,” with the largest assortment of thrill rides – including 16 roller coasters — and many popular children’s areas featuring the famed Peanuts characters.

The park’s Web site, at www.cedarpoint.com, includes lots of information on the rides and other attractions, including live entertainment.

FOR DADS: Here’s an idea for a special treat for this Father’s Day — take dad to Roaring Camp, near Santa Cruz, and he just might get a ride in the cab of a steam engine. From among the visitors, one dad will be picked for each of five steam train runs up to Bear Mountain on a Roaring Camp Railroad train.

When the family stays for lunch at the chuckwagon barbecue, served from noon to 3 p.m., dad will receive an engineer cap and a ride on a train. He also can take a ride on a railroad handcar.

And when the rides are done, dad can check out the display of model railroads.

Roaring Camp is in Felton, six miles north of Santa Cruz. For more information, call (831) 335-4484 or visit www.roaringcamp.com. If you want to take one of the regular five steam train runs, it is recommended that you make reservations.

KIDS SAIL FREE: Children 12 and under will be able to sail free to Alaska all summer long aboard the Crystal Cruises ship, the Crystal Harmony, when sharing a stateroom with two adults. The Crystal Harmony is the only six-star rated ship cruising round trip from San Francisco to Alaska.

Crystal Cruises is booked exclusively through professional travel agents. Agents will have details on the free cruises and can provide information on special programs for children conducted aboard ship and ashore.

PETRIFIED FOREST: Ounce by ounce for years, the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona has been disappearing. Despite warnings from the National Park Service and the threat of stiff fines, visitors carry away an estimated one ton of the park’s famous petrified wood each month.

The operator of a gift shop is trying hard, along with the Park Service, to educate visitors and prevent precious park resources from disappearing. The shop has a display of reasonably priced petrified wood that has been collected from outside the park’s borders, and the hope is that the availability of the legal petrified wood will turn around the trend of thefts. What visitors fail to realize is that every small piece of wood is a big loss for the park.

Located in northeastern Arizona, the park comprises more than 93,000 acres of some of the world’s largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood. A 28-mile park road offers a wide variety of overlooks as well as entries to hiking trails.

The park not only has the petrified forest, but also the dramatic badlands of the Painted Desert, archeological sites and displays of 225-million-year-old fossils.

Some 600,000 visitors go to the park every year. The park, open every day except Christmas, is luring in winter months when visitation drops and visitors feel as if they have the entire park all to themselves.

Travel agents are well supplied with information about nearby resorts, lodges and various concessions, and they can make reservations for you.