Ghost Town in the Sky - Abandoned Wild West Mountain Top Theme Park
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- čas přidán 13. 05. 2023
- Ghost Town in the Sky is an abandoned Wild West theme park located in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. It opened in 1961 and featured a chairlift that took visitors up to the top of Buck Mountain, where they could enjoy various rides and attractions set in a western-themed town.
Some of the park's most popular attractions included the Cliff Hanger roller coaster, the Red Devil Drop Tower, and the Gold Rush-themed dark ride. The park also featured live entertainment, such as gunfight reenactments and western music shows.
However, the park struggled financially over the years and eventually closed in 2002. It reopened briefly in 2007 but closed again in 2009. The park was contracted to a new developer in 2019 but, as of 2023, it remains closed. The owner, Alaska Presley, died in 2022 at the age of 98, and now lawsuits are ongoing to settle the park's ownership and fate.
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A B O U T
Past the Present Future is a film series by globally recognized photographer Chris Luckhardt. The series views the PAST through a lens in the PRESENT with an eye to FUTURE development.
B I O G R A P H Y
Chris Luckhardt has documented and photographed some of the most iconic and viral images of abandoned places around the world. He was among the first photographers to publish photos in the press from legendary abandoned places like Hashima Island, Nara Dreamland, Michigan Central Station, and Six Flags New Orleans. His body of work has led to interviews and collaborations with The White House, Netflix, Ford, GQ China, ABC News, Good Morning America, Scholastic Canada, Yahoo Japan, and many more. In 2016, the Obama administration invited Chris to photograph a private citizen "haunted" tour of The White House.
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Who did you get in contact with to get permission to go up to the top?
@@Bassdudeguy1 My heart specialist lol
@@chrisluckhardt lmao, I went there as a kid and I really would like to get into contact with whoever owns it
@@Bassdudeguy1 Ghost Town in the Sky LLC is the owner, but there's an ongoing legal dispute about the property so specific individuals are difficult to name.
@@chrisluckhardt oh yeah thats right lol, Thank you, it would be awesome if they had a number or something, maybe Maggie Valley has it
I used to go there with my parents on vacations. It’s one of my fav childhood memories. Better than Disney any day.
Honestly one of the best videos I've watched of the place. I appreciate the silence and when needed the screen notes.
Glad you like the immersive editing approach!
The red devil roller coaster! Best roller coaster ever built in my opinion. Something about how gravity affects you that high up in the mountains made it super intense
This video brought back a lot of childhood memories. I remember everything back when this was a happier place. It is a shame that it didn't last. Thanks for the smiles and the tears. Great video!
I grew up in Maggie Valley. Ghost Town was "My Place" when I wasn't working at Mountain View Cafeteria; owned by Ms. Bernice and Mr. Mac Newberry.. My Aunt Shirley and Uncle AL owned 'Alfredo''s Itlalian Restaurant', and Uncle Joey and Ms. Brenda owned ' Joey's Pancacke House. None of them were my blood relatives, yet they ALL raised me. When I see Ghost Town as you do on this film...oh my GOODNESS!! YOU HAVE NO CLUE how AMAZING it was. I sat in that Saloon for Hours just wanting to were those skirts 😊. All the Ladies treated me like Family. The Sheriff (Mr. Wayne?..Mr. Sheriff to me) treated me ..as Family. I have black and white photos of my brother and sister riding up the chairlift with Mom and Dad. Mom with her 60s hair and Daddy just as handsome. Beautiful. We were born in SC. I was just BLESSED to be an OOPS baby..and raised were we vacationed.
If I Could..I WOULD raise Ghost Town back up. It never needed that Rollercoaster (awesome, scary and cool asit was) It didn't NEED it. You can go to Carowinds, ect. for that. What you couldn't find anywhere else was the atmosphere. Quaint. Personal. Exciting!!! ( you be in the potty when the gun fights broke out😅) It just was a place to slow down...you couldn't do much else on the chairlift going up. That's what Maggie and Ghost Town are about. One way in, one way out. Another place in time. I pray that somehow, someway Maggie will reclaim Her Gost Town In The Sky. They are So BOTH Worthy. The Memories are just Waiting to be made.
Blessings
Thank you for sharing such vivid memories! When exploring abandoned places, I’m always trying to imagine what it was like to be there when it was thriving. You’ve painted an incredible visual that makes Ghost Town in the Sky feel alive!
Not the Sheriff, he was the Marshal. Portrayed by Bill "Goose" Leatherwood for 39 years. He was a great man to work for.
That roller coaster has just about the best views ever. And must have been terrifying. I’ve seen footage from its glory days. It of course is sad but it’s location and all that wood makes it inevitable to not last forever. Thanks for the nice footage. ❤
Wouldn’t it have been amazing to ride that roller coaster through dense fog? I’ve seen photos of the park shrouded in fog and was hoping to explore it in those visuals.
It WAS INCREDIBLE!!!
So cool and nostalgic
Just started watching your videos. My family use to take me here in the late 80s through around 2000. I have to say that Red Devil was an OK roller-coaster although out of all times I been it was only open 2 times. Back in the day the wild west shows on the train were actually fun though when they did run. It was far more fun just to go to CARROWINDS on the border of both the Carolinas. In today's society they would have to add alot more than what they ever had to make it funju I. Great video though.
Great video man. Wow
We used to visit Ghost Town while on our trips to Lake Junaluska. The gunfights.... the rides... a tin sheriff's badge.... times were good
I rode the coaster twice and both times it was structurally unsafe because of a broken support near the loop both times it was fun and the ride was closed down both times when they discovered the fault ! My family was friends with the owner and some of the gun fighters and saloon workers . We’re all very nice people and we went behind the scenes into offices and visited ! Very chill people and family oriented . A stitch in time ?
I've read about roller coaster's broken support. I doubt it could ever run again about being abandoned for so long. Glad you survived!
Great video ! I like watching it, the silence
Thank you! I hope my immersion style of filming puts people more directly in my shoes so they feel like they're there exploring too!
As a kid every summer we would stay in Cherokee and we would go to ghost town and dollywood. At the time ghost town seemed like way more fun than dollywood. We have tons of Polaroid pics of the family and I in ghost town hay day. It was awesome at the time of late 80s till early 90s.
Ghost Town in the Sky was no match for national treasure Dolly!
I remember going there and riding the roller coaster when I was a teenager.
I remember going there when I was I kid living in Chattanooga in the 90s. I have a vacation home not to far from there now.
What was it like going there during the 90s? You certainly chose a beautiful area to have a vacation home! I don’t get down that way often but love it every time I make the journey.
@@chrisluckhardt I don’t remember a whole lot. Was only there once I have been on the chairlift to go there and a couple of the shows that they had on the street. I think it was a gun fight or something. I wish we went more often.
I played the piano in the old church they had up there! I always wonder if this place is open again or not...that was one of the best days I have had going there in '09
If an out of tune D major counts as playing, then we played the same piano! 😂
I am from that area still live there. Went there many times in the late 70s and 80s. Sounds like it make get all torn down and become condos. If too far gone to restore
I researched all available news articles and court documents, and doubt anything will happen with the property in the near future. Many rides, including the roller coaster and chair lift, were structurally faulty more than a decade ago. I can't imagine the cost to repair or replace them would be a profitable investment.
Greetings! May I use this footage in a video I'm making about this ride's history? I will give your channel full credit.
Please contact me via email to discuss licensing fees, thanks!
Did you by any chance see the animatronic show that's up there? There's a show called the Country Critters Jamboree that's located on the top part of the park. From what I've heard, someone recently stole the heads of all the characters, so they're just a bunch of decapitated corpses pretty much. Not a lot of people cover them online
Everything in the video is what we were able to explore with the time we had that morning. The park was surprisingly free of major vandalism considering how many people have explored it in recent years.
How lame. More unaffordable housing.
No love. This will be Expensive housing. I Promise :(
Lol. I just reread your text. I apologize. You are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.
It was a similar video by two well known YT explorers that sent me down a Rock-afire Explosion rabbit hole. Being from the UK I'd never heard of it, but wow what a ride that was.
I have examined several videos of people going up there over the last 6 years and all I can say is the only way that place could be reopened is if they tore things down and rebuilt from scratch. Mistakes i have figured out that Colburn made was he should have used woods like Cedar, Walnut and others that do not rot for the buildings. Also he should have done repairs on the rides each year instead of letting them break down all at once. The only way now i could see the roller coaster being restored is someone would have to tear it down, recycle the metal and get a new one built in better quality. I hope Mrs. Presley's niece wins the court battle and gets ownership because i have heard she wants to restore the place just like her aunt. Also I have some ideas what they could do to make money off of the place. Those Ideas are the following- 1. get locals to come up there and cut down all the trees that have grown up around the rides and as payment for the work let them have the firewood for themselves. 2, If the western town is restored and they were to get permits to perform weddings they could do western theme weddings in the church and have the bride brought in riding side saddle. Then someone who can drive horses could take the bride and groom down the mountain to the parking lot and put on the groom's car a bumper sticker that says "Just Married at Ghost town in the Sky" They could make money off of doing weddings there that would get them to funds to restore the rest of the park. Also if the Cherokees are too busy with their casino hotel to do the dances again they could replace the Fort Cherokee area with a hotel and parking a garage. Then they could work out a deal that if someone just wants a one day pass they could park at the bottom of the mountain and come up the chairlift but if they wanted a multi day pass they could check into the hotel atop the mountain and part of the feel for staying there would also cover the admission to the park. Also if one of the restaurants they would have up there would be an all you can eat buffet instead of just fast food only they could really generate some income there. I am just saying with these ideas I have gotten I see if they were to rebuild and reopen this park and they were to use my ideas they could really make money. Also if they widened the path down the mountain to the parking lot at the base of the mountain they could make a ski slope for the winter months and have people ride up the chairlift and ski down the mountain to the parking lot. Those are ideas i have gotten that might be what is needed to be able to bring the place back into action.
It seems like they're focusing on a residential plan with renovations and upgrades to the existing/historical entertainment features. Time will tell if the current ownership will succeed when others failed multiple times.
This is on my urbex bucket list!! 🤩 where did you park? I wanna go so bad but I don’t want to get in trouble 😫
We parked nearby before sunrise. But the best way to avoid trouble is to stay at home and watch this video haha! The recent court case was settled in May and work is apparently starting on the site to build 22 houses.
Oh my GOODNESS. Of Course it will be. Ms. Alaska and Family wouldn't want Anything Else but a Secure $$$.
I'm Sorry Maggie. That is EXACTLY the way it has Always been.
The poor old lady that tried to keep it going passed away. The money to keep a place like this going these days is ridicules insurance and maintenance cost it was bound to fail anyway. Sad stuff. They could not even afford a security guard to patrol after a year of shutdown.
WOW, those views are so so gorgeous 😍
I wonder if approaching the local residents and asking them if they know any good things to take scenic pictures of to document it, would make them less inclined to call the police on it.
Honestly, can't blame them much for calling the police if they see people going to it, as many vandals would bust the shit out of something this pristine. :(
It’s certainly understandable and I would also be suspicious. That said, any vandalism I saw was insignificant and superficial - mostly scattered items and broken glass. I was expecting much worse damage based on what I’d read in local reports. Vandals typically go for targets that don’t require a two-hour hike!
@@chrisluckhardt It's probably a combination of the locals calling the cops, as well as the distance. I've sadly seen plenty of stuff vandalized before, which was pretty decently out of the way.
True enough - as I was typing my last reply I was thinking about the graffiti I saw on the Buran space shuttle. But graffiti and vandalism typically occur in quickly accessed locations.
Maggie is a 2.5 mile town. Heck, Ghost Town was as big as We were. It was and is a Family Place. I DO Believe it can and Will Live again.
Is it safe to go right now or I saw you mentioned houses or something being built
I never really know if it’s safe to explore a place until right before I go in and right after I leave. So I can’t speak to the current situation. But if they’ve already started building housing on the property then I can guarantee they’ll have active cameras and security.
I want to go but it's a little drive for me so it wouldn't be worth it if they are already building
Wow
Vandals have messed it up. So sad
The vandalism is unfortunate but at least it’s minimal compared to many places I’ve explored. I was expecting much worse damage based on what I’ve read in local reports.
What yr did u film this
It’s recent.
I wonder, can you get those coasters
Running
Yes, but probably not within legal safety margins. Riding it would be a REAL roller coaster!
What a shame that it is in such disrepair. Cheap construction on some things don't help. Fire engine is only thing that might be worth saving. Scrap metal galore.
The developers have big plans but I'm skeptical. The roller coaster and chair lift have been dormant for too long and are likely destined for the scrap yard.
Wiley coyote is tough..
26:00 for anyone wondering about the reference to our ACME-powered cartoon friend 🧨
Why did it close
Short answer: attendance declined and the attractions weren’t maintained enough to reopen without high-cost repairs.
I went there jn the late 70s and early 80s to bad it sits abandon
A great place for missions. Use SOLAR PANELS TO SAVE ON ELECTRICITY. WATER MILLS, RESTORE STUCTURES. YOU HAVE A DIAMOND ON THE t to!
Reminds me of something out of Horizon Zero Dawn 😳
Tips and tricks for someone who is going to go, not going to talk me down it’s happening
Challenge: post a reply to this comment when you’re onsite!
I wish that they would reopen dolly should buy it
Dolly is a national (and global) treasure!
Maggie Valley
I see you read the video description. 👀
@@chrisluckhardt .....I didn't
Did you walk the railroad tracks and look for the train?
I crossed the tracks at 13:18
But did walk the entire tracks to see if the train was still there? Also I noticed you did not show the yellow looking tram you use to be able to ride up the hill.@@chrisluckhardt
Dont you just hate those resident that wanna call the police? People cant just let a man explore, we arent causing harm.
It's the few knuckle dragging vandals who ruin it for those of us that explore for the aspects of history, architecture, and socioeconomic interests.
save and reopen this amusement park
Sadly, it would cost millions to reopen the theme park with little possibility of a return on investment. The current plan of new housing on the property is likely the most feasible.
So why don't they do something then just letting it rotted like this why
Various companies and people have attempted a reopening almost every year since the park’s closure. They just can’t seem to make a theme park work in that region anymore.
This is the current state in 2023?
Correct
Such a waste