The Abandoned History of Ghost Town In The Sky | Expedition Extinct

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Join us at Expedition Theme Park for the abandoned history of Ghost Town in the Sky or later Ghost Town Village in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. The park opened in the 1960s and has a troubled history of opening and losing throughout the last decade. This mile high theme park on top of a mountain offers a unique experience to guests but now remains as a real life abandoned Ghost Town. Our next stop on Expedition Extinct
Special thank you to The Carpetbagger for use of his footage / carpetbaggerorg
Ghost Town Sources
Sierra M - • 1979 - Ghost Town in t...
The Carpet Bagger - • Abandoned Amusement Pa...
• Abandoned Theme Park -...
Gordon Johnson - • The way up to Ghost to...
Swampfoxer - • 1993 Red Devil roller ...
Psyclonesteve - • Ghost Town in the Sky ...
Lynn Hughes - • Ghost Town In The Sky ...
jlatergator - • Ghost Town in the Sky'...

[@AndStuffLikeThat]

Very cool video. Sad how much it seemed like she wanted to make it work and just couldn't.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Yeah, there’s so many more great videos of her talking about her passion for the park. Thanks Benson!

[@Meekerextreme]

Sucks the local area changed the laws and made water an issue. Not an issue before but oh no it is now.

[@EstorilEm]

And Stuff Like That jumped out at me too, you could tell she really had her heart set on reviving the park. It’s shattered dreams at that age that can really break someone - I feel bad for her. :(

[@Leavemealone-]

Such a shame what a sweet old lady. :(

[@sunnysmiles960]

yes i loved the park i took my kids there when they were young the can can girls were awesome ,very sad it cant be re opened .would love to take the grand children there .if someone could get it all redone with new stuff ,and water to it .i dont think there's any place like in the world .so yes sad it closed looks like permanent,

[@nickpompeii]

I feel so sad for that woman. She believed in and seemed to have an emotional attachment to this park. Very sad end.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Yeah such a shame

[@Manchessollte421]

I'm glad it failed. We don't need another jesus statue in the south. My childhood was spent at ghost town and it did just fine without a holy land. That would've made it a tacky gawk-shop, as it is, it was a nice theme park.

[@hoosierdaddy9277]

P Worley not a church goer i guess

[@Manchessollte421]

Does that matter when we're talking a huge gigantic cross that would have detracted from the beauty of the park?

[@hoosierdaddy9277]

P Worley no not a necessary thing for tbe park but if they did/were to do that ?

[@seriouslydude3175]

As someone who lives in Maggie Valley, it’s always so eerie to drive by the parking lot everyday and just see the roller coaster barely peeking out over the mountain. It’s crazy to see a park that I went to as a kid now rotting and lifeless.

[@banananinja9076]

I know right! The recent northern light that happened this year in Maggie everyone flocked to ghost town and took pictures!

[@MiggerPlease]

Your must be poor

[@snipz113]

@@MiggerPleasedouchebag

[@user-nq6ow5jk6j]

Serves you right !

[@user-nq6ow5jk6j]

Serves you right !

[@OldTimerGarden]

I'm 58 years old and can fondly remember visiting Ghost Town as a child with my family. Back in those days every families car displayed bumper stickers of all the tourist places visited and almost every car had a Ghost Town sticker on the rear bumper.

[@macaylacayton2915]

How was it man? Anything that would have been very cool to see? I never been, 2002 was my birth year

[@airflowfpv7791]

@@macaylacayton2915 it was very cool. It was like Tweetsie but no train.. It was fun though, when I was a child in the 80s.

[@macaylacayton2915]

@@airflowfpv7791 i was born in 2002 so i never got to go so thanks for sharing

[@jbarwick50]

Yes I remember the stickers you put on your car and most cars had a few! 😊

[@karencameron8514]

I loved this park as a kid.

[@Zaphod771]

It's funny hearing a British person describe a park in North Carolina.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

What do you mean? Im from Winston-Salem! :D

[@Sylkenwolf]

A lot of Scottish/British settlers settled NC.

[@jayjohnson2919]

@@ExpeditionThemePark Winston Salem has a nice skyline

[@godspeedparadeteam]

I was thinking the same thing !

[@bloomoggi]

He sounds southern English with f sounds instead of th and a plenty of dropped ts mixed with posh tones.. could be trying to fake the posh haha

[@IRTheBorg]

One of my fondest memories with my wife (R.I.P.) was our trip to Ghost Town in the sky. It was a wonderful weekend for sure. Shame it is no longer letting others make memories. -Larry

[@Disneyfamiglia]

❤️❤️❤️

[@macaylacayton2915]

How was it? I never been as I was born in April 2002 and my family usually goes to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for those short trips as we actually live closer to the NC beaches so therefore a few hours away from BGW and my parents get those passes

[@lilacscentedfushias1852]

IR, I’m sorry to read that, I’m glad to read you have good memories, I expect this was lovely to remind you of her, but tinged with sadness at the same time xxx

[@HueyPPLong]

My grandparents took me and my sister to ghost town in the sky twice. I loved the place. My favorite part by far was riding the train when they put on a shoot out and then robbed the train. Such a thrill for 10 or 11 year old me to be in what felt like a real Wild West movie

[@alanhumphrey4198]

We used to get up there by chairlift.. 😮😊😮😊

[@nicholaspickolas334]

I grew up in East Tennessee in the 90s and the nonstop commercials for Ghost Town are legendary. But we never went as we had Dollywood - which was probably the nail in the coffin for Ghost Town as Dollywood expanded like crazy as this place withered away.

[@100oracle]

That comercial was seriously every single comercial break wasnt it

[@stephaniedavis3514]

Funny story... the ghost town entrance is where I began my monthly curse and my mom bought my first sanitary napkin in the gift shop. I was mortified the entire day.

[@RealLifeFinance]

That is too funny

[@HerosTheme]

(Tips cowboy hat)

[@benedictdwyer2608]

I didn’t realize you were talking about periods and immediately thought you got cursed by some old witch disguised as a employee to get very unsanitary every month and you’d need to wipe down your entire body to get rid of the grossness, and that’s when I realized I’m a dumbass

[@tomcorwine3091]

Thank you for sharing that with us Stephanie!

[@benedictdwyer2608]

@@c0m4g1bb oh shut up

[@waffles4292]

That woman who owned the park had so much determination to bring back Ghost Town in the sky, I'm really sad to see my childhood park in a condition like this :(. I lived in North Carolina from 1988-2003, I moved from Minnesota in 1987 when I was 3, and my parents decided to take a road trip for about six months, exploring the country. I moved into North Carolina around late 1988, two years later (mark we spent a lot more time than six months traveling) and lived in Charlotte for the duration of the time. I lived in Charlotte and visited Maggie Valley during my breaks, where I found that legendary theme park in the sky. I'd always love to take my friends from the city to Maggie Valley to experience the Ghost town in the sky. They loved the park and would always beg me to take them again. As time passed I moved on to high school in 1999, things really changed for me. One, I went on trips less often, and two, my friends didn't ask me to take them anymore. I guess they took their seperate paths. In 2001 I met the love of my life in high school and decided to take her to Ghost town in the sky as one of our trips. Everything was just as how it looked back when I was a child. Unfourtunatly there wern't as many guests as there were when I was a little child. Our first ride was the famous roller coaster that started with a drop at the beginning. the park attendant let us ride Red Devil (or known as the famous looping roller coaster) as much as we could without stopping through the loading zone since there was no line. Best roller coaster experience of my life. I do remember trying to buy another pass for the next year but I forgot to so I never did... In 2003 I decided to come back to the theme park after my graduation just one more time before I headed to College in California. When I arrived in Maggie Valley things were much more different than they were back in the day. I parked at the parking lot that held the guests for Ghost town, and when I got out of my car I saw that the cable car chairs had been removed, the grass was overgrowing the area. I decided to head to the main road, which was Rich cove road, but the road was blocked so I decided to go to the local folks to ask them what had happened to the famous theme park, Ghost Town In the Sky. The only person that could tell me about this was this young fellow, I long to forget his name, found him in a gas station nearby, told me that the park closed down for good just a year ago, the road has been blocked off, and no word has ever been said ever since... Here I am, in 2022, watching these documentaries about my amazing experience with Ghost town in the sky. I really hope they fix the theme park and put it back into operation, I'm very sad to see my childhood dream in a state like this. Thanks for reading my story. -Waffles

[@ThemeParkHistory]

The concept of the rollercoaster on the mountain was a great idea, especially since you didn't have to wait to go up an incline. Great video as always, really enjoy hearing about parks that many people might not know existed.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. Yeah some real gems out there

[@annebenton3296]

Theme Park History 2

[@ab5olut3zero95]

Would be interesting in seeing one of y’all do a video on DollyWood in Sevierville, TN.

[@Dan16673]

But you have to wait to get back to the beginning ?

[@macaylacayton2915]

Dude a theme park in the mountain concept is cool as is that roller coaster sounds like a cherry on top of a really good sundae, I said sounds like as I never been

[@cierracatastrophe143]

Oh hey I live here! Theres actually talk of reopening it yet again in April 2019 as ghost town. It was one of my favorite places ever to go as kid, my dream was actually to be a can-can dancer when I grew up because of there.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

I’m interested to see if it reopens and hopefully I will be able to attend if it does!

[@fatfarmer4288]

Hey what's the news on the park

[@austintuttle8744]

Any info? Did it reopen?

[@karaleung147]

It's on sale again as of July 5 2019

[@williamschutz4982]

@@karaleung147 Sad.

[@willsmith7998]

I live in a town called Asheville about 45 minutes away. Ghost Town in the sky is right near the entrance to a local ski resort called Catalooche and it’s always been sad seeing ghost town and it’s chairlift sit derelict year after year.

[@stokedmtb333]

I live near by and thought this place would make a great mountain bike park

[@zacharytaylor7965]

I visited Ghost Town many times as a kid. My parents met at ghost town while in high school and have been married since. Even my grandpa worked at ghost town for a season after he had retired. It’s a shame to see the park still abandoned every time I visit.

[@dwshank]

I went there with my dad back in the summer of 1988 when we were in the area for a family reunion. It made for a fun day. I remember the staff were clearly trained to ask everyone where they were from, and when we said New York state, they'd all make fun of us for being Yankee city slickers, but it was all in good fun. It was all completely functional at that point, and I remember the shoot outs. The old west theme was kitchy even then, but it worked somehow. I remember eating baked beans for lunch and then trying very, very hard not to barf them up after a few rides. The video is spot on - because it was on that ridge, the rides flung you over the edge, which made it scarier/more fun. I feel like there used to be more regional theme parks like that in the US, and at some point in the past 20 years, the industry went through this 'go big or go home' phase where it's fewer bigger parks.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Yeah i agree so much and alot of gems were lost. I hope i can't help try and preserve some part of the memory of them at least!

[@alanhumphrey4198]

Disneyworld blew all those regional parks away....😢😢

[@cameltrophy3]

I went to Ghost Town in the Sky as a young child, like maybe 7 or 10. Hard to remember exactly. I rode the chairlift. We saw the cowboy shoot out and I got frightened. This part of North Carolina had a few famous theme parks. The Land of Oz is not far. I went there too, as a child. that place really has some tall tails told about it. Tweetsie Railroad, probably the most successful. Ghost Town in the Sky was unique. It brings memories of my Dad and he was always awesome. The guns were loud and scared me, but Dad got down and we sat on the ground and he reassured me. I was very young but I remember seeing how he was not scared, so I wanted to be strong too. So I faked it, and pretended I was Dad. I just did what he did. I guess it was sort of a life lesson. I was a child. Now I am 50. Dad passed away in Oct. Ghost Town in the Sky is a really happy, great memory for me. Thanks for the video.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you so much for sharing! I’m so glad my video brought back some nice memories.

[@bobbyslater1198]

Freedomland had the Chicago Fire, which was awesome.

[@papamags]

Thank you for sharing your memories! I have 3 little ones that I take to parks and only hope our memories are as awesome as the ones you had with your Dad.

[@BobPapadopoulos]

I still don't know how this place went under and Tweetsie stayed open. Went there a bunch of times for my older sister's clogging competitions and even at 11 years old thought it was lame.

[@mf5531]

sorry for your loss. you'll see your dad again some day .

[@anthonyharvey93]

As a kid I almost fell out of the coaster as it went through the loop. My dad had to grab me and shove me back into my seat.

[@mielvanvelzen5967]

The idea of a park on top of a hill though... thats awesome, would love to ride the coaster there.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Yeah!

[@beverlywest9779]

Miel van Velzen I rode the scrambler there, pretty freaky when it swings you out over the mountain and you can see straight down.

[@Manchessollte421]

You must mean the swings. The only scrambler inside ghost town was called the black widow and it was indoors with black lights and flashing strobes. and loud ass rock music.

[@davidenglehart5219]

@@Manchessollte421 I have very vivid memories of this ride from my childhood. Thank you for helping me recall the name

[@Walkwithmejo]

I would of loved to visit here I love the Western theme and all the western shows 😎❤

[@iandonovan7776]

I lived in Maggie valley my family owned the mountain joy cottages across the road from it ..... the people who run that town wanted ghost town the fail ..... they caused my family to lose over 1 million dollars in money cause of the ghost town issue .... Dolly Parton offered to buy it and make it perfect ... and they told her she would have to widen all the roads and build more roads to the park due to the traffic it would cause the people who run that town are old assholes who would rather the town suck then to grow finally moved out about two years ago due to the dying town but wow it’s messed up that people were all affected by this choice not just ghost town ... and luckily my family has other businesses but some people’s entire life’s are in there

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Interesting thank you for sharing this! So interesting to see a different side

[@bman768]

Ian Donovan maybe if business owners in Maggie valley didn't always have $ on their mind . Maggie valley thrived for years without ghost town then there was talk of it opening back up and over night prices doubled on everything in Maggie valley the entire town set itself up for failure. I remember when Maggie valley was a 2 lane road ghost town was wide open every business thrived you could afford to stay in a hotel you could afford souvenirs . Now in Maggie valley it takes a months pay to stay in a hotel that should be condemned you want a t-shirt take out a loan food sorry you're not a rich floridiot head to the soup kitchen in Waynesville or Canton . Face it ghost town won't save Maggie valley the only thing that will save it will be for idiots with nothing but $ on their minds drop their elite attitude and actually do something besides price their selves out of business while blaming anyone and everyone else

[@nomerc3608]

I remember going there in the late 70’s and and early 80’s. It was a lot of fun the first few times... I could not ride in the swings because they kept breaking... The old west shoot outs were fun... Hot dancing young women... As a preteen and teenager what was not to love, Guns and hot women! I grew up about forty minutes from Tweetsie Railroad in between Blowing Rock & Boone North Carolina. Have a few fond memories from Tweetsie as well... Tripped an Indian thought it was funny to hit me with his tomahawk. I was 8 or 9, I remember getting fussed at by the Great Western Star they had there.. He was so mad at me because I held up the train schedule. Then later he came and apologized to me... I didn’t even watch all of this... makes me sick! The assholes that stopped this from opening... they saw this place as a cash cow and another payday should be tar’d and feathered, ran out of the mountain on a rail. Let me guess the town council saw a quick payday and when Whom ever owned it or was going to buy it refused to pay them they tried to screw buyer? This sucks... like I said I had some very enjoyable experiences there the three or four times I got to go... The kids and parents that vacation they lose but the locals that really needed the work are the ones they really lost in this. There were a lot of college kids that worked there over their summers... There is a lot more to this then we are being told... someone was butt hurt.. maybe out bid? And shut it down! Sigh! To damn bad

[@dannysutherland3235]

My family visited that place every year on vacation. We always lodged in Gatlinburg and none of our family vacations were ever complete till we made our annual visit to "Ghost Town In The Sky". It's really cool to hear from Maggie Valley locals like yourself after all this time.

[@stacyp4534]

Ian Donovan .

[@ceethelight1239]

I was blessed to have got to go there forty years ago as a kid great memories wish it would open again it was so cool back in the day.

[@jacksonrileyjones]

Ghost Town was always a part of my childhood. I loved the chair lift, and the cable cars. The street shoot out always scared me. One Summer the special guest was Jerry Mathers....The Beaver. I have somewhere in a box pictures that my mom took of us getting autographed picture. I need to find those and post them. The candy, the gift shop and shhhhh, dont tell my mom, but i would "sneak" into the saloon and watch the Can Can girls. I thought i was being sly. Was up that way October '18 and rode thru the parking lot. So much about the area has changed. Stayed at Jonathan Creek Inn and ate breakfast every morning at Joey's Pancakes. I'm almost 60 yo and still making memories to add to my childhood.

[@pipsheppard6747]

I remember visiting as a child in the mid 1960s with my parents and two brothers. Saw the shootout, the can-can dancers, and FRED KIRBY! He had a cowboy show on Sundays in Charlotte back in the day. What a day we had in Ghost Town. This video brought back great memories of my childhood. What a terrible shame I can’t take my grandkids there.

[@user-nq6ow5jk6j]

Your grandkids would most likely think this place sucked !

[@bayernfanladyl1879]

I remember Fred Kirby!

[@pipsheppard6747]

@@bayernfanladyl1879 We're dating ourselves! 🤣

[@bayernfanladyl1879]

@@pipsheppard6747 I’m proud of my age! I’ve seen some pretty cool things

[@MajesticMe429]

I've been to Ghost Town in the Sky several times as a teenager & young Adult, in the 70's & mid 80's. Was so much fun, i miss it. I'm 63 years old now.

[@nataliecwine]

I went here all the time when I was a kid. The roller coaster was so shoddy it stopped suddenly and my head slammed into the front of the cart. Good times.

[@a.b.c4069]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@joshbuckner2866]

I went there as a kid to it was awesome LOL

[@dawnsimons118]

I like your outlook . W T G

[@giojo01]

"I hope that I can make them happy." Alaska Presley seems so genuine and nice. I hope shes doing well and thriving after this.

[@spikeworks]

She seems to be attached to the park anencephaly it’s sad to see that it failed

[@dextermorgan1]

She's dead.

[@donnaowens1522]

@@dextermorgan1 no she isn't

[@Scotti_o7]

​@@donnaowens1522 she is now

[@yoshit9819]

my father inlaw saw burt reynolds performing as a cowboy at ghost town, way back before he became famous

[@tcsmom5281]

That's true! In the movie "Deliverance", the actor who played one of the two mountain men also worked with Burt; it was Burt's recommendation that got the actor the part in the movie.

[@johnharris8191]

Burt had already appeared in Gunsmoke before he came to Ghost Town.

[@dianapearson1771]

Glad Burt got to enjoy the park! RIP Burt!! Awesome fellow!!

[@mjrocks09100]

I feel like they sealed their fate when they named it ghost town.

[@johnharris8191]

Oh no, the original owner made millions with the park. The only difference was he knew how to run it.

[@JimRedHawk]

If I remember correctly, the mountain was originally called Goat Mountain. 😁

[@Scotts350]

It was open for 40 years

[@MrManfly]

@@Scotts350 it ran it's course!

[@gabriellerichard2887]

I went here as a child, my father a profound history buff insisted. I’m very sad to see what has happened to such a fond part of my childhood memory. This was in the early 90s and the park was flourishing. I’ll never forget riding the swinging boat with my mother who is terribly afraid of heights. Back and forth over or right to the side of the edge of the mountain, each time it swung she grasped my brother & my arms literally pinching us as she screamed, we laughed. I have old photos on each and every prop in the park.

[@lavonrhames6329]

I visited this park many times during the late 80's and early 90's. It sure is sad to see what has become of this place. My daughter had some great times there. It really was a neat place. I wish I could afford to tackle it, if for no other reason just for the memories. Hope it makes it back.

[@JennasMusic76]

I live so close to this park. It was so sad to see it gone. I remember Silver Dollar City. Thank you for the video very cool.

[@johnnypaul5979]

Before it was silver dollar city it was gold rush junction. Now dollywood

[@huskylovinmom9379]

Brings back many memories to me. We loved Ghost Town In the Sky. Once when my kids were 2, 5 & 8 we had gone up to the top & after a few hours the sky turned really dark just suddenly & we decided to head down to the bottom & a lot of other people did the same thing. Finally we got our turn, my boys ages 5 & 8 wanted to ride the chair lift down & my husband & I didn't want our little girl on the chair left because she was only 2. They begged & begged but I didn't let her ride with them. Thank God! A tremendous thunder storm hit right after we started down. Lightening everywhere, hard hard rain & the wind was whipping the chair lift chairs all around. My husband & I was in the trolley & lost sight of them. Suddenly the electricity went off!!! Somehow they got the trolley car on down but that left my two small boys out in that vicious storm just hanging there because the lift lost total power. They were way high up off the ground & my 5 year old kept telling his 8 year old brother they could jump down, huge rocks underneath them, they were both scared to death & wanted down to be with their parents. The younger one set into crying as loud as he could, the older was trying to be the best big brother & protect him. Thankfully when they finally got the lift started again, the storm mostly over, they got to the bottom with us & their little sister, they were soaking wet, blue, teeth chattering but a sweet young newly Wed couple who was right behind them kept screaming at them to hold on tight & DO NOT jump. They felt terrible for them but couldn't really help except to keep trying to communicate with them, they had to scream to be heard. We met them when they finally got down & also met that amazing, very young newly Wed couple who had done their best to comfort two little terrified boys. We hugged them & thanked them for trying to help but mostly for telling the five year old to listen to his brother, hold on the only bar holding them in & hang on to each other. I went to the bathroom & pulled off the hand towels, yes real towels in a machine, you pulled them down, dried your hands & the next person did the same. I needed something to dry my little two year old off with & wrap her up until we could get to our car. I ripped it all off, sorry, not! The temperature had dropped drastically too so we were all wet & freezing. Those three "kids" are now 49, 45 & 42 but we still talk about that story & we have a picture of the two boys on the chair left as the innocently headed down that mountain before all hell broke loose. God was good, he was with us. I didn't hear of any injuries that day but there very well could have been. My husband & are headed up to the mountains, Highlands NC for a week to stay in my middle son's vacation home, the then 5 year old who wanted to jump. We are going to drive to see fall foliage everywhere & I want to go back to Maggie Valley just to see it. I wish Ghost Town were still open. I'd love to take my husband, who I've been with almost twenty years, to see Maggie Valley. He hears the story often when the kids are ever together & he'd love to see it. Thank you for this video. I wonder if anybody who reads my story might have been there that day. I'd love to meet the young newly Wed who helped keep my son for jumping off to climb the rocks to the bottom. Sadly I've forgotten their names but to us they were God's Angel's that day.

[@tiffanythomas8233]

Always a fun place, loved going here with my family. . . Ghost Town in the Sky & Santa Land were always on our list when we went to the mountains!

[@caitlinaronoff3836]

Tiffany Faith my family always visited Santa Land!! I’ve never had anyone else know what I meant when I talked about it lol.

[@alyssiafreeman9779]

This place was awesome when we went in the 80s. I completely forgot about Santa land. That place was great too.

[@stickfigureofacat479]

I haven't been to santa land in ages!

[@sonyafox3271]

Yeah, every summer in the 70s we always took a family vacation in the Smokies and every year while we were there we always went to Maggie Valley for a day and would go, to Ghost Town. Santa Land, has been shutdown for quite sometime. Santa Land, was in Cherokee. I think my first trip to Santa Land when, I was 2 or 3 and, I was born in 67. I can about tell you where the park located. Today it’s mostly a big huge parking lot for souvenir shops that are close by. But, there’s a amusement park in Indiana which is Santa Claus, IN and, The name of the Amusement Park is Called Holiday World, there’s a cast of charters and there are candy shops and some themed Christmas Shops in the Amusement Park. It’s not to terribly expensive. It also has a petting zoo where you can feed the animals, mostly baby goats.

[@mielvanvelzen5967]

Really appreciate the fact that you link footage credit, i really love the history alot but also wanna check out exploring videos sometimes.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

For sure my videos would not be possible and really the people who recorded the history should be the ones thanked

[@kittenmatchvids6440]

4 years later, but, The Proper People did a really nice UbanExploration vid on this park in 2020

[@sagew7377]

Very similar concept to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park! It’s interesting to see what they did wrong, and being employed at the Caverns, strive to do better. Best wishes to the elderly lady who poured so much into trying to bring it back to life.

[@adamlone5548]

My grandparents brought me here (and to Santa's Land in Cherokee) every summer when I was little, and I always loved it. I remember my favorite ride nearby the Red Devil coaster; it was an indoor scrambler where they'd turn off the lights when the ride started, and then turn on strobes for the duration. I think it was called The Black Widow. Another fun fact: the fiddler you see at 0:13 became hard of hearing as he got older, and every year he would turn his amps up louder. It eventually reached the point that it was deafeningly loud; many people couldn't endure more than a few minutes in that music hall. Awesome fiddle player, though!

[@v4Mark]

I worked here for their short reopening in 2007. It was one of my first jobs, working in the Silver Dollar Saloon. I remember we had so much equipment that was broken and unfortunately was never fixed.

[@johnarcher8090]

So sad to see... I have a photograph of me and my dad riding the chairlift up to Ghost Town in the Sky. I must have been about 8 or 9... They even had a stagecoach ride... Those were the days when you would get a bumper sticker attached to your car while visiting the park!!!! If I remember my dad was not happy about that...Great video/fond memories...

[@baker3508]

i remember me and my dad doing the blacksmith presentation in 2014 before it closed, dad is actually in the video lol sad to see the park shut down

[@LarenEvans]

I went several times in the late 90’s. I always had a great time with my grandparents. I have so many pictures with my Grandma on the chair lift and remember shouting “all aboard” on the train.

[@petparadise6071]

I miss this place. I went when I was 2 and 6, and I loved it. It was where our family went for vacation. It’s been almost 10 years since I last went, and is very sad. I saw it last week driving to Charlotte, and was very sad. Luckily, someone bought it and plans to reopen it, but I’m not counting on it. They’ve already redone the bottom!

[@stondnc8089]

Went there when I was a kid back in the late 80s early 90s. I have such good memories there. Still have the picture of my mother and I in the chair lift. They has a camera set up to take the photos. The shootouts were the most memorable parts for me.

[@Dcsk8kid89]

I remember going here on a summer camp field trip back in 2006/2007. Literally forgot all about it until watching this. Really brought back some memories. Thank you and good job!

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you!

[@tammyburkey2210]

I spent my childhood visiting Ghost Town from the first year it was built until it's original closure. So sad for my family! I have so many pics from through the years! Thanks for doing that you do. I love to see these stories and now I have my daughter interested too!

[@sergeantpeppers8858]

I went there in the late 70's with my mom (I was around 13-14). We rode the chairs up and then down later. I thought it was a pretty cool place. I've wanted to go back but life always has other plans. I went by there about a year ago and was saddened about the chair lift being gone and the train cars rusted so bad. One of my favorite pictures of my mom and dad was taken on the top of the entrance coming out of the A-frame building.

[@ddotdonrock1783]

I was there when I was a kid. They had gun fights. I’m 70 now.

[@rickieboheler3346]

me too. I'm 64

[@jeremiahguy32]

I went in the early 90's...

[@shirleymcbride2320]

I'm 65 and also went there often as a child.

[@lynnchilders6704]

I went many times..remember the gun fights...the sleeping giant...I’m 65

[@alanhumphrey4198]

69 here and our family went in the mid 60s...had a blast!!!😊😊

[@jq71]

We used to go to this park in the 70s. I hadn't thought of it in years. I have some great memories of those rickety rides.

[@laxcollapse3328]

I remember as a 5 year old the cowboy shootouts and being scared as hell on that chairlift. The commercials were so fun cause it was like our own little disneyland. Great video hit me right in the nostalgia bone.

[@milohardy3790]

My mom went to this park as a child and have these old photos they took there. It’s good that people take the time to talk about places like this because I would have never known about Ghost Town or that my mom went if I had never seen this video.

[@izzydunraven266]

I love your channel, I especially love the expedition extinct series. I have an odd obsession with amusement parks specifically abandoned ones. I've never heard of a lot of the parks you feature and I love it! It's hard for me to find videos on parks I 've never heard of.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you so much I really appreciate that. Is there any parks you would like to see covered?

[@jerryconner9751]

My family visited in the early 70s. That region was quite the theme park Mecca, with Ghost Town, Tweetsie Railroad and the Land of Oz all within reasonable driving distance of each other. The combination of walking attractions, live shows and amusement park rides made for full-on entertainment. I was barely into my teens at the time, and would probably have enjoyed it even more if I had been old enough to appreciate the cultural aspects of the place. A wonderful memory, and I do wish I could take some modern youngsters there.

[@gcm100x]

My first visit was age 10, in 1961. I did not realize it was the first year open, until this video.

[@JessicaBobby1]

Just happened upon this video today and it’s super nostalgic and incredibly sad. My grandparents took us to Ghost Town when I was around 8, which would’ve been around 1991. It was different than anything I’ve ever experienced since then and is such a fond memory for me. I was able to take my first born (she was almost a year old) in 2007 and remake and remember so much walking down those streets, seeing the can-can girls, the saloon, we even did an old timey photo with my parents while we were there. It wasn’t completely open then and unfortunately we’ve never been able to go back to any of the temporary opening since then. I’d love the opportunity to just go walk those streets one more time and see what was so special to me again.

[@seanschwab9715]

That roller coaster was the first i ever rode that flipped upside down. I was wanting to go back to it one day. I think i still have my conductor hat with Ghost Town stitched in red on the bill. Brings back such good memories, thank you.

[@redclayrebelvideography2520]

it was on the news again just last week (May 2018) someone has bought it and they are gonna make it more modern and open sometime in 2019

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

It’s gonna be a lot of work

[@ThoosieJP]

Its gonna fail. I wouldve chose Hard rock park or another park

[@icepyro1]

@@ThoosieJP hard rock park doesnt exist any more everything has been torn down and sold off. The new owners are former disney executives and imagineers. If they have backing from disney they may be able to pull off the miracle this park needs

[@ashleyhales1972]

I hope so i went when I was younger and id like for my kids to be able to go. Hope it all works out and they are able to reopen.

[@HunterBidenCocaineBag]

These investors worked for Disney, and they have the money (not that the last investor didn't have the money, but I believe she didn't have the vision). This place was a MUST stop every summer for my family in the late 70's through the late 80's. Amazing memories!

[@pietschreuder5047]

In 1975 I was on an eastern USA vacation for 2 weeks when I visited the park. This video is really a walk on memory lane! I stil have some super 8 film i have filmed there!

[@twitchiewitch1]

Such a shame. I'd love to visit such a unique place. I live in Salamanca NY. We have an old abandoned wild west ghost town theme park too. I can still see it from my back yard right now. It wasn't as large as the one referred to here but it was no less beautiful. After many years of service, it also sat abandoned till someone turned it into a high scale restaurant with cool looking empty wild west style buildings all around it. The views are spectacular. When that restaurant went out of business after decades, it was bought and turned into a high end Harley Davidson themed bar/restaurant but mismanagement saw that- that was only open a yr or 2. Now it's empty again. It's very sad. If I had the couple million to buy the property I'd have just made a unique private home and maybe put up a few cabins to rent out on the mountain.

[@wesbann]

My late grandfather who worked for WLOS-TV 13 produced the advertising spots that appear at the beginning of this video. I appeared briefly on the swing ride in one of these clips, I was around 10 years old. He produced most of the local Ghost Towns ads for R.B. Colburn who was the owner for much of the life of the theme park. Thanks for sharing!!

[@tomalexander4327]

This was the best 'Expedition Extinct' yet! The footage is very evocative.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you so much! That is great to hear.

[@BeeftallicA]

I went there back in the 80's as a kid. I loved going there and Tweetsy Railroad.

[@farva75089]

John Ellison I almost thought this was tweetsy railroad!! What happened to tweetsy since I left NC back in 03

[@jomama5186]

Thank you soooooo much for doing this, this way, and breathing life and a story/history back into a place. I hate when people just wander around, filming a place with no back story, anybody can do that. So, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU !!!

[@CPB1]

I am 55 years old. I was lucky enough to go during its good time. Still have positive memories from then. Took my kids back when they were young they enjoyed it and I got to enjoy it through them all over again. Thank you for posting this.

[@FeyPrevesk]

I grew up mostly in SC, but my family went to this place once when I was a kid, probably around the late 90s or so. I remember enjoying it, especially because I really like mountains, but it definitely wasn't super busy that day. Sad to hear what became of it.

[@williamsnider6307]

I have been there as kid back in the 80's. As my family would visit Cherokee North Carolina. I remember riding the train up the mountain. As well the ghost town.

[@verlekersey24]

I'm in my 40's and visited it when I was 7 or 8...I loved it. That theme park created wonderful memories. It's too bad its gone.

[@Willysmb44]

We had lots of family in East Tennessee and visited the region every year as I was growing up, all the time this park was in operation. But I'd never heard of it until seeing this video. Thanks, great job on this!

[@performa9523]

Man if I was rich... mhm, a mountain with rollercoasters, that's a winner!

[@fiifiidatrap342]

you'd have to be very very rich lol, the town doesn't want a popular theme park on a 2 lane windy mountain side road

[@douglawton3990]

@@fiifiidatrap342 Actually, it's a 4 lane and in spots it has a middle turning lane....

[@fiifiidatrap342]

@@douglawton3990 Last time I went was 3 years ago they must have done a lot of construction. regardless 4 lanes isn't enough

[@darthroden]

The only realistic way this part could be reopened would be to have the entire thing torn down and rebuilt from scratch, including the chair lift (or possibly a gondola like they have at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia) and the incline railroad. The rollercoaster on the side of the mountain can be a huge drawing point, maybe even add a couple of other rides that hang over the mountain for thrill seekers, like that one ride they have in Las Vegas that hangs over the side of the building. Rebuilding the town itself would be whole new buildings and plumbing from the ground up, maybe add a functioning wooden water tower also like from the 1800s (or a modern one with an exterior that looks like an old one). Also instead of an Old West theme which is kinda weird for the East Coast, why not build an old Appalachia themed site with actual Eastern Cherokee Indian tribal stuff. Not only would that prove more realistic it would be educational for kids. Maybe even have a Civil War Weekend since those are popular in the South with many folks and that part of the State of North Carolina has interesting history regarding the War Between the States. For rides other than the ones mentioned, add some old classic fair rides like the Tilt-A-Whirl, Scrambler, Ferris Wheel, ect. Trust me when I say the old ones are the best and having them at 4,000 feet above sea level would be thrilling enough. All of this would cost a fortune and would probably take a few years to repay and start producing a real profit, but with time and effort made I believe something like this could be a big boon for whoever tried it.

[@CourtneyHammett]

I would really love if they included more Cherokee input in development. I'm hopeful it'll actually reopen soon but they're still finalizing sales and renovating

[@greenwave819]

As a ghost town, I hope they mostly keep it as it is before reopening

[@myd0gr3x]

anybody have $20+ million to gamble...

[@legendari2196]

It’s definitely heart breaking driving by this historic place everyday on my commute from Waynesville to Cherokee. Awesome video telling the history of such an iconic place

[@j.pocket]

Wow. Thank you so much for the information shared here. My grandparents lived in NE Georgia and took my brother and I to this park twice in the late 80's. I have often wondered why it closed down, but the notions of cost prohibitive maintenance and the "decline in interest for the Wild West" have been my suspicions all along. It chokes me up a bit to think of that sweet little lady exacting such valiant but futile efforts to raise the decaying dreamworld that i remember so vividly from my youth. Whatever it takes, I hope something will make her giggle like a little girl twice a day for the rest of her life experience. Thankful to her, and again to you for sharing this film. Cheers! and best wishes for your future endeavors.

[@Grumpydrawer]

A shame what happened to it, a theme park on a mountain is quite the unique idea. Impractical but cool.

[@bobbyslater1198]

Palisades Amusement Park was built on a cliff overlooking the Hudson River. Unfortunately neighbors complained about all the noise and it was closed down to build an apartment complex, which today have become slums.

[@grumpyoldbiker1118]

As a kid who grew up in Western NC, I've visited the park many times with family. It's definitely a sad story. It feels like at some point multiple systems degraded to the point that it just wasn't possible to save it without massive amounts of money, likely more than it was worth. Gained yourself a subscriber! Check out Jacob (aka the Carpetbagger)'s channel as well, as his excellent footage was featured in this video.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you so much!

[@pinkywilliams8063]

I visited there several times as a kid in the late 60's ... great times

[@hildahickey6964]

We went to Ghost Town every year. It's so sad that it no longer exists. We loved it so much.

[@mikehanks1399]

My parents took us to Ghost Town soon after it opened in the very early 1960s. It remains one of my fondest childhood memories, My parents fell in love with Maggie Valley and we returned to vacation there a few times during my childhood. I'm very sad to see its demise and especially troubled to learn that efforts to save it were not encouraged by local officials. Still, that was a great report. Very well done. Thank you.

[@richardcallahan224]

I agree. You would think the local government would want to help as much as possible. Maybe they didn't want the business.

[@adelestevens]

How sad. This looks like a unique place to have a theme park. I would remove the chair lift and put the furnicular back as a means of transportation though. "Appalachia world...moonshine and mayhem!" Would be my tag line and I'd go heavy on the food selling with all American food and try to get a demonstration moonshine still going as a means of advertising and raising revenue for ride repairs.

[@Manchessollte421]

Alaska tore up the furnicular railroad, it's gone. I walked up the mountain a few years back. All twisted metal.

[@Geeksmithing]

I totally went there as a kid (late 80's), and even still have a Ghost Town patch from the visit :)

[@TheDriveInGuys]

I partially went there.

[@charleswagner2686]

I remember going their as a kid and having a ball. My grandparents loved taking us to places like Ghost Town, Tweetsie Railroad and other small amusement parks. I took my kids there and we were there 2 days before the chairlifts were stuck for 2 hours. We got sutck on them, but it was for only 5 or 10 minutes. I would love to hit the lottery for a couple of hundred million and be able to reopen old parks like this.

[@davidburton479]

I have many, many wonderful memories of visiting Ghost Town over the years. It was a yearly vacation destination for my family. It breaks my heart to see it abandoned like this.

[@PatriciaPeekfindingmytiara]

I grew up in Asheville, NC and spent a lot of my childhood at Ghost Town. On more than one occasion I have been stuck on those chairlifts! It got to the point that I stopped going and I doubt if it ever reopens that I would go.

[@PureVikingPowers]

Maybe the anonymous investor was hilary clinton :o

[@johnharris8191]

The Marshal in the film of the gunfight is Bill Leatherwood who worked there for 39 years and performed more gunfights than anyone. He was a good man to work for rest his soul.

[@marlitstansell700]

Hey! I can't believe you posted this about Bill Leatherwood!! My sister and I, as college students from GA, earning $$ for school, got jobs at GT in 1967-68, I believe. We worked at the saloon (not the can can one...was ot the Silver $$?) rented by Haskew Warren who also ran the restaurant at the Maggie Valley Golf Course. Bill and I were friends. You are right, he was a nice person but I lost contact when we stopped working there. Do you know when he passed away?

[@marlitstansell700]

Also, I remember his telling me, as a prank on the downed bankrobbers, sometimes he would hold the barrel of the gun with the fumes of the spent bullet down by the nose of the "dead man" making it terribly difficult for the dead man to act dead when he was trying not to choke on the fumes😂!! And, I suspect, there were probably tons more pranks they played on each other, don't cha think😂!?

[@johnharris8191]

@@marlitstansell700 l promise we did, lol. Occasionally when l was playing dead in gunfights he would poke me in the belly with the shotgun barrel and tell the crowd, "This one's grain-fed." LOL

[@johnharris8191]

@@marlitstansell700 Bill "Goose" passed away March 10th, 2016. I will always miss him, he was the best boss l ever had.

[@marlitstansell700]

@johnharris8191 Thank you for the info! When were you a gunfighter? My sister and I were @GT during the summers of 1967-1968.

[@Doulos.Romans8.34]

Man I went down a rabbit hole today and came out here. I sure do miss this place, I visited it with my grandparents when I was a kid. They loved the mountains and I had some of my best memories with them there. It's really sad knowing this place won't open up again, even sadder knowing kids won't have that excitement that I had when I visited this park.

[@laylarayne3236]

My grandparents took us here everrrrryyyy summer when we were little. I wasnt sure if it were still open. Sad to see it like this... but I remember when I was little it would open and close and open and close and open and close.... it was only a matter of time. I have so many memories with my late grandpa here and a heavy emotional attachment to the park even though its way sketchy lol. Id never get on that rollercoaster now!

[@virginiavarble7818]

I always wanted to go to this place! I sorta did.....when my mom was pregnant with me, back in the 70's!!

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

That counts!

[@AlpineMeeple]

Should it re open, they could make use of the chair lift and train a bit more by adding mountain biking, alpine coaster/s and even zip lines.

[@americantrailrider7031]

Yeah. This place could work as an adventure park. Mtb, zip line, waterpark.

[@ahkarivae]

i live sort of near here and went often as a kid. the last time we went, they only had 2 rides open. they gave us free tickets to return but we never got the chance. driving by and seeing the chair lifts leading up always fills me with nostalgia

[@itdoesntmatterwhatyourname6128]

Loved this video! Sad to see how much trouble such a great amusement park has experienced! Had so much fun & great memories from Ghost Town in the Sky! Count myself fortunate to have gotten to enjoy the park on multiple occasions back around 1994-1998.

[@eliasmertens9313]

Apparently, this park was bought and they have plans to reopen in the spring of 2019. They plan to have multiple new attractions for the 2019 season.

[@stevebrookshire7230]

Just more b.s. from scammers

[@mzlpsluva]

I live near Ghost Town and actually know the original owner, sadly I don't think this place will ever be reopened. It's been debated several times between my friends and I and we've even been on the Ghost Town grounds. But it's just going to be left to rot...

[@prismstudios001]

Not likely to be a success now that there is a Harrah`s casino next door in Cherokee.

[@bradyryan5105]

We need someone wealthy, preferably a theme park Corporation, to get ahold of this park. They'd boost this park back to what its supposed to be

[@firstcanonkill1767]

@Riddick alton towers should extend from the uk and make it into a small A.T american sector of the company

[@teresabrickey5251]

Wow I remember being there when I was 12 years old 1972, I decided to get on the swing, it swung out over Maggie Valley looking down into the valley below the cows and buffalo looked like ants I also remember loosing my shoe it came off my foot when I was on the swing, my shoe is now somewhere at the bottom of the Mountain I had so much that year.

[@maddtaggz]

So i finished the entire video. I remember another KZbinr (maybe Adam the Woo) doing a video and people commented not wanting another religious theme park. In like 2014.

[@Hollywood1127]

If I won the Powerball jackpot I'd invest in this place for a Fall season attraction. Something real scary.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Would be a cool haunted attraction

[@ProjectRescues]

I used to go there when I was a kid. So many memories there. First upside down roller coaster I ever rode was there. The chairlift was really cool too. Such an amazing place. Its been around for 50 years or more. Gonna miss that place.

[@mtmayhem933]

Have many great memories of visiting this park as a child and was able to take one of my older children there before the turmoil ...Great Video and thanks from the heart for the upload !!!!

[@chuc98]

I went to Maggie Valley years ago when I was a kid...I remember it being a fun place! Sorry to see it’s closed.

[@mordokch]

This park always stayed in my mind after seeing adam the woo do a vid on it years ago - for sure one of the more unusual parks and one I'd have loved to visit, but I'm on the other side of the world. To be fair it was doomed without it's major rides running, and it would cost a fortune to resurrect now, which would be financial suicide given the general decline in this type of attraction's appeal. Sadly it's all VR from here on in lol

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Yeah I don’t think the park will return this time!

[@mordokch]

Well maybe over there, but here in the UK, and from what I've seen in youtube vids, in the USA too, this kind of attraction is fading out. Kids just aren't interested in the real world anymore - they'd rather sit in a dark room hitting X over and over again.

[@jessesidebottom]

Many fond memories of this them park. I still have a picture of myself and my grandfather on the chairlift. I never knew how much it would mean to me to have that memory captured.

[@pegasus818]

I went there as a child and there were lots of people there. I can't remember much, just how steep that incline was while going up to the town and going back down again. I was surprised at how loud the guns were, too, never having heard so many blanks fired in so frequent a manner. It seems like we also road a bus between the incline and the ghost town and the turns seemed really sharp but I was so small when there, I can't remember any more than that.

[@csanders281]

I had never heard of this park very interesting!

[@poppiarlin5612]

Christopher Sanders You have messed a real treat. The entire area is just a great place. I wasn’t able to visit Ghost Town until I was 23 years old. We went to that area 10 years earlier but it was closed for the winter. The entire area has something magical about it.

[@lisahuddleston141]

I went there with my now ex-husband before my son was born. We went up there on the chair lift, I used to have a 8 x 10 picture. We had the full experiences . Watched the gunfight and all.

[@DeadKoby]

It was a very cool park. I really liked it.

[@loriwaller2274]

I went to Ghost Town In The Sky when I was younger and I loved it. I thought this is so much more different than any other I had been too because number one you have to take an incline to get to entrance. Then you were up high on top of a mountain and while you rode roller coaster it felt like you were going off the side of the mountain. Such a thrill. I wanted so much for my kids to be able to experience it.

[@nandarox528]

As a North Carolinian I've been there many, many times. First time was in 1983 @ 3 yrs old. Still have the pictures with my grandmother on the chairlift, pictures with the actors & NA dancers, & many more memories. Hope they'll reopen it. I want to take my kids to it.

[@justinzucker]

I worked there in the early 90s, it was very unique.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Oh what did you do?

[@johnharris8191]

Do you know Chris Tingen?

[@Mr500sheetsofpaper]

Just north of me is the old LeSourdsville Lake / Americana Park in Middletown, Ohio. All the way back in the 1920s it opened as a picnic park. Dancing halls and swimming were the main attractions. In 1939 it became home to an old John Miller coaster called Screechin Eagle that was absolutely stunning. It closed its gates for good in 2003 and is being redeveloped by a local tech college. I remember going there every summer as the AK Steel plant bought out the park for a weekend for an employee picnic.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Interesting I will look into this! Not heard of it

[@happgood]

LeSourdsville was my first park to visit as a child back in the 60's. Loved the Screechin' Eagle. The abandoned park was featured on a haunted tv special a few years ago.