Ghost Town in the Sky

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Ghost Town in the Sky is a wild west themed amusement park in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, USA. An unusual aspect of this park is that it is located atop a mountain which can only be accessed by visitors via a 3370' long chair lift or an inclined railway (Funicular). These start at the parking area beside Jonathan Creek at an elevation of 3150', climbing to the lower level of the park at 4400', a climb of 1250'. The recreated "Ghost Town" sits at 4600', with the highest elevation in the park being about 4650'. The park is located on a ridge extending from Buck mountain which is in turn an extension of the Cataloochee Divide, border to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park's entrance is located on U.S. Highway 19, the main road through the town. Ghost Town is promoted as "North Carolina's mile-high theme park".

Ghost Town was the brainchild of R.B. Coburn, an Orangeburg, SC native who moved to Maggie Valley, NC. The park was designed by Russell Pearson and constructed for approximately $1 million in 1960. The park opened on May 1, 1961, and quickly became one of Western North Carolina's most popular tourist attractions. [1] Over the years the stars of many movies and TV stars made appearances at "Ghost Town". Among these were Dan Blocker, who played Hoss Cartwright on Bonanza, Tony Dow of Leave It To Beaver, Irene Ryan, who played Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies, and Burt Reynolds, in addition to many other 1960s television stars.

The park was sold in 1973 to National Services for a stock swap, but Coburn bought it back in 1986 and constructed the park's famous Red Devil Roller-Coaster. In its later years under Coburn's ownership, the park suffered from mismanagement and a lack of maintenance. The chair lift and incline railway required constant maintenance and repair and Coburn spent thousands of dollars maintaining them. [2] On July 16, 2002, the chairlift stopped, stranding passengers for over two hours. Most likely due to this incident, the park closed in 2002 and went up for sale. The park was sold in August 2006 and reopened on May 25, 2007 after millions of dollars of renovations and improvements.

The park is divided into several "towns", which are located at different elevations of the mountain, each of which has a slightly different theme. Among these are the "Indian Village", "Mountain Town", and "Mining Town". The heart of the park is the re-created old Western town complete with a two saloons, a schoolhouse, bank, jail, and church, and various other businesses typical of the day. Each hour, a gunfight is staged right in the street, with visitors lining up on the board sidewalks to watch the action. In the "Silver Dollar Saloon" there are hourly shows featuring old west can-can dancers, while the "Red Dog Saloon" features live country & bluegrass music performances throughout the day.

At the terminus of the chairlift and incline railway is the "Heritage Town Square", which was a 2007 addition to the park. This area features a museum chronicling the history of "Ghost Town", a restaurant, and the old Red Devil roller coaster, now renamed the Cliff-Hanger. The coaster is unique in that rather than boarding the train and being towed up the lift hill, its boarding station is at the top of the lift hill already. Once riders board the train, it rolls out of the station, around a 90-degree curve and then straight over the main drop and into its 1 inverted loop. The rest of the track flies out over the edge of the mountain with great views of the surrounding mountains and an extra feeling of excitement due to the proximity to the mountainside. The Cliff-Hangar's grand re-opening has been delayed until the 2008 Park Season due to safety updates as well as a completely new car design that features open-air cars and a new restraint system.

Above the Ghost Town itself is another section of the park, which hosts a variety of standard amusement rides, as well as the "Mountain Top Music Hall" and "Indian Dance Hall". All of the rides are situated at the edge of the mountain, and one, "The Gun Slinger", swings out over the mountainside giving riders an extra sense of exposure when riding. There are many great views of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains from the top of the park as well.

In October and November of 2006, a movie was filmed at the park. The film, simply titled "Ghost Town", was directed by Jeff Kennedy and Dean Teaster and starred Bill McKinney and Herbert Coward, DJ Perry and Princess Lucaj and featured appearances by Rance Howard and Stella Parton (sister of Dolly Parton). The movie is based on the legend of Harmon Teaster, a Haywood County, NC native. It premiered at the Eaglenest Entertainment Center in Maggie Valley, NC on June 2, 2007.


Rides Company Description
Bumper Cars unknown
Chair Lift The Chair Lift's re-opening was slightly delayed when the park opened in 2007 after a 5-year hiatus. The Chair Lift is now fully operational and the only method to get to the park other than the narrow, steep road since the Incline Railway is still not in operation.
Cliff Hanger Hopkins

New Cars: Rotational Motion

 The original steel loop roller coaster that was called the Red Devil and was operated from 1988 until the closure of the park in 2002. Was originally scheduled to re-open in the 2007 season but was delayed until 2008 due to safety and State code updates. It will feature a new yellow paint scheme on the track as well as newly designed custom open-air cars and has been renamed as "Cliff Hanger".
Dream Catcher Hrubetz Paratrooper The original paratrooper was operated until park closure in 2002. Set to reopen in 2007 as "Dream Catcher" featuring a new wooden floor and enclosing fence.
Geronimo Drop Fabbri Drop Tower Drop Tower was bought from Libertyland and opened in May of 2007 as new addition to the park.
Gunslinger Chance Yo-Yo The original gunslinger was operated until park closure in 2002. This ride is set to reopen in 2007 with a new red and yellow color scheme.
Inclined Railway Originally set to re-open for the 2007 Season after the park's 5-year hiatus, safety and code delays prevented this from happening. As of October 2007, the Incline Railway is still not in operation. It will likely be in full operation for the 2008 season, joining the Cliff Hangar (formerly the Red Devil) as one of the main features set to re-open in 2008.
Merry-Go-Round
Round Up Hrubetz Round Up The original round up was operated until the park closure in 2002. Set to reopen in 2007 with a new color scheme and a new underwall.
Train The Train was originally set to re-open with the park in May 2007 after the park's 5-year hiatus. This opening has been delayed and as of October 2007 the Train is still not in operation. It is now scheduled to be open again for the 2008 Operating Season.
Tumbleweed Schiff Kiddie Coaster The original kiddie roller coaster was called Lil Devil and operated until the park's closure in 2002. Set to reopen in 2007 with a new yellow color scheme and renamed "Tumbleweed".
Undertaker Big Eli Scrambler The original indoor scrambler called Black Widow was operated until park closure in 2002. Set to reopen in 2007 with a new color scheme and moved to be an outdoor scrambler. Has been renamed as "Undertaker".

Rides no longer in use.

Rides Company Description
Casino Chance Trabant The original casino was operated until park closure in 2002. It is believed to have been scrapped during the renovations done to re-open the park for the 2007 Operating Season.
Monster Eyerly Monster We believe the giant spider ride previously found in the junkyard has been removed.
Sea Dragon Chance Sea Dragon The original sea dragon was operated until park closure in 2002 and has been removed and stored. It is rumored to re-open in the 2008 season.
Silver Bullet Log Flume from unknown company We believe the Log Flume was removed some time ago.
Swing unknown The German Swing with the wood floor and the center top that looks like a balloon. The German Swing was operated until park closure in 2002 and has subsequently been removed.
Tilt-A-Whirl Sellner Tilt-A-Whirl The original tilt-a-whirl was operated until park closure in 2002. It is unknown at this time if the ride will return in the 2008 season or be scrapped.


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