North Carolina’s Ghost Town in the Sky

When I first came across Ghost Town in the Sky on the almighty Internet, I thought that it sounded amazing.  After all, what could be better than an amusement park located on the top of the mountain ridge?  And what theme could be better than an old western ghost town?  It sounded to me like a break from rampaging giant mice and other obnoxious cartoon animals running around trying to spread good cheer.  But alas, I then found the truth of the matter.  North Carolina’s Ghost Town has fallen far and has only recently, in the last year, been climbing its way back toward the titular sky.

Located in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, this amusement park requires a chair lift ride to get to.  After traveling the almost mile length to get to the top of a ridge, you are at the Ghost Town in the Sky.  Is used to be that roller coasters leaned off the edge of this eagle’s roost, creating a doubly exciting experience for thrill seekers.  Now, it’s just a few zip-lines and the potential to tour the old ghost town facades that once formed the heart of the park.

So how did the ghost town fall so far?  The answer is, plain and simple: bad management.  Started up in 1961, the place was incredibly successful.  But by the time 2002 rolled around, the park was little more than broken-down and badly maintained rides.  When the chair lift stopped working and left people stranded in the air for more than two hours, it was officially done. 

They tried to renovate the park and get it back up in 2007, but monetary problems thwarted them at every turn, bankruptcy and a massive mudslide being the two most devastating. Despite these problems, one of the original investors still insisted that Ghost Town in the Sky could return to its former glory.  It reopened last year, albeit in a limited fashion, and there are plans to renovate and reopen many of the attractions over the course of 2013 and 2014.

You have to give to these people, to put their faith in this old park and try to bring it back to life.  The tourism of Maggie Valley is still routing for its return as well, even going so far as to include it as one of the regional tourist spots that you “must-see” when in the area.  With a little luck and a lot of TLC, we may yet see a return of this epic amusement park in the sky.  If you have an interest, you can check out the home page to see how their development is going.

Ghost Town photo courtesy of coasterimage.com