The park didn't go abandoned, it became its truest version of itself

Surreal to finally see a local childhood spot being covered on Abandoned! Even when I visited in the 90s this place was just... bizarre to visit. It left an impression, but an odd one indeed, as it all felt "off" with everything being all run down, broken, and so few visitors. The time we went we were one of like, six or seven total families in the whole park. I think there were more actors _taking part_ in the gun fight than there were total visitors watching it... Still, it was pretty rad to be the only person riding the Red Devil rollercoaster. The ride operator let me just go around and around repeatedly, haha. I live nearby now and it feels like there's a news story about yet another reopening/reclosing of the place every couple of months.

I think the saddest part is you can SEE many of the owners truly loved and believed in the site and the park. People really wanted this to work, but sometimes things are too far gone. Maybe this final buyer will come through, or maybe they'll just be the final footnote in the story of Ghost town

52 years ago, I told my girlfriend ( later my wife of 48 years) to Ghost Town. We had a great time and enjoy it greatly. I still have one of the souvenir's from there. thank you for the look back in time!!!!!

To anyone wondering, Red Devil was made by Hopkins Rides who are probably best known as the makers of the Log Chute at the Mall of America and Race For Your Life Charlie Brown at King's Island.

Kind of ironic that a place called "Ghost Town" would end up the same way as the places that it was inspired by.

Alaska's part of the story is really sad if you watch documentary and interview footage. This genuinely was a passion project for her.

Omigod I can't believe you guys are covering this! My mom's family worked there for more than 20 years. They ran the tin type studio, the camera shop and for a time operated the photo station used with the ski lift. I can't wait to share this with her 😁

I was luckily able to visit the park in 2001. I was 9 years old and didn’t notice the lack of maintenance or repairs. All I remember was the thrill of visiting a theme park on top of a mountain.

I went here in 2008 and despite hating cowboy movies I absolutely adored it for being such an immersive environemnt I could kind of roleplay in as a kid! I remember going to Boot Hill and pretending zombies were coming out and my dad and I were fending them off with our capguns. Then a bank robber asked if I wanted to help him, that was so cool! But I will say the fake dead body in the mortician's storefront was nightmare fuel for a few years. I'm surprised you didn't mention the movie filmed there about the town!

I went to Ghost Town in the Sky almost every year for a big part of my childhood! Mostly, I remember the coaster being broken every single time I went. I literally never rode it, only stared at it with envy year after year. Some of the rides that worked were cool, especially the spinning chair swing that sent you over the edge of the mountain for a split second. I never saw the park as lame or worn-down, but I also didn't have many other parks nearby to compare to (other than Dollywood, which wasn't even in the state). I went back a few years ago to explore, since I'd heard the park was abandoned, and not much had changed since I went as a kid. I support the owners trying to bring it back to life or build something there, but I'm worried they will just bulldoze it. It really is a cool time capsule and I'm glad so many people have been able to enjoy it over the years!

OMG I'm 48 and I remember my parents taking me. We had a blast. The gun fight show was awesome. Watching this actually made me dig through our old VHF tapes and look for the one we wook while we were here. I loved the old church and the saloon.

Jake, griping and arguing abound these days, but in the comments to your videos there are always so many warm recollections and kind responses from people touched by your content. Your work brings happiness and it spreads through others. I pray you are finding tremendous satisfaction in this part of your life's work.

Thank you for making this. I’m a North Carolina resident, and my mother always spoke highly about this park and sharing memories about it. On our most recent trip to Dollywood, we went through Maggey Valley and looked at the abandoned park. I really hope they can re-open sometime so I can take my Mother to see it again.

My former piano teacher played the piano in the saloon there during the summer. "Carolina Red" was her name there because of her red hair. I remember my parents taking me there one summer and she didn't know I was coming. She always put on quite a show. People in the saloon gathered around her like she was a rock star. She saw my mama and I sitting at a table after her performance and made a direct beeline to our table. I can still hear her in my mind as she said," Dahlin", I'm so proud to see you here". She took me across the street and bought me a Ghost Town in the Sky hat. As a 10yo boy, I must say I was so caught up in all of it and I loved her till the day she passed. I also remember going up the road to another adventure park called Cherokee Land. I was highly impressed there as well.

Was right at the end of an Abandoned binge fest. Your videos really help me with my schoolwork man 👍

I (kind of) remember going there as a child. My grandmother had a summer mountain house in the area and we visited the area often back in the 70’s/80’s. My older brother took his kids there during one of the reopenings around 2006-2010. Sad to see a historic landmark just fade out. Would be nice to at least see some part of the old park survive in some form.

I have been waiting for this video for a long time. Ghost Town In The Sky fascinates me entirely, it's just such a unique setting for a park. Only place similar I can think of is Glenwood Caverns.

I’ve always wonder what that place was sitting high up on that hill when ever we seen it on our road trips. Thought it was abandoned way before it’s true abandonment.

Watching these videos give me a weird sense of nostalgia. I love it.

Omg this is the first time I've ever had a connection to a story in one of the videos I watch. My dad took me there when I was a little girl. I have so many pictures of that day! I'm sad that it's abandoned now but in my mind it was a fascinating place.

I immediately recognized this place not because I've been there before, but MrBeast had a hide and seek competition filmed here 2 years ago. A cool backstory to go along with it! Thanks

I went here on a family vacation in the 90s! Usually just the Disney related videos are the ones I associate with, but this video brought back the memory of riding those swings that hang off the side of the mountain!

Was just binge watching older abandoned vids last night so this is quite a convenient upload 😎🤘

Hello bright sun films! Korean fan here! I was wondering if you could start a series with these abandoned places but some taking place in East Asia! Like Korea, Japan and China etc.. I think it’ll be interesting as there are lots of spooky abandoned things like this one here

There are quite a few abandoned theme parks in the uk, Camelot. American adventure, Loudoun castle etc. They have some interesting history and potential future and would be cool to see you make a video on one or two of these

Another good video bright sun films

Hey Jake I’ve only recently started watching you, but I’m already so captured by your work. I think you should make a video about the 2008 crisis as it ties into many of the videos you make and you explain these financial downfalls in a very interesting yet clear and educational way. Can’t wait for your future content!

Went there as a kid and remember the ski lift to the top. Maggie Valley is still a great little town to visit.

It was so nostalgic to watch this. I lived about 2 hours away from Ghost Town, so our family visited there often. I have some wonderful childhood memories of the shootouts and drinking at the bar, and all those cheesy rides which my 6 year old self thought were the best in the world. And those commercials you were running in the background, I can still hear the music that went with them. It's so sad to see it sitting how it is now. I really hope one day it can be like it was, or maybe even better.

So cool to see you cover Ghost Town in the Sky! I live about 20 minutes down the road from Sylva and the park is a huge point of contention in the area

The Proper People channel did a great exploration video on this park, thanks for covering the history and decline of it here!

Another stellar documentary. Interesting, informative, and presented so wonderfully. Thanks, Jake! Love watching your content and look forward to every new upload! 😍

I remember seeing the Proper People explore this theme park, was a very cool video. Love hearing the history behind the place, which Jake does very well explaining about

Also near there is a single crashed plane in the middle of the woods that’s a super tough hike but super interesting that they just left it there. Eerie to see in person

Went to college near there, made the hike a few times with some friends to get up there (it had been abandoned for a while at this point). Such an interesting place

If you get a chance, you oughtta look into the history of the “now closed” six gun city in northern New Hampshire. Love watching your videos!

I've seen the video that the Proper People did on this park and was wondering what led up to it being abandoned. Thanks for posting Jake. :)

We'd visit relatives in North Georgia every year and Ghost Town was always on the list of things to do. My daughter's first coaster ride was here... at age 4... She loved it! It's been sad watching the park crumble away over the years. Thanks for making this one, Jake!

I remember visiting Ghost Town in the Sky back in the mid-1960s. For someone in his early teens the biggest thrill was riding the chair lift to the top (something my mother refused to do.) The staged gunfights were fairly well acted and actually funny. My family visited it before the amusement rides were installed, which actually was just as well. One major problem with Ghost Town was its isolated location in Maggie Valley, NC, on the edge of Great Smokey Mountains National Park but not near any of the major tourist centers. The approach from the east on US Highway 19 to Maggie Valley from Asheville wasn't too bad, but US 19 west of Maggie Valley from Cherokee/Gatlinburg is quite twisting and steep - an adventure in itself.

I live 30 minutes from here and remember being here as a kid. It's crazy to see this being covered on your channel, but it's a perfect fit. Maybe someday this will be properly reopened, but as for now, it's unlikely with the main owner's recent passing.

This is literally one of my favorite places to visit. Even now. We actually went up and took pictures just a couple of weeks ago. Love seeing the changes take place and it always delights my heart to see that coaster as you come down the mountain. Thanks for posting ❤

Still can’t believe you’re at 1.26 million, well deserved from the beginning!

It makes sense it closed because I remember my parents taking me here in 1998 and thinking the red devil ( the roller coaster at the front of the park ) was insanely bumpy, like actually back breaking type of bumpy. We also got stuck on the train leading up to the park for like 30 minutes

I have been here, both as a child on the rides, and earlier this year driving through to go to Wheels Through Time, the motorcycle museum a few blocks away. It's beautiful.

I've been fascinated with Ghost Town in The Sky for a very very long time, and I'm glad you're talking about it!

I visited this park in the mid 90s. All I remember from being a kid is the roller coaster; the workers blasting Sweet Home Alabama and the looping roller coaster only having lap bar restraints 😅.

It’s a real life old abandoned old abandoned amusement park!

OMG I’m so glad you finally did this park. I’ve seen it in other channels but you are by far my fav to watch.

Thank You for this video, I enjoyed watching it. I remember going to Ghost Town in the late 80s as a kid. I have great memories!

This theme park was featured on an episode of Moonshiners last season (season 11, episode 9) titled "Young Guns". If you're interested in seeing some more about it

I absolutely love watching your videos, always so informative and intruging history of all these forgotten places.

I remember going to this place as a kid in the early 90s. I mostly remember being freaked out because the inclined train to get to the top was much more steep than it looked on the video and I remember riding the big swing and being freaked out because it was so close to the edge of the mountain and it felt like you were going to fly off any minute…I was very young lol so I could possibly have exaggerated the experience in my memories. It is one of those nostalgic things though & I’d always wondered what happened to the place. I could never remember the name of it.

I have a funny memory of going there in the early '80s. My family was watching the staged shootout, always one of my dad's favorite parts, but me and my 3 sisters were kind of bored. I think we were watching the part where they were headed down the street waiting to draw, it was very tense and the audience was dead silent all around us. Then suddenly, someone sitting near us farted really loud, I think it was some teenage boy that was laughing. My sisters and I cracked up so bad we were almost falling off our seats. My parents were looking dead serious and kind of giving us the evil eye, like it wasn't polite and we needed to calm down. Funniest thing that ever happened to me there, and I went a lot as a kid. We stared at each other at first, like did we really hear that, then we all just cracked up at the same time. Seeing our parents looking so serious about it, just made us want to laugh harder. I would still laugh my ass off about that, I feel bad for folks who grow up and get so serious.

I wasn’t expecting this today but it’s made my day better!

I grew up in NC and LOVED this place. Riding the chairlift up the mountain was the best part of all! The shows were always good and the “shoot-outs” thrilled everyone!

I’m from the region. We went there in the fall of 00 on a field trip. Those are some of my last memories of a simpler, pre 9/11 world. I’d like to see it reopened.

Love your channel. Value-packed content

Plenty of memories there. Still have my sky lift photo from the early 90’s

Best video I've seen of this ole park. Great job Mr. Williams 👏

My family often camped in Maggie Valley. First time I went to Ghost Mountain was in the 1970s. It was still thriving and fun. I remember riding the 2 person lift with my grandfather. Half way up a black bear crossed the clearing underneath. It all seemed really magical back then to a 5yr old boy.

I remember going there when I was a little kid in the eighties. It's so sad to see they still haven't done anything with the park.

My family went there in the mid 60s. It was amazing for a small kid. We still have polaroid pictures of that trip.

Ahh, I grew up a couple hours from here in East Tennessee, it always had a weird vibe but was kinda charming at the same time?? Hope it’ll be put to good use one day.

I loved going to Ghost Town when I was a kid. Every time I hear about it reopening, I get excited to only be let down before I can get there.

i remember this place from a visit back in 1993. The park was empty which was great for us kids as we got to go on the roller coaster over and over

Thank you for sharing.

You should checkout Conneaut Lake Park it has it all. It would make an great Abandoned video. It opened in 1892 my grandmother worked there in the 50's. As you can imagine it's just a husk of what it once was. I don't even think its advertised as a theme park at this point. I remember way back entire warehouses were burnt down by an arsonist. But I mean you could write an entire book of the problems the park had.

When I went to Summer Camp in Hendersonville every summer as a kid from 1979-1986 until the camp closed, we used to go here EVERY summer. I was so hopeful the revamp a few years ago would have taken hold, as I live in Charlotte and would have loved to go again.

Another great production Jake. Glad to be a supporter.

Whenever I see "Coming Soon" and 2008 both mentioned, I know there are going to be problems.

I am so impressed that you are Canadian and get such great drone footage of the abandoned sites!! it’s like you are right there! In each location!

Great episode! So crazy to see how many times this park was tried to be saved, but failed. Such a cool piece of history in western NC.

Great video, thanks!

I went here three years ago at night. The first building I went in was an old horror maze and I saw a hanging body when I opened the door. My friends and I were horrified for a moment before we realized it was fake.

I read about this place in "Lost Attractions of the Smoky Mountains" by Tim Hollis. Very cool to get a deeper dive into its history and see the vintage images and videos. I didn't know the ruins still existed, it's interesting to see what remains now. By the way, if you're looking to profile another extinct Western-themed amusement park, may I suggest Frontier Village in San Jose?

Very interesting and well made video! Thanks!

This just made my night! I've been to ghost town in the sky back in the early 90s. Thank you bright sun films.

I remember going there in the mid/late 80s with my grandparents. For a 10 year old little boy it was one of the coolest places I'd ever seen.

Love your stuff. Selfishly, do more cruise ship stuff 😉💙

Always the best from Jake!

Great work, Jake! Been watching during most of the 10 years you've had the channel running. You've really grown as a storyteller as has the production values. I grew up in the 80s outside of Asheville and about half an hour away from Ghost Town. Never got to visit it, tho. Could never convince my parents it would be worth the money. As I got older and moved away, I kind of forgot about the place but just assumed it was still there. Like nearby Santa's Land, I figured it'd just stay in business even if just barely getting by. Back in 2005 while staying with friends, we drove by and saw on its marquee that Ghost Town was for sale. Was surprised and saddened by this discovery. Even having never visited it, there's always something about seeing a place designed for enjoyment and stepping away from your troubles fall on hard times.

After a few similar episodes I feel like whenever these regional parks enter the cycle of -- foreclosure - resale - delayed and cancelled redevelopment -- the park and the local community are let down by the fact that overambitious, high-risk redevelopers will always impress local authorities with promises of huge investments and put in higher auction bids vs. more realistic, stable, and safe redevelopers.

There’s an air of sadness about this video. I suppose I relate it to a small theme park here in the UK called The American Adventure in Derbyshire. Sure, it wasn’t Alton Towers, or Chessington, but it was still special in its own right. It thrived through the 79’s & 80’s, I’d even go as far to say it thrived in the 90’s when I went too, it had one main big ride (which is now at another park), & plenty of smaller ones, lots to do & see for families. They had themes too (ironically a Wild West one!) I lost count of the amount of times I visited, but I had the best times. When I decided to look the place up in my adult years back in the mid 00’s, I was really saddened to hear of its closure. Upon further research, the owners had gotten into considerable amounts of debt, let the park fall into disrepair, & finally had to admit defeat & close. Just like Ghost Town, i fear the lack of modernisation to bring it up to current times, as well as the upkeep on rides was it’s downfall. From what I read, they too were once very passionate people with the park.. but I can’t help feeling those who have so much passion (which no one can fault) are sometimes stuck thinking back to when it was popular, in a time when options were more limited. Even family dynamics have changed now. You really need to think outside of the box to cater to modern families, to lure them in, update rides, update themes.. but many don’t..& it’s genuinely so sad to witness. I still believe there’s a place for smaller theme parks, they just have to be marketed a certain way to remain successful. Sad to hear ghost town really is just a ghost town now. Great video as always x

So glad I was able to enjoy this park as a child.

i loved it as a kid. Its about 1 hr from my house and it was exciting to see the shows. This is where i discovered i was scared of heights at 6 yrs old lol. im 27 now.

Been watching your stuff since I was in highschool and have always loved watching your videos loved the documentary you did too. The knives your sponsoring I'm pretty sure is a scam though, they have a lot of shady ties, use of Chinese steel, based on Hong Kong while being registered in Japan

Just a small heads up: The sposnor you have is a scam.

Another great video. Thank you.

Yooo I've been waiting for you to do a video on this place for so long. I was born and raised and hour from this park. So many memories and stories of this place.

What a tragic story, it's so sad that Alaska's dream might never come true.

This is a great one, I can remember as a Kid we went there allot. This was in the 70s and it was such a different time, from Theme Parks to all of the other things you could do outside of Ghost Town. Sad to see those places gone..

kamikoto knives are a huge scam lol

The commercials from this place are ingrained in my brain from childhood... thank you for covering it!! Live in NC, so we got frequent ads for this place back in the 80's on local TV!!! Very frequent here in the Charlotte Metro area (I suppose that's what it is called now).

I remember Ghost Town in the Sky - I’d go there as a kid a few times in the Early 2000s I loved the whole park- I never got a full picture of what happened until now - thank you for making this video!

Great video but pity about the scam sponsor (fyi the knifes aren't japanese and are made by the cheapest Chinese steel possible!)

First time I've known about this is with Carpetbagger's vids years ago. Yeah I'm not an. American before anyone jumps at me here. 🙄

Never heard of that amusement park before, and yet, this video made me feel nostalgic. What a great video!

Finally! A ghost town episode! I cant stop rewatching The Proper People’s venture through the park

Watching this, I kept thinking: In Europe, we have similar parks that are not designed to be amusement parks but rather educational parks that school classes come to for a week to learn from educators in fun costumes about history. The Norwegians for example have a great historically accurate Viking village where you can learn old crafts like weaving and pottery, you sleep in (semi-)authentic housing etc. This could be a great destination for that, especially if you can get some of the Native American tribes involved, who can teach about their old believes, the past, the differences between the tribes, the languages etc.