This mountaintop amusement park opened in 1961 and closed in 2002, followed by a series of owners that have opened parts of the park for a short time.
Ghost Town in the Sky was famous for its Wild-West theme, live-action shows and beautiful setting on top of Buck Mountain at 4,600 ft. elevation.
Ghost Town was divided into several "towns" with different themes, including Indian Village, Mountain Town, and Mining Town.
The most popular section was the Old West town with saloons with can-can dancers, a jail and businesses along the main street that was the sight of hourly gunfights.
The very unique theme park was created by R.B. Coburn and built for $1 million, opening in May 1961 as an immediate huge success. At its peak, more than 500,000 people visited each season. While new rides were added through the 1990s, older rides began breaking down on a regular basis. After visitors got stuck on the chairlift in 2002, Colburn closed the park and put it up for sale.
The amazing mountain views were always a big draw. Ghost Town was sold and reopened in May 2007 after millions were spent on renovations. During a bad economy that brought high gas prices, the park closed again after the 2009 season due to a massive mudslide in February 2010 and financial woes. One of the original owners, Alaska Presley, bought the park back in 2012 with plans of transforming it to Ghost Town Village. However, she faced challenges and was only able to reopen sections of the park for a short time. Former Disney executives made a grand attempt to purchase Ghost Town in 2018 and 2019, but those deals fell through.
The Ghost Town in the Sky property in Maggie Valley has been locked up in litigation, with no new news on ownership, it re-opening, or being sold.
