Information on this page was written in 2012 and remains here for historical purposes.
North Carolina Smoky Mountains Headquarters for Fun!
Ghost Town in the Sky sits high above Maggie Valley and has been an area attraction since the 1960s. Its incline railroad and the site on top of Buck Mountain are part of the scenery and part of the history of the Smokies. Though it closed for sveral years, it is now open again and the new owners are planning on adding on to make this a first class attraction and continue the tradition of delighting thousands of visitors each season.
Ghost Town in the Sky opened for business in 1961. It was the brainchild of RB Coburn who had recently spend some time in the South West and he really enjoyed the ghost towns that he toured while he was there. He came back to Western North Carolina and with the help of some investors he purchased Buck Mountain and in a little over a year, Ghost Town in the Sky was open for business. With a wild west theme, Ghost Town in the Sky had 40 replica buildings, shows, and eventually rides as well. 41 years and millions of visitors later, Ghost Town in the Sky was forced to close its doors in 2002. It was reopened from 2006 until 2009 when it closed again. In the spring of 2012, Alaska Presley, one of the original investors from the 60s, purchased the park and reopened it to the public. Ghost Town in the Sky is once again an attraction in the Smokies and the plan is to open new phases of the park over the next few years.
Right now, the phase one part of Ghost Town in the Sky is open. This includes the chair lift, carousel, kiddie rides and the Ghost Town Museum. Phase 2 which is supposed to open in 2013 will be the Wild West portion of the original park re-envisioned. Gunfights, can-can dancing and the replica buildings will be on display and ready for guests to walk through the town and enjoy the sights. The final proposed phase will be the Holy Land. The Holy Land Phase will be built on the highest level of the original Ghost Town in the Sky and will be a replica of the Holy Land during the time of Christ. Presley had a vision of this when she went to the Holy Land on a tour of Israel. When finished, this will be a full fledged theme park again, bringing in loads of tourist each season and providing jobs to the Maggie Valley area.
Located right on the main drag in Maggie Valley, Ghost Town in the Sky is not hard to find. When you arrive, you park at the base of Buck Mountain and ride the incline railroad to the top. With this theme park being revitalized, people from all over the country are going to be able to have the same experience that people had for 40+ years in the Smokies: a trip to the Wild West in the shadows of the Smoky Mountains.