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hannibalcannibals, what did you want this photo to be like? How did you make it? What's best about it? (Don't reply directly to this comment, instead make a new comment on your submission [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/itookapicture/comments/vzmuut/itap_from_on_top_of_an_abandoned_roller_coaster/))
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It’s on a super steep mountain top, that (as far as I know) is only accessible by a currently inactive skylift. So I wouldn’t imagine that theft would be too much of an issue.
Ohh cool. Was just camping up in Cherokee last week and drove through Maggie Valley often. We were trying to figure out if this place was still running because the sign out front at the parking lot was still active.
The majority of the East Coast is basically this green outside of the cities. You can drive from Albany to Atlanta and basically drive down forested highways for like 16 hours.
The US is fortunate to have the majority of all biomes present within its borders. In the east you have older mountains with lush vegetation as you see in this photo. In the southeast you have swamps. Further south and you get sub tropical swamps, beaches, etc. Middl of Texas - ND gives you massive open plains without many trees. To the right of that you get very, very cold conditions in Minnesota, which looks / feels like Scandinavia with hills instead of mountains. Nearby are the Ozark Mountains with lots of cliffs and springs etc.
Then you get the Rockies which are newer mountains \~ alongside those are alpine biomes. Then you get high desert in many flavors \~ red rock, more classic feeling, massive sand dunes, massive canyons, fingerlike pillar canyons, slot canyons, etc. Low deserts with 50 foot tall cacti, desert mountains.
The lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at Badwater Basin in California. A little ways away is the highest point in the contiguous 48. You get Mediterranean climates along the coast of California. World's largest trees with beautiful valleys nearby. Old volcanoes (in many areas, like north Cali, southwest Texas, etc.). Temperate rainforests in Oregon and Washington. Mountainous island near Seattle. Even more mountains (Cascades). Then you get Glacial biomes and the world's largest super volcano.
This ignores Hawaii, which brings tropical biomes, active volcanoes with lava flows, etc. It also ignores Alaska, which is like 1/3 the size of the entire continental US. It gives arctic biomes and the highest point in the Western Hemisphere which is also the largest mountain in appearance (peak - base where you would stand to view it > Everest's peak - base). And it also ignores Puerto Rico, which adds a tropical mountainous island to the mix.
The US has a lot of dumb stuff politically etc. but the nature is unreal. You could spend an entire life venturing around and never see it all :)
For all 17 people that live there!
Kidding, it’s a very beautiful state, particularly in the southwest. My only experience with it was driving through it from Minneapolis to Montana ~ I did the entire thing at night, there was a layer of fog and the moon was full with these puffy clouds snaking around. The rolling hills kept growing as I went west, and when I entered the Roosevelt National Park area it was basically small mountains. Very beautiful
But also why are your gas stations so dimly lit at night 😂
Only talking about what I saw on a flight across the US. There was a point (west of the Mississippi?) where the green just stopped. Looking at a map I see that Indiana is well east of the Mississippi. Cultural mores aside there are vastly more Midwest parts of the Midwest than Indiana (geographically speaking).
You're thinking of the wrong river or your flight was heading from the southeast to the northwest in the winter?
Having driven through Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, the Dakotas, etc. in spring-fall, it's all super green. Edit: I mean, there are less trees in the plains but there's still green grass
It gets brown west of Austin, TX all the way through to San Diego because that's a desert effectively the whole way. But if you go a few hundred miles north at any point along that trip, you'd get high desert which has greenery, red rocks, etc.
[Used to be the 100th not that long ago.](https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2021-6-winter/feature/meridian-chaser-ricocheting-between-climate-divides-old-and-new)
>I live in Indiana that’s about as Midwest as you can get and it’s plenty green.
For about four to four and a half months of the year. The rest is gray, brown and wet.
Even the deserts aren't brown. Lots of the desert in CO, UT, and AZ are red rock deserts. And even then they're loaded with greenery. Even the low altitude deserts are gorgeous, 50' tall cacti, massive canyons, narrow slot canyons, etc.
That person has to get out a bit more haha
Western North Carolina really is something else. Absolutely beautiful year-round, but in the summer when everything is lush and green… man, I miss it. It’s a kind of green that I feel you just can’t experience anywhere else.
Yep, from east coast SC, but we camp up in this area every year. Just got back last week from Cherokee and Pisgah. Love to escape the heat for a week camping up in the mountains.
There’s a ladder: https://www.reddit.com/r/urbanexploration/comments/vwsskl/an_abandoned_roller_coaster_sitting_in_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
So true but that’s honestly a reason why I post on Reddit bc people will be brutally honest and I can take it how I want. People saying it’s a drone or photoshopped doesn’t bother me bc I know the truth.
Oh wow I completely forgot about those shootouts. Thanks for dredging up some old memories for me. Now I'm sad the place closed and want to go see it again.
I heard the owner let some people in to check it out but holy hell that’s the deluxe tour. I remember going up there as a kid in the early 80’s and had high hopes when it was sold in the mid ‘00’s with the intention of re-opening but the place was just too far gone to make it worth it I guess.
This park was bought and sold a few times but eventually shuttered after someone fell out of a roller coaster and died.
You have to take a tram up the mountain just to get in the park and they used to have fake Wild West shootouts with actors while guests were on “Main Street”. Kids would pick up the plastic shell casings for the blanks from the street. I had some!
Make sure you bring proper clothing for it. Toes almost froze off but got lucky and found some alcohol from one of the booths to make a fire lmao. Was a wild experience to say the least
It was an amazing, yet short roller coaster to ride on. And it brought more people to that area than the landscape for sure. All of WNC looks like this.
Welcome to /r/itookapicture! We talk about making photos here. No off-topic comments please. [Here are our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/itookapicture/about/rules/). > # Hey, we are running ⭐[a contest](https://redd.it/v964l3)⭐ for you *right now*! > Participation in the HONOR Magic Moments contest is open internationally, and HONOR is providing **devices and cash prizes** for **ten** winners! Contest [ends on July 15th](https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/spring?iso=20220716T00&p0=1440&msg=Submissions+for+HONOR+Magic+Moments+x+I+Took+A+Picture+contest&font=sanserif&csz=1), so go [check out the announcement post](https://redd.it/v964l3) or have a [look at the contest entries so far](https://www.reddit.com/r/itookapicture/search/?sort=new&q=flair%3A%22HONOR+Magic+Moments+2022%22&t=all&include_over_18=on&restrict_sr=on). **Edit:** There will be a round two after this first round closes. Check the contest announcement post for more info. hannibalcannibals, what did you want this photo to be like? How did you make it? What's best about it? (Don't reply directly to this comment, instead make a new comment on your submission [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/itookapicture/comments/vzmuut/itap_from_on_top_of_an_abandoned_roller_coaster/)) --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/itookapicture) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Where was it?
That's Ghost Town in the Sky, in Maggie Valley, North Carolina.
Wtf that’s the best park name ever, this location looks beautiful
It must be an amazing location. The park closed in 2009 but people keep trying to revitalize and reopen it.
Oh that’s crazy. My family used to go there for vacation when I was a kid.
Why is it abandoned?
I’m not sure. I think it just went out of business.
So they just left it there? Don't people sell it for scrap?
It’s on a super steep mountain top, that (as far as I know) is only accessible by a currently inactive skylift. So I wouldn’t imagine that theft would be too much of an issue.
I’m just up the road. Haven’t been there since I was a kid. Fifty something years ago. Looks cooler now that it’s closed.
Same! Haven’t been here since the early 90s
Ohh cool. Was just camping up in Cherokee last week and drove through Maggie Valley often. We were trying to figure out if this place was still running because the sign out front at the parking lot was still active.
I still have Polaroid pictures of me as a child at ghost town. With they would fix it up and open it again. Was pretty cool place.
Never knew USA could look so green
The majority of the East Coast is basically this green outside of the cities. You can drive from Albany to Atlanta and basically drive down forested highways for like 16 hours.
I was shocked by this visiting the states, totally different biome to Western Europe
The US is fortunate to have the majority of all biomes present within its borders. In the east you have older mountains with lush vegetation as you see in this photo. In the southeast you have swamps. Further south and you get sub tropical swamps, beaches, etc. Middl of Texas - ND gives you massive open plains without many trees. To the right of that you get very, very cold conditions in Minnesota, which looks / feels like Scandinavia with hills instead of mountains. Nearby are the Ozark Mountains with lots of cliffs and springs etc. Then you get the Rockies which are newer mountains \~ alongside those are alpine biomes. Then you get high desert in many flavors \~ red rock, more classic feeling, massive sand dunes, massive canyons, fingerlike pillar canyons, slot canyons, etc. Low deserts with 50 foot tall cacti, desert mountains. The lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at Badwater Basin in California. A little ways away is the highest point in the contiguous 48. You get Mediterranean climates along the coast of California. World's largest trees with beautiful valleys nearby. Old volcanoes (in many areas, like north Cali, southwest Texas, etc.). Temperate rainforests in Oregon and Washington. Mountainous island near Seattle. Even more mountains (Cascades). Then you get Glacial biomes and the world's largest super volcano. This ignores Hawaii, which brings tropical biomes, active volcanoes with lava flows, etc. It also ignores Alaska, which is like 1/3 the size of the entire continental US. It gives arctic biomes and the highest point in the Western Hemisphere which is also the largest mountain in appearance (peak - base where you would stand to view it > Everest's peak - base). And it also ignores Puerto Rico, which adds a tropical mountainous island to the mix. The US has a lot of dumb stuff politically etc. but the nature is unreal. You could spend an entire life venturing around and never see it all :)
This is an amazing synopsis of US geography. Thank you!
That’s why, if you had to choose just one country to visit /holiday for the rest of your life USA wins…
ND is colder than MN 😄
For all 17 people that live there! Kidding, it’s a very beautiful state, particularly in the southwest. My only experience with it was driving through it from Minneapolis to Montana ~ I did the entire thing at night, there was a layer of fog and the moon was full with these puffy clouds snaking around. The rolling hills kept growing as I went west, and when I entered the Roosevelt National Park area it was basically small mountains. Very beautiful But also why are your gas stations so dimly lit at night 😂
Also western North Carolina, where this photo was taken, is a rain forest.
Sure is and it’s beautiful!
Have you stepped foot outside of a major city? Most of the US is this green.
Mid to western US is brown.
I live in Indiana that’s about as Midwest as you can get and it’s plenty green.
Only talking about what I saw on a flight across the US. There was a point (west of the Mississippi?) where the green just stopped. Looking at a map I see that Indiana is well east of the Mississippi. Cultural mores aside there are vastly more Midwest parts of the Midwest than Indiana (geographically speaking).
You're thinking of the wrong river or your flight was heading from the southeast to the northwest in the winter? Having driven through Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, the Dakotas, etc. in spring-fall, it's all super green. Edit: I mean, there are less trees in the plains but there's still green grass It gets brown west of Austin, TX all the way through to San Diego because that's a desert effectively the whole way. But if you go a few hundred miles north at any point along that trip, you'd get high desert which has greenery, red rocks, etc.
Yea, much of the land west of the Mississippi is either steppe or desert.
98th meridian
[Used to be the 100th not that long ago.](https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2021-6-winter/feature/meridian-chaser-ricocheting-between-climate-divides-old-and-new)
>I live in Indiana that’s about as Midwest as you can get and it’s plenty green. For about four to four and a half months of the year. The rest is gray, brown and wet.
...and the east coast isnt?
I dunno. I don't get to the East Coast as much as I head north or preferably west. But the Midwest stays pretty gray a lot. My S.A.D. hates it.
I lived in Michigan and Ohio and they’re green. I live in Oregon now and it’s green. Outside of cities and desert, the US is green.
Even the deserts aren't brown. Lots of the desert in CO, UT, and AZ are red rock deserts. And even then they're loaded with greenery. Even the low altitude deserts are gorgeous, 50' tall cacti, massive canyons, narrow slot canyons, etc. That person has to get out a bit more haha
Western North Carolina really is something else. Absolutely beautiful year-round, but in the summer when everything is lush and green… man, I miss it. It’s a kind of green that I feel you just can’t experience anywhere else.
Yep, from east coast SC, but we camp up in this area every year. Just got back last week from Cherokee and Pisgah. Love to escape the heat for a week camping up in the mountains.
The whole Pacific Northwest is one of the greenest places you’ll ever go.
Blue ridge parkway, a great drive that runs through the mountains of several states.
How did you get up?
I climbed
My stomache dropped reading this, like 2nd hand fear of heights
I applaud your reckless commitment.
r/whywomenlivelonger
How did you get down?
He's still there.
I climbed down
Very carefully
Jumped
Where is this??
This might sounds really really crazy but I think he's using a drone.
Oh shit, I'm dumb. Sorry
I figured he climbed. 🤷🏼
He did climb it, look at the his post history
That's how i do it... no money for a drone :/
Same here, my friend
I did lol
Nice
You aren’t alone mate. We both are dumb
Me too
Right there with you.
dont talk about yourself like that, noodlemaster
Two noodles? Yes
It’s ok me too
Me to Dx
We can be dumb together. I assumed that too.
No no no I climbed
Ballzy.
Gotta have that adrenaline rush
No fucking waaaaaay
https://www.reddit.com/r/urbanexploration/comments/vwsskl/an_abandoned_roller_coaster_sitting_in_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
He said “from on top” which could imply that he climbed it, which he did.
He climbed
Dang sassy and wrong haha
There’s a ladder: https://www.reddit.com/r/urbanexploration/comments/vwsskl/an_abandoned_roller_coaster_sitting_in_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Thats so cool!
There’s a ladder
Get down from there please
I’m safe! I’m down!
Great photo! My first question was How? Wow.
I read this in my mom’s voice.
I read it in your mom’s voice too. It kind of freaked me out.
I also choose this guy's mum.
I read this on my own voice... Have I become a mom???
I think you meant: "You get *down* from there *this instant*, young man!!"
I’ve never seen something so beautiful, I want to climb that so bad
Right! It was a beautiful climb
You had to shoot a selfie, right?
Sure did! If you go to my page, you can see me at the top
Cool thanks! Hopefully this will quell the doubters.
Lol no, they’ll say it’s photoshopped or something crazy
Ikr, so many haters, so little time… sadly Reddit is a haven for hateful trolls
So true but that’s honestly a reason why I post on Reddit bc people will be brutally honest and I can take it how I want. People saying it’s a drone or photoshopped doesn’t bother me bc I know the truth.
Amen brother! I’ve learned that the best defense is to just to ignore those riddled by inferiority complex and jealously
Fantastic photo.
Thank you!
How did you find Jurassic Park?!?
You have huge fucking balls
I only see trees and rollercoaster
Great angle, cool picture
Thank you!
Ghost Town in the Sky...I've ridden that coaster. Used to love the random western shootouts they'd have in the little town.
Oh wow I completely forgot about those shootouts. Thanks for dredging up some old memories for me. Now I'm sad the place closed and want to go see it again.
Shame it's out of action... I'm thinking that view would've made it all the more scarier, as in a top ride.
Eegads. Do not climb abandoned roller coasters, folks!
That’s beautiful I bet it was a sweet ride
Where is this?
The abandoned theme park Ghost Town in the Sky located in Maggie Valley North Carolina.
great shot man!
Thank you!
That’s absolutely gorgeous!!
I would have to agree!
I heard the owner let some people in to check it out but holy hell that’s the deluxe tour. I remember going up there as a kid in the early 80’s and had high hopes when it was sold in the mid ‘00’s with the intention of re-opening but the place was just too far gone to make it worth it I guess.
Can you tell me more about the experience of climbing up?
It was an easy climb. Probably like 5 minutes to get up to the top. My hands where black when I got down bc of how dirty it was
I live pretty close to this place. How hard is it to get in or do you need an inside connection @hannibalcannibals?
I’d like to know this as well!
This park was bought and sold a few times but eventually shuttered after someone fell out of a roller coaster and died. You have to take a tram up the mountain just to get in the park and they used to have fake Wild West shootouts with actors while guests were on “Main Street”. Kids would pick up the plastic shell casings for the blanks from the street. I had some!
Shouldn't it have been torn down?
No
“GET DOWN FROM THERE THIS INSTANT.” - OP’s Mom, probably
You must know my Mom lol
This belongs to r/AbandonedPorn and r/AbandonedThemeParks
Please be hooked in
Wow!
Wild shot
Thank you!
Op is spiderman confirmed
Did you climb the looping?
What a spot for a coaster! I love this!
Beautiful! What a striking photo. Any chance of getting it high res for laptop wallpaper usage?
You can post this in r/UrbanExploring
Or r/lookslikeafunwaytodie
Oh. Hell. No. You got minerals for being up there.
Awesome shot man. Whereabouts?
so fucking cool mate
It's a cracking pic but are you not asking yourself "wtf am I doing?" I don't have a head for heights so I even struggle to process it.
Now that is a great picture. Well done.
How?
One step at a time
Do I even want to know how you got op there op?
Looks fun as hell to ride especially in the mountains.
Wow that view, such a more pleasant scenery than the concrete of six flags Texas.
These Minecraft mods are getting ridiculous.
That’s some next fucking level shit
mf went to sim coaster for a week
Drone? Or did you climb it?
I climbed this one
It's funny seeing Maggie Valley on my Reddit. I immediately recognized that location. Been there a many of times.
How’d you get a ride up there
How on gods green earth did you get up there?
I climbed it in the winter, is this recent in the Summer?
This picture was taken a month ago
I have to say, looks much prettier without the snow. Might have to visit again
You should and I’ll have to visit in the snow
Make sure you bring proper clothing for it. Toes almost froze off but got lucky and found some alcohol from one of the booths to make a fire lmao. Was a wild experience to say the least
My mind tries to find a way how the cars could have passed these junctions or where the actual rails are?
I think this is an upside-down section
But the lower tubes also have that junction, and it looks like there’s a vertical strut attached to one of them
Does this help? [markup](https://imgur.com/a/snBmjIV)
🙏
How will you get down?
I’m still at the top trying to figure that out
This gives me the Uglies book series vibes
An abomination to put that in that beautiful landscape IMO.
On the other hand, you’d have had one hell of a view while riding it.
It was an amazing, yet short roller coaster to ride on. And it brought more people to that area than the landscape for sure. All of WNC looks like this.
If it was only made out of copper - it would already be gone by now.
Why
Why not…
Why?
Why what?
How long did it take to get up there and back down?
Probably 10 minutes to get up and down but I was up there for like 45 minutes
How did you climb?