Crime Syndicate
When the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in 1926 the town of Gatlinburg was less of a town and more of a remote village. According to tnmagazine.org only a year prior in 1925 was the first semblance of a road between Gatlinburg and the outside world constructed. At this point Gatlinburg was still in it's hillbilly days of shine stills and shootouts. By around 1928 the aura of the Smokey Mountains began to draw visitors in, it was noted at this point by the Oakland Tribune that Gatlinburg now had; "A fine new church, two excellent summer hotels, many new homes, three general stores, a barber’s shop, two small gift shops, and two antique shops".
Among these newly erected buildings was the Mountain View Hotel, built in 1926 it was described in a postcard as "The pioneer hotel of the Smokies. It offers and ideal base for full enjoyment of the unexcelled beauties and recreations of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This Inn is open the year around, affording opportunity to see the blue-veiled Smokies in their Spring and Summer freshness, in Autumn's gorgeous colors and in Winter with their snow-capped mountains. Mountain View Hotel is strictly modern, with steam heat and bath in every room and a spacious dining room where delicious Southern meals are served.".
As time progressed more and more people began to flock to the Smokey Mountains and in turn Gatlinburg. Eventually people simply became bored of relaxing in nature, after all it just isn't the American way to visit something that doesn't have bright lights and tourist traps. In the 80s Pigeon Forge's Silver Dollar City became Dollywood, after the switchover the park boasted 1.3 million visitors the first year, it had quickly become evident that this area had major potential for the amusement and entertainment industry which drew in investors from around the world. In 1993 the historic Mountain View Hotel was demolished to make way for a brand new amusement park, because after all who needs history when you can have bumper boats and cheap midway games!
Fun Mountain was constructed on the site of the former Hotel by Reagan Resorts. The park was more of a fair or fun center than what we typically imagine an amusement park to be. The park featured many small rides like Bumper Cars, Go Karts, Miniature Golf, Bumper Boats, Tilt-A-Whirls, an Electric Train Ride, a large arcade, chairlifts, and even a small ferries wheel.
All that remains of the Arcade today.
The operational History of the park is rather vague however, "
Onlyinyourstate" notes the park was plagued by financial problems from the start. It's location being tucked away from downtown and extreme competition during that time may be to blame for this.
The flywheel that powered the chairlift.
In 2004 the parks website describes itself as; "A Teenager's Paradise. If you are a teenager or young adult, Fun Mountain is for you! Zoom hundreds of feet high in our breathtaking "Rickey's Rocket," play the latest, most popular games in the area's largest most modern arcade, and thrill to more exciting rides than any other place in the Smokies! It's new, and it's for you!".
Most websites claim the park closed in 2000 however, Fun Mountain was still listed on Reagan Resorts website until mid 2004. After it's closure the park sat vacant until 2008 when it was partially demolished. All the rides were torn out and auctioned off to other parks. After the rides were removed the arcade and every building except the chairlift and a warehouse were demolished.
I was never able to get inside the warehouse, I wonder if there was anything left behind inside.
At some point in time the park was bought up by a paid parking company. Surprisingly they didn't demolish the remaining buildings, you would think most companies would be terrified at the prospect of having precious tourists that close to a decaying structure. While doing research for this post I stumbled across a rather hilarious article from
insidethemagic describing a woman's encounter with this "Sketchy Crime Park".
The remains of the Bumper Boats pool.
My favorite part of the article is "Angel wanted to know more, but was worried about what she may find. She stated, “As I took steps one by one my heart began to beat faster. I approached the corner of the overgrown bushes to find a lift and the chair that were still intact. It was like finding a buried treasure but hanging in mid-air. I wanted to go further up the hill but thought alone might not be my brightest idea.". I explored this place back in 2018 and was lucky enough not to encounter any shine stills, rebel hideouts or any other lurking sketchy crime park inhabitants.
Unfortunately to access the site I had to drive into a paid parking area, I don't remember the exact price and honestly I never checked. Because I didn't feel like paying for a parking ticket
or fine I didn't stick around for very long and just grabbed a few shots before leaving. After all every time I am in Gatlinburg to begin with its on a trip with family members so urbex is usually my last priority.
After roughly 15 mins of walking and driving around I quickly exited the lot without ever paying, I never did receive a ticket for that however the car was also not registered to me so sorry to whatever family members car I was using if they ever got a random ticket.
I have been kind of out of it exploring wise this month so I hope you enjoyed this old explore.
Mutagen Out!
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