The Americas

This month you can follow the yellow brick road to the Land of Oz – if you happen to be in Beech Mountain, North Carolina.

 

A photo posted by Lori Walker (@lorihas_4) on Sep 11, 2015 at 7:03am PDT

 

A Wizard of Oz-themed park that closed down in the 1980s will be open for tours every Friday for the month of June – and the first day has already sold out. The Land of Oz was a fully operational theme park from 1970 to 1980, according to its website. Now the family-owned property is opens once a year for the Autumn at Oz Festival, as well as being available for private bookings.

 

A photo posted by Autumn At Oz (@autumn_at_oz) on Oct 5, 2014 at 1:26pm PDT

 

For the month of June, the park will be offering tours on every Friday, called a Journey with Dorothy, giving more people the opportunity to see sights like the famed yellow brick road. There will be six tours each Friday for four weeks, but 3 June has already sold out. Tickets go on sale each Monday before the Friday tours. In addition to the tour, travellers can also take a chairlift ride from the Beech Mountain Resort to see an aerial view of the park.

 

A photo posted by Autumn At Oz (@autumn_at_oz) on Oct 5, 2014 at 11:55am PDT

 

The theme park is based on the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a children’s book written by L. Frank Baum, which was made into the famed 1939 film the Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland.

 

Despite the fact that the park is often described in the media as “abandoned”, it is anything but, according to a 2015 report from the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. Such descriptions have drawn vandals to the park, particularly people trying to take bricks from the yellow brick road. While it no longer functions as an amusement park, June brings tours, the Autumn at Oz festival draws in fall crowds and Dorothy’s farmhouse is actually available for rent for those who want to spend the night in the whimsical land. The park is also booked for private functions like weddings and birthday parties.