Three brothers built a literal yellow brick road on a North Carolina mountain (and it’s still there)

Grover Robbins’ Yellow Brick Road on Beech Mountain

In 1965, three brothers saw gold in a North Carolina ski slope that sat empty all summer.

Grover Robbins and his siblings wanted more than snow cash, so they hired designer Jack Pentes to dream up something big.

“They grabbed me,” he said, seeing talking apple trees from Oz in their gnarled branches. Work soon began on a $5 million park with 44,000 yellow bricks forming a winding road.

Though Grover died before seeing his vision complete, the Land of Oz opened in June 1970 with Debbie Reynolds and young Carrie Fisher cutting the ribbon.

The park quickly became the East Coast’s top attraction, where fantasy and mountain magic still await visitors today.

Three Brothers Cooked Up a Mountain Resort Empire

The Robbins brothers bought a big piece of Beech Mountain land in 1962.

Grover, Harry, and Spencer saw the perfect spot for a mountain getaway where families could escape city life.

In 1965, they started the Carolina Caribbean Corporation with plans for their 10,000 acres: a ski resort, thousands of homes, a golf course, and a theme park.

The brothers already ran Tweetsie Railroad and Hound Ears Resort. They needed something to bring folks in during summer when skiing wasn’t an option.

Twisted Trees Sparked a Magical Idea

Grover called Charlotte designer Jack Pentes in 1965 to help create a summer attraction.

While hiking the mountain, Pentes stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the gnarled beech trees, bent from years of harsh weather.

“The hairs began to stand up on the back of my neck,” he said later.

These twisted trees looked just like the talking apple trees from The Wizard of Oz movie. Grover loved the concept and told Pentes to go for it.

The Original Scarecrow Kicked Off Construction

Ray Bolger, who played the Scarecrow in the 1939 Wizard of Oz film, came in 1968 to break ground.

He dug the first dirt with what people called a “psychedelic shovel” because of its bright colors. The team cut down only one large tree during the whole project.

Pentes designed everything from a kid’s view. He tucked character homes, the Witch’s castle, and an Emerald City theater into natural clearings.

Yellow Bricks Paved the Way to Fantasy

Workers spent two years and $5 million building the park – about $34 million in today’s money. They laid down 44,000 special yellow bricks to create the winding three-quarter-mile Yellow Brick Road.

Pentes worked with Charlotte composer Loonis McGlohon and choreographer Alice Lamar to fill the park with music and shows.

They turned a ski lift into hot air balloon rides, built a spinning tornado experience, and set up a museum with real costumes from the MGM film.

Cancer Took Oz’s Visionary Leader

Tragedy hit in March 1970 when Grover Robbins died from cancer.

The creative force behind Land of Oz passed away just months before his dream would open to the public. His death crushed the team who had worked for years on the project.

Without Grover pushing for quality and defending the artistic vision, the park’s standing within the company began to slip.

The Carolina Caribbean Corporation moved ahead with the opening plans.

Hollywood Royalty Cut the Opening Ribbon

Land of Oz welcomed its first visitors on June 15, 1970. Movie star Debbie Reynolds cut the ribbon with her 13-year-old daughter Carrie Fisher beside her.

Little Carrie would become Princess Leia in Star Wars just seven years later. About 4,000 people came on opening day.

Reynolds had worked with Grover at an MGM auction, making a deal not to bid against him for Oz props if she could borrow them when the park closed for winter.

Tourists Flocked to the Mountaintop by the Thousands

The park became a huge hit, bringing in 400,000 visitors during its first year.

The Washington Post called it the “Outstanding Tourist Attraction of 1970” and ranked it the number one tourist spot in the nation.

Famous people like Muhammad Ali came to check it out, walking the same yellow brick road as families from across America.

The Walt Disney Company even sent a team to study how a theme park with just one ride could draw such big crowds.

Money Problems and Mystery Fire Doomed the Park

Things fell apart in 1975 when the Carolina Caribbean Corporation went bankrupt after some bad investments in the Caribbean.

Then on December 28, 1975, someone set fire to the Emerald City amphitheater. Nobody ever found the stolen treasures or caught the fire-starter.

Police thought a fired employee wanted revenge.

That same night, thieves broke into the museum and stole valuable items including Judy Garland’s blue gingham dress and a bronze bust of the actress.

New Owners Couldn’t Recapture the Magic

A new company bought the damaged park and rebuilt the Emerald City, but something was missing.

The soundtrack recordings started skipping during shows, paint peeled, and the yellow brick road began to crack.

Jack Pentes came back to look at fixing things up, but the new owners balked at the cost. The crowds got smaller each year until 1980, when the park closed its gates.

Ten years of Oz magic had ended, leaving empty buildings on a lonely mountaintop.

Abandoned Oz Became a Ghost Town

The harsh mountain weather wasn’t kind to the empty park. Winter winds, heavy snow, and summer storms battered the buildings year after year.

Vandals broke in, stealing anything they could carry and smashing what they couldn’t. The once-bright yellow brick road faded to a dull gray.

Dorothy’s house sagged, the Tin Man rusted, and the Scarecrow lost his stuffing. But even as the park crumbled, people couldn’t stay away.

Urban explorers and Oz fans sneaked in, hoping to find a bit of magic among the ruins.

Autumn Weekends Brought Oz Back to Life

On July 4, 1991, the park opened for a single day as part of Beech Mountain’s Independence Day celebration.

The response was so strong that in 1994, former employees held a reunion at the old park.
They called themselves “Ozzies,” and their gathering sparked an idea: why not open the park for a weekend each year?

The Autumn at Oz festival was born, growing from a small reunion to an event that now draws thousands each September.

Visiting Land of Oz Theme Park, North Carolina

The Land of Oz theme park at 1 Yellow Brick Road transforms Beech Mountain’s 5,506-foot summit into a Wizard of Oz wonderland.

Hurricane Helene forced cancellation of the 2025 Autumn at Oz Festival, but the park plans to reopen in 2026 with its usual September three-weekend format.

You can park at Beech Mountain Ski Resort on 1007 Beech Mountain Parkway.

The original Gale farm, tornado experience, and Emerald City remain preserved, while Emerald Outback hiking trails stay open year-round.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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