North Carolina’s most-repeated abandoned list is out of date. Several of the places still passed around on Reddit have been rebuilt, reopened or absorbed into working parkland. Here is what is actually there, and what you can legally walk into.
What is actually there
North Wilkesboro Speedway is not abandoned. The track was revived and returned to NASCAR competition in 2023, was repaved in 2024, ran a sold-out Cup Series race in July 2026, and is already selling 2027 tickets. This 2017 photo essay shows the state it was in before the revival.
Ghost Town in the Sky in Maggie Valley is the real one. The mountaintop park is still closed and still derelict, rides and chairlift in place. Ownership has been in litigation since owner Alaska Presley died in 2022, and the 2024 death of managing partner Frankie Wood stalled a proposed revitalisation.
The Road to Nowhere near Bryson City is not a ruin. The unfinished Lakeview Drive and its tunnel are National Park Service features inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, reached from a maintained trailhead.
Portsmouth Village on Portsmouth Island has had no residents since 1971, but it is maintained rather than abandoned: 21 structures are kept by the Park Service, and the visitor centre, schoolhouse, church and life-saving station open to visitors in summer.
Castle Mont Rouge in Rougemont is gated and fenced. Visitor reports from 2021 describe the access road closed, the site posted as private property, and remodelling under way. Whether that work finished is unconfirmed.
Laurinburg-Maxton Aircraft Boneyard is a working salvage yard on an operating general-aviation airport, not a forgotten field of hulks.
What you can visit legally
The Road to Nowhere and Portsmouth Village are open to the public. North Wilkesboro Speedway is a ticketed venue. Ghost Town in the Sky is closed private property. Castle Mont Rouge is private and gated, so entry needs permission. The Laurinburg-Maxton yard is private and sits on active airport property, which means permission there too.
One practical note on Portsmouth: the island has no electricity and no running water, you reach it by passenger ferry from Ocracoke or by 4WD, and hurricane season runs June through November.
See the full list of abandoned places in North Carolina, with a verified status and check date for every site.