Story and Photos Provided by Joseph Hudson of the Travelers Rest Historical Society
Echo Valley Western Theme Park operated from 1964-1968. Located on the site of the old Georgia Pacific band mill in Cleveland, SC, Echo Valley provided great family entertainment for thousands of people from near and far. In late 1963, Harry Stewart, one of the founders of Ghost Town in Maggie Valley, North Carolina approached local businessmen Melvin Jarrard, Martin Baker, Heyward Ballard, the Lawton Brothers and others about starting a western theme park similar to Ghost Town in the northern part of Greenville County.
In the mid-60s westerns filled American television with shows such as Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Bonanza! and The Virginian, while movie theatres played greats such as True Grit, The Magnificent Seven, A Fistful of Dollars, McKlintock!, and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Everyone wanted to experience for themselves the excitement they saw on television and in theatres, so Western themed parks popped up all over the place. At Echo Valley there was no shortage of activities and entertainment for everyone. There was a chairlift over Echo Lake to the top of Echo Ridge with a great mountain view, multiple “shootouts” daily on Main Street, a saloon, photo shop, print shop, bumper cars, a ferris wheel, go-karts, a mini-train ride for kids called “The Bunny Rabbit Railroad”, horse rides, a church where local pastors would preach on Sunday afternoons and all sorts of performers and singers.
The main attraction of the park was “The Swamp Rabbit Railroad”, a 9-mile round trip train ride, pulled by an authentic steam locomotive, former Cliffside Railroad #110, that was dressed up to look like it was straight out of the old west, with open air passenger cars and a caboose. Along the ride, passengers were treated to great mountain scenery and even a “train robbery”!
Later on, as crowds waned, other attractions were added to the property, including a 1/5 mile racetrack where local drivers came to prove who had the fastest hot rod and who was the best driver. The speedway even played host to a driver who would later become a NASCAR legend, local racer Butch Lindley, who ran some of his very first races at Echo Valley Speedway.
Unfortunately, the ever-thinning crowds were unable to keep the park afloat, and at the end of 1968 season, Echo Valley Park was closed for good. The #110 train was sold to Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta, the passenger coaches and caboose to another railroad, the other rides were dismantled and sold off, and the buildings were torn down. If you go to Cleveland today, the only visible remnant of the park is a concrete pillar in the middle of Echo Lake that once held up part of the chair lift.
Though the park itself is gone, the memories that were created there live on in the countless people who were lucky enough to walk through its gates.
