Knott's Berry Farm · Ghost Town
GhostRider
The West's signature wooden coaster — a dark 108-foot first drop out of the Ghost Town mountain into the longest woodie course in California.
Ride facts
- Type
- Roller coaster
- Height
- 48in (122cm)
- Intensity
- Intense
- Motion sickness
- Moderate motion risk
- Getting wet
- Stay dry
- Indoor / outdoor
- Mixed
- Air conditioned
- No
- Rider Switch
- Available
Last verified July 2026
What it is
GhostRider opened in 1998 as the capstone of Ghost Town's revival and ran famously rough for its first eighteen years; the 2016 rebuild by Great Coasters International replaced the track and returned the ride to its intended form. The result is the park's signature and one of the best wooden coasters on the West Coast.
The opening is the famous part: the lift and first drop happen inside the mine-themed mountain in darkness, and the train erupts into daylight over Ghost Town already at speed. The course that follows is 4,533 feet of hills, laterals and a double-down finale through the structure's lowest reaches.
It is the ride that defines the park's sound — the roar carries through Ghost Town all day. At night, with the town lit, it is the best single experience in Buena Park.
What riding it is actually like
The station sits inside the mountain: dark, cool, themed as the mine's boarding house. The lift climbs in darkness and the first drop falls in it — a full profile of airtime and banking experienced blind, daylight arriving as the train crests the second hill over the rooftops.
The middle course plays the structure: camelback hills with real float, a heavily banked turnaround behind the buildings, and sections where the track passes close enough to the Ghost Town roofs that riders look into the windows at speed.
The finale is the double-down into the low structures and the brake run. Two minutes and thirty-three seconds, which for a woodie is a marathon. Re-ride at night.
Is GhostRider scary?
A 108-foot first drop in total darkness (the drop exits the station-mountain indoors), then a long, roaring wooden course. The ride is physical rather than frightening — airtime and laterals with the structure roaring underneath.
Scores are editorial, on a 1–5 scale, judged against what frightens a typical four- to seven-year-old rather than an adult.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair
- Must transfer to the ride vehicle
- Audio description
- Not offered
- Handheld captioning
- Not offered
- Assistive listening
- Not offered
- Sign language
- Not offered
- Service animals
- Must use a kennel or wait with a companion
Transfer into wooden-coaster trains with individual lap-bar restraints.
Tips that actually help
- Rope-drop it; the queue is the park's longest by a wide margin and grows all morning.
- Save the second ride for the last hour — GhostRider after dark is the park's signature moment.
- The 2016 track rides smooth; the structure still roars. Both facts are the appeal.
Timing
- Best time to ride
- Rope drop, and the final hour.
- Typical wait
- 45–90 minutes midday in season; 10–20 at open.
- line-skip passes
- Covered by a line-skip pass
GhostRider: common questions
Is GhostRider rough?
Not anymore. The 2016 rebuild replaced the track, and the ride now runs smooth while keeping the wooden-coaster character. Pre-2016 stories of jackhammering are history.
What is the height requirement for GhostRider?
48 inches, with individual lap-bar restraints. It is the big-kid threshold ride at Knott's — the one a freshly-measured 48-incher graduates onto.
Why is the first drop dark?
The station and first drop sit inside the mine-themed mountain at the edge of Ghost Town. The train exits into daylight over the town — one of the best opening sequences on any wooden coaster.