The REAL Old West Ghost Town of Love Valley NC - No Cars Allowed / Cowboy Capital & Woodstock South

today's adventure brings me to a very rainy overcast dreary north carolina morning corner of mountain view road and wilkesboro highway turning off of wilkesboro onto mountain view to a town that once i get a little closer to the downtown section does not allow motor vehicles only walking and or horses the town was established in 1954 and chartered in the early 60s the town of love valley cowboy capital here in north carolina i need to get my umbrella it's wet and as the recording of this it is thursday february 3rd 2022 and even though my windshield has dampened it will the rain will not dampen my mood for a little old west fun i'm pretty excited about this up here just a ways the paved road will end [Music] the goodness will begin yeah i would imagine that's right i'm talking to you cows over there i know you're trying to graze a little bit or at least feed on some hay but you must feel right at home adjacent to a cowboy town a real life cowboy town i see you down there i see you down there cow i'm going the right way correct am i going the right way just head this way keep going okay cows have a good day all right i'll talk to you talk to you later here's some birds some owls speed limit 25 that direction where i am heading is right over here with the sign says please leave our trails clean part of the love valley horsemen's association and there is a big heart right here i would imagine there will be a parking area up the way a bit before getting into the dirt trails of love valley andy barker was the man to thank for this little community he wanted to create a western town like those he had seen in the movies and on tv the old cereal western serials in fact this is andy's hardware he passed away 10 years ago but his creation his dream still lives on to this day about a quarter of a mile up that way is where i'm gonna be parking this is a pretty good place to do the intro and welcome everyone adam the woo here not really sure why i need these on but i'm inviting you to join me as i go into the old west shall you a list of rules the town rules or maybe it says love valley town rules i think it's supposed to mean love valley town rules 50 fine for littering garbage to be discarded in the correct places no loose horses no mistreatment no running of horses within town limits i did not bring my horse main street is closed to motor vehicles this is a real life frontierland disneyland magic kingdom those places you can't ride a horse through there known as the cowboy capital look at this got an instrument this wrought iron is that a possum upside down playing the banjo this is the town hall right here with this grill in front of us that's all the sign right there town hall just going down this very small descent into the valley going over to the parking area hello there are you a resident i think that was a resident it's a local this is called blacksmith cove see the sign right down there blacksmith cove okay i found the parking area right here precipitation has begun to fall again i have i have this to shield me from the elements now right here this little mud patch the rain is creating quite a bit of mud is the parking area and no automobiles are allowed any further than this so i am going to tread through here my tennis shoes are probably going to get a little muddy it's all part of the experience miss kitties has some vacancy it's a bed and breakfast makes miss kitties just like the old western show gunsmoke [Applause] you could stay here if you so choose you could stay in a old western town almost looks like a little bit of clay through here as well that red clay this is pretty dang cool does not really seem to be a beehive of activity out here by any means room and board [Applause] look at that that is so cool there's ted williams promoting his root beer hello partner i even got the porch swings over here that's nice it's a nice vibe with the words across there draping down love valley the old west this is about as old west modern day as you can get again stated no horses on boardwalk over here no motorized vehicles on main street i love this is called main street and no open containers a little bit of mud i feel like i feel like that's just part of the vibe of how it would have been unpaved roads there's that dog again dog has moved up here to the main street corridor there's some firewood supposedly there are about 100 150 residents total okay this has a little info a cowboy and a cowgirl dream come true created by andy and eleanor barker him and his wife is this a showdown on main street dog okay you've turned away i thought it was going to be one of those old western movie moments where i'm standing here all the town folk are watching us we're gonna draw okay keep looking away it'll kill me from eye contact draw draw dog like a friendly friendly pooch look at this place for real look what am i standing in right now this is like a movie set it's like an old west movie set incredible behind this fence line is a small waterfall beautiful waterfall back in here in a rock garden kind of shifting back the other way where i just walked from this is looking back at the entry point where no vehicles are allowed those cars over there are not in the public parking that is a private residence where there's either a store front or maybe even apartments up there and once again one of the one of the locals saying hello i am the only one out here that i see it's me and this dog nothing is open here hello they do have an atm [Applause] oh how's it going [Applause] all right i found another another human and i did not bring my horse but they do have a horse here for 50 cents that you can ride this horse is making quite the quite the face i'm gonna get out of this rain i'm gonna get out of i have my umbrella but i'm gonna get out of the out of the elements some weeping fans right there okay now there is an automobile probably one of the other residents that's tucked away back behind there does it appear like this place is open for business not a lot of tourism now i know it is raining and that could have a lot to do with it there is molly's leather right there but other than that i don't really see a lot of stores through here and i've got to find a saloon if there's an old saloon so next to the leather shop this place does not look like a business maybe a residence and these do not have any signage saying it's a business all of these on this side though that church pew there but through here this could have been or possibly still is just not open today henry martin trail nothing's open through here nothing though this says differently the general store says open it's not open also a cafe the general store and cafe [Applause] [Applause] getting quite the feelings right now this is kind of unusual i gotta be honest a little unusual it's like i've stumbled into a desolate abandoned town but it's a real community where people live it's hard to explain the vibes sure the rain and dreariness does not help at all this is called the silver spur saloon and restaurant they have fine food casual dining and live country music on occasions today is not that day the interesting thing down at the very end by the not this red door but the other one down at the end of the the little platform here there is some music playing i tried opening the door it was completely completely locked so now i'm going to pass by the dance hall signage and that fan and go past this other red door to the chicken coop back here this says bad water drink drink at the bar back around here is the chicken coop are there any chickens in here chickens okay this says open even though it's not illuminated it does spell out the word open obviously the chickens are something you do not want to mess with because this is stated in the chicken coop huh [Applause] i'm not seeing any chickens maybe it's just a nickname of what the chickens are back here is something called beth's trail okay i'm back out of the elements again put this up best trail now the valley is just at the end of main street down here you can see how up on like a little berm a little area now somewhere around here probably down there in the valley was north carolina's version of woodstock back in the day happened in that valley thousands of people showed up and congregated down there just past the western town to listen to some music you go down this little clay pathway here this red clay behind the chicken coop this also says captain chaos was captain chaos's stick figure that was drawn on the side of that window faintly can hear the music going from the silver spur bar very faintly but the doors are locked and the only human i've seen was the gentleman that let his dog inside this is the carolina thread trail that way and that is the entire distance of the main street town that i can see that as far as i can tell that's the extent of it this old west town where people live and not many businesses open at least as of this moment here is a photo of that music festival that a lot of referred to as north carolina's woodstock three days back in july of 1970 many musical acts including the allman brothers and it was said by the pinnacle of the attendants 200 000 folks were down there in the valley itself right down in this section stretching all through there now at that point i would imagine this what i would consider now a ghost town was full of life full of energy and from what i was reading online that was not the only time this place on occasions has quite a few people enjoying its history horseback riding vendors will be out here it's just this right now during winter time and rainy time probably not the best as far as tourism goes but i was in the area from my hotels about an hour hour and 15 minute drive i had to check this out this place is so cool at the end is the jet barker memorial garden here the barkers of course are responsible for creating this town this appears to have been a windmill and the top of the windmill there you can see it through the foliage and the trees the top of the windmill has been removed now the thread trail if i'm reading this correctly is a regional network of greenways and trails linking 15 counties in north carolina and south carolina you can go ride your horses you don't probably want to drive a car through here because you'd probably get stuck is very muddy with that red clay there okay i'm going to try to traverse over to this side now that's going to be maybe i'll go over there and then kind of cut across that's what i'm going to do so reminiscent of the back lot at universal studios hollywood six points texas set or maybe even the old demolished laramie streets at warner brothers in burbank but this is still here and a real town an active town one would sigh they've a lot of a lot of mud trudging through this mud just really trying to get find all the little nooks and crannies of this area now this does not appear to be a personal residence people have wrote their names on the side of this window and it's locked up right over here and inside the window yeah it doesn't seem to be does it seem to be lived in such a cool experience being in here i don't know i just love this kind of stuff obviously you got the big barn right over there the american flag on it the old west waiting for marshall dylan to walk down walk right down the center of this i think that was his name marshall dylan this appears to be a saddle shop written right there on the side of that wood the saddle shop once again i probably am here at the wrong time of the year that's why there are locks on the doors and no tourists but it is open anyone can walk around through here it is an active town technically not a tourist attraction even though a lot of tourists come here there is no admission fee it is free to just wander around just fascinating oh i like this old seat here it's kind of like a little house on the prairie can you just picture michael landon wandering through here i can or hoss cartwright love it i love this so much i love it oh i'm just noticing the second level of the general store appears to not be maybe they might not let anybody up there it's kind of crooked i don't know if it's structurally sound it might be but it appears to be that there is a homestead up top there let me hold on to this and zoom in just a little bit and you can see how yeah it's kind of slanted that top up there so maybe no one is maybe that's why the general store is not open at the moment possibly also i see some hummingbird feeders up top locks on pretty much every door this is a nice seat too with the wagon wheels on it and the horseshoe here upside down though there is a significance with an upside down or right side up horseshoe one for good luck one for bad luck let's just hope that is for good luck that one there i have to wonder how much it would cost to live here i have to wonder that just to have a homestead in love valley isn't this given the best vibe just this rain adding to it this store says ice cream printed on the side of the wood there and a nice little porch up top there this is another general store as well oh here we go they have moonshine in here they did have moonshine in here carved out on that wood there's a ladder there as well and this says come on in but the doors are all locked in fact the door knob has been taken off so that would be very difficult to follow those follow those protocols going on in there there's a little decor over there of a spider web fake spider web but well this looks like a barrel used for barrel racing with horses and i could just picture it you know use your imagination like i'm doing you just picture some barrel racing going through here a little showdown on main street kind of like that dog and i had earlier before the owner let him in to his store shelby's place right over there that's a pretty good size homestead though that whole top floor there all right that's it that's love that's the extent of love valley interesting a little peek at one of these stores windows at some of the products that are there and a subtle hint at my name over here on this red wagon atw right there adam the woo oh right here is where you tie the horses up no you can't have the horses on the i was thinking maybe you tie the horses up onto this if you can't have the horses on the boardwalk the horses will be put there where was the saloon okay the saloon was at the end didn't see any of those western swinging doors i also have the the flags up there not waving in the breeze not a not a lot of wind going through here with the north carolina and u.s flag up top there i got to be honest this is a lot more desolate than i was expecting i was thinking that there would be some tourism at least a few more locals would be wandering the streets and some stores would be open to maybe buy a souvenir a magnet postcard something like that a t-shirt that was not the case that was not the case today here in lubb valley north carolina but dang this place is so cool this would be a great fictional set for a tv show modern day about the western times or a movie i'm sure it has been used in some sort of production if it hasn't it needs to be that bird agrees look at this just look at look at what i'm witnessing right now with my own eyes this is a real western town in the valley of love in north carolina i'm back in my car now with the window rolled down because it feels good outside but i just want to get out of the elements still in the parking lot i think another car is pulling in or truck pulling in right now not a horse but a vehicle they're gonna park and then probably walk out could be a resident nonetheless take a look at the souvenir program from the love valley rock festival back in 1970 25 cents that is amazing look at that here's some more photographs showing there were just a few people down main street with those old buildings there look at that congregation oh folks there's the there's the western town right there considerably more people there on that day in 1970 than today i was the only one besides the one homeowner and and his dog and here's another one not from the concert but from one from back in the day the cowboys walking around their horses and cowboy hats pretty dang cool partner there's also a little side turn off road here torrey pass that goes down an incline before getting into the the western town so i'm going to take a left here and go down the hill also should reiterate that this is the off season and i looked up online it appears as if they did an event here in november and december but right now it's winter so that's why no one's here just a heads up wanted to wanted to confirm that certain times of the year there's definitely a lot more a lot more happening here just so happens i pulled through here today okay gotta go down this hill into the valley itself oh that's a big bump oh that's sorry big the foot sorry about that a little bit of a pothole there oh oh it's just never mind it's a speed bump or a speed hump one of the one of those two speed thanks just another one we traversed it well think the foot now as best i can tell i'm standing kind of in the spot where the stage was granted this is 1970 but notice this little berm up there the old western town right over here there through the clearing and i'm going to show so you look up here at this little ledge this little cliff ledge 200 000 people right here back in 1970 this is the best angle i can find the exhaust from my car giving a little steam it's currently 43 degrees not freezing but kind of cold but right about here you can see was that angle from that photograph pretty neat to think about the woodstock of the south some called it here in north carolina i can even faintly see a staircase going down the side that's pretty steep but that entire hill is covered with people enjoying some music here in north carolina these horses are so cute with their little horse blankets on i used to work at a feed store you know 10 11 years ago one of the last jobs i ever had i was selling horse hay and feed and cow feed and we sold horse planks people come in and buy horse blankets because horses get cold too in the elements they see horses those horses are standing right here on music history and old western town history at the top of that hill top of the valley love valley i'm sure they probably know that they probably know they live here and now back up the hill and gonna head out of love valley north carolina it's been fun love valley maybe i'll return one day when things are a little more happening in the on season possibly even stay at miss kitties there is a vacancy such a cool place and as i'm departing over here is a gentleman on a metal horse well he's made of metal as well the hitch in rail customer parking only no one parked there at the moment under a little bit of construction this is right on the outskirts of that area you can drive here this is pit this is well i don't want to say it's paved but this is drivable see some cars so you can have an automobile through here on the corner of ponder lane yeah look at that that's the name that's the real name of it i have been known to do some pondering in my day i think we all have another love valley wooden sign right there and as exiting the property there's the signage [Music] and that's gonna do it for today from love valley cowboy capital here in north carolina back to where i started on the current corner of wilkesboro and mountain view a town established in 1954. the vlog is over

Channel: TheDailyWoo

Views: 548,937

Keywords: love valley, north carolina, north, carolina, love, valley, old west, western, town, cows, festival, woodstock, of south, location, ghost town, real, cowboy, saloon, vlog, vlogger, travel, road trip, main street, downtown, adamthewoo, adam the woo, thedailywoo, adam, the, daily, woo, no cars, andy barker, store, roadside attraction, roadside, attraction, winter, rain

Id: G8tbKu_nh0M

Length: 31min 9sec (1869 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 04 2022