GhostRider is a wooden roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California.

Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards has consistently ranked GhostRider among the world's top wooden roller coasters.

According to historian Eric Lynxwile, who wrote a book about Knott's Berry Farm, a wooden roller coaster was the only major attraction type that was absent from the park.

[1] The Knott family had begun planning for a wooden coaster almost five years before GhostRider was ultimately completed in 1998.

[2] Knott's officials hoped that the construction of a wooden coaster would increase the park's annual attendance to 4 million.

[1][7] The ride would be the park's fifth roller coaster,[4] as well as the first attraction to be built in Knott's Ghost Town section since 1969.

[2][4][9] It would replace the Pan for Gold attraction[8] and a decorative volcano built by the park's founder, Walter Knott.

[1] Knott's vice president for maintenance and construction at the time, Robin Hall, said he wanted the project to serve as a "billboard" for the park on Beach Boulevard, along the park's eastern boundary; the project would also allow Knott's to relocate warehouses in the attraction's path.

The first phase of the project involved clearing land and relocating the warehouses, which took about a year and comprised much of the ride's budget.

[17] At the time of its opening, GhostRider was advertised as the longest wooden roller coaster on the West Coast of the United States.

[25][26] The ride temporarily closed in September 2015 so Great Coasters International (GCI) could refurbish the attraction.

Buena Park officials had to ensure that the renovation plans complied with building codes and that the ride was resistant to earthquakes.

[1][28][29] GCI also replaced the chain lift, added magnetic brakes, and removed steel in the ride's structure as part of the project.

The queue begins in a mining tunnel and features an area where guests can pan for gold while waiting in line.

[24] At the end of the tunnel, the queue enters the lower level of the fictitious GhostRider Mining Company.

[37] The train then turns left and rises over an airtime hill before making a sweeping left-hand turnaround.

[8] The ride was constructed with around 2.5 million board feet of Southern yellow pine from North Carolina and Alabama,[10] as well as 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of nails.

[36][35] The ride crosses over Grand Avenue (which connects southbound Beach Boulevard to the parking lots) four times.

[39] The original trains, manufactured by PTC,[11] were each painted a different color representing a mining metal (gold, silver, and copper).

[40] In the aftermath of the accident, CCI recommended that the boards be secured,[23] and park officials installed metal safety devices on GhostRider.