The USA is famed for its larger-than-life theme parks – but not all of them have had staying power and, like America's Gold Rush-era ghost towns, these abandoned attractions have an intrigue all of their own. From a forgotten Holy Land to a slew of fated water parks, we peek inside some of America's deserted adventure playgrounds.

The Hurricane, a 100-foot-tall (30m) wooden roller coaster, was the main attraction at Boomers! Park in Dania Beach. It was the longest wooden roller coaster in Florida when it first opened in 2000 and, although it was part of the Boomers! Park, it was owned and operated independently. It was shut down by its operators in 2011 with the owners citing "business reasons". It's thought the humid climate in Florida made maintaining the roller coaster unviable.

The rest of the park stayed open, attracting visitors to its colourful mini-golf course and arcades until April 2015, when the park was closed. It was reported that new developers would invest in a £189 million-project ($250m) called The Landings. The development would have retail stores, restaurants, at least one hotel, plenty of apartments and possibly even offices. 

The park had laid dormant for long enough to let the vegetation take over a little. Although several plans to demolish the roller coaster and the buildings on site had been made over the years, it wasn't until recently that new development started taking shape. Now called Dania Pointe, it's a 102-acre space with offices, luxury apartments, retail stores and restaurants.

The fun was destined to stop though, as steep costs and dwindling visitor numbers forced the Nelsons to close the park in 2006. Various attractions have now been donated or sold to preservation societies or museums, but the site is still dotted with some ruinous rides and peeling ticket boxes, which stir nostalgia in long-time Wichita residents. However, the abandoned park could be given new life as plans to redevelop the site with carnival rides and a paintball range are now afloat.

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More than a century later – and ignorant of the site’s macabre past – entrepreneur Conley Snidow bought the land with the intention of establishing a theme park here. Lake Shawnee Amusement Park opened in the 1920s, finished with a giant Ferris wheel, a swing carousel, a vast swimming pool and other kitsch attractions. But the bloodshed was to continue. Over the years, numerous patrons died on the purportedly “cursed” site, including a young girl who was hit by a truck as she played on the swings, and a little boy who drowned in the pool.

The fated park finally closed in 1966. Yet in the 1980s, the by-then rusting site was snapped up once more by businessman Gaylord White. He intended to return the park to its former glory but, when construction began, White’s workers found humans remains and Native American artefacts, and the project was promptly abandoned. Long left to waste and moulder, the park now attracts a different kind of thrill seeker: tours run here regularly, regaling the site’s spine-chilling tale.

Built in the late 1960s by eccentric estate agent O.J. Snow, this curious theme park was based on comic strip Li'l Abner, which followed the lives of rural folk in the fictional town of Dogpatch. Eschewing the extravagant coasters and thrill rides of competing parks, Dogpatch was a land of lazy rivers, rickety water slides and quaint candy shops. But it was hapless from the start. Its low-key vibe failed to attract the paying public and the park was passed between owners, fading all the while.

Eventually, its time was up, and the gates were closed in 1993. Shortly afterwards, the owners attempted to sell the park on eBay, but its decaying slides, creaking shells and character statues garnered no interest. Today the site has a new owner, and though it remains in a sorry state for now, the idea of its restoration and reopening has been floated over the years. There's now even a documentary film about the park, too, and hopes that there'll be a happy ending for this sorry story. 

Today, little remains of the hallowed site, bar a few towering metal crosses, crumpled stonework and eroding vestiges of original holy monuments. However, a local group now hopes to revive and reopen the park, so its future remains to be seen.

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Four years later, one of the coaster’s cars derailed and several people sustained injuries – faith in the park’s safety steadily began to wane. In 1986, owners invested thousands into safety checking and revamping all the rides, but a year later the Comet malfunctioned again, and was finally shut down. Without its top attraction, the park was unable to survive, and closed entirely. Rides were sold off, but the Comet was left behind, swallowed by trees and battered by rain. The coaster was finally demolished in 2012, purportedly to make space for new developments.

However, it was mother nature that would sound this park’s death knell. In 1937, the fierce Ohio River flood wrecked the park, leaving it swamped in some 10 feet (3m) of water. The site was beyond repair, and it was left to perish. Now a handful of traces remain, including a dried-out swimming pool and the remnants of a stone fountain. Though the original bridge collapsed, a new one was built to allow public access to the historic site.

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But despite axing the marine shows and giving the park a thorough re-branding, Cedar Fair was forced to close the entire park by 2016. Some attractions were auctioned and others were left to erode. Few relics now remain, but wistful visitors can see a plaque commemorating the retired park. There have also been reports that homes, commercial lots and office space will soon be built on the site.

However, by 2005, Hughes wanted to scale things down a notch, and made the decision to close the park, pouring all his energy into the still-running speedway. Various rides were sold off, but the Cyclone, among others, still lingers, suffocated by trees and crumbling more by the day. The abandoned site is off limits to the public, though it has occasionally been opened for special events. 

In 1978, CBE closed Chippewa Lake, leaving it to be another ruin ravaged by nature. Trees broke the backs of roller coasters and fell through the roofing of derelict ticket booths, and weeds forced their way into every crevice. The historic ballroom and hotel were eventually also destroyed by fire. Though various redevelopment plans have surfaced over the years, none of them have stuck – the site was chosen as the location for 2010 horror film Closed for the Season, but otherwise remains in disuse. 

The Six Flags New Orleans theme park still stands as a stark reminder of the power of Mother Nature. Its short life began in the year 2000, when it opened as Jazzland – it was a cluster of gravity-defying thrill rides, family favourites and French Quarter-inspired architecture that quickly earned favour with locals. By 2003, it had been bought up by the Six Flags corporation, who expanded its already impressive portfolio of attractions.

But in 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. The storm ripped through the Six Flags site wrecking rides, crumbling ticket booths and leaving a devastated park wasting in nearly seven feet of water. Unsalvageable, the park has stood abandoned ever since, its once splendid rides peeling and plastered in graffiti. Though closed to the public since the storm, the site remains a magnet for thrill-seeking trespassers who weave their way between the crumbling coasters and peek into the weather-beaten buildings.

Today, its future remains uncertain, with talks of the park being demolished. Nickelodeon is just one of the companies that declared plans to revamp the theme park, before eventually pulling out. Another recent proposal suggests turning the site into an eco-tourism park dedicated to educating the public on climate change, though no plans have been firmed up. It has also served as a filming location for blockbusters including Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Jurassic World.