Rollercoaster coming to a Mercer County resort

Mar. 23—By GREG JORDAN

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — A place that was once a popular racetrack is becoming a resort where travelers and local people alike can enjoy having a party, playing rounds of putt-putt golf, searching for gemstones, hosting a wedding and riding a rollercoaster.

Located off Eads Mill Road in Mercer County, the Brush Creek Falls Resort stands on land which was owned for years by the Fuller family, said resort manager Susie Archer, who operates it with her husband, Rick.

Sitting in the resort's central building, which features a store and dining area, Susie Archer said it wasn't always so inviting.

"I get a lot of people around here talking about how this building was really dilapidated with windows broken out and grass was growing up everywhere, so it went into disrepair for a long time. Then in 2016 a gentleman named Chris Pierce bought it and he is the one who started 301 or 304 Racing where we have our cabins now. It used to be a race track and it was very popular."

Pierce sold the property in December 2021 and it was bought by two entrepreneurs from Florida. The Archers, who were traveling across the country full time in an RV, responded to an ad for camp posts. Their stay was initially for five months, but they became the resort's managers.

The race track is now gone, but a lot of new amenities are taking its place. The original plan was to put 25 RV sites in its place, but those plans were modified and some cabins were built along with the RV locations. A gem mine where visitors and their children can pan for colorful minerals and a putt-putt golf course were already at the resort, but new features such as a party barn which can set 16 to 20 people comfortably have been added.

"And then at the other end of the campground, we're building a wedding barn that will also double as an event center," Susie Archer said. "And that's going to seat about 80 to 100."

Both indoor and outdoor weddings will be possible at the wedding barn, which will also have a commercial kitchen for caterers and be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

Visitors coming to the resort for weddings, birthday parties, to rest from their travels or just to have some fun will soon be able to be seeing a new attraction they normally have to travel hundreds of miles to enjoy. Susie Archer stood and pointed out the property near the resort's main entrance.

"The piece de resistance is across the street," she said.

And that piece de resistance will be a rollercoaster.

"We have bought all of that land and that is where the Mountain Coaster will be," she said. She pointed out a small house. "This little building here, that's going to be a moonshine still and distillery and it's going to be museum-focused; so it's going to take you back in the olden days when moonshine stills were kind of being developed and bring you through to modern day technology. That's what's going to be happening in there."

The rollercoaster's launch station will be a two-story building with an eatery overlooking the mountains on the top floor and a 30-foot rock wall on the first floor as well as an arcade.

Attractions in Tennessee inspired the idea to bring a rollercoaster to Mercer County.

"One of our owners is very, very fond of Pigeon Forge in Gatlinburg," Susie Archer said. "We all just love the Pigeon Forge area and we go there a lot, and they have a lot of the Mountain Coasters and Alpine Slides and fun things like that, so we all have a passion for that."

The resort is bringing in a rollercoaster not only for travelers wanting a break but for local people, too.

"We are a perfect stopping point for anybody who's traveling from Ohio to Myrtle Beach, so this would be a great place for them to hang for a couple of days on their way to Myrtle Beach and ride the coaster, so we're really excited about this," she said. "It's going to be really big."

Work is now underway.

"So we're clearing land right now. We already have land movers in operation up the hillside," Susie Archer said. "We are going to be expecting our first piece of equipment roll in in the next couple of weeks. Then the team from Germany — there's a group of people from Germany building the coaster — they will be bringing in large amounts of equipment, probably about a month from now and we are hoping to launch by the end of August."

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com