Some time in the late 1800s, gold was discovered on Big Thunder Mountain in the American southwest. Overnight, the small mining town of Tumbleweed was established and the Tumbleweed Mining Co. staked their claim. Mining was prosperous and an extensive line of mine trains were set up to transport the ore.

Unbeknownst to the settlers, the Mountain was a sacred spot to local Native Americans and was cursed. Before long, the settlers' desecration of the mountain caused a great tragedy, (terrible earthquake) which befell the mines and town and they were abandoned. Some time later, the locomotives were found to be racing around the mountain on their own, without engineers or a crew. The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was founded in the old mining camp to allow tourists to take rides on the possessed trains.

Appropriately, the station buildings are themed as the abandoned offices of a mining company from the 1890s. The mountain red rock formations are based on the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.

Special care was taken by the Imagineers to make it appear that the rocks were there originally, and the track was built around them, unlike early mine rides which sculpted the rocks around the tracks. The action of the ride takes place completely in the sagging, rotting tunnels of the mountain.

In contrast to most steel roller coasters where the thrills come from the perception of flying through open air, the thrills on Big Thunder Mountain are meant to come from the perceived instability of the mine and its threats of collapse.

Sound effects of typical locomotive operation are piped into the surrounding scenery to add realism to guests viewing the ride from observation platforms, including the steam whistle sounding, even though there is no whistle displayed on the locomotives.

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