Gatlinburg Sky Lift Park Walking the Longest Pedestrian Suspension Bridge in the U.S.

After riding our bikes down from Whitetop to Damascus - Virginia Creeper Trail we went to Tennessee for a Cabin Stay.

 On our second day stay at The Hill by Cherokee Lake, we drove to Gatlinburg, Tennessee which is only a good hour driving distance.

Yep, a WeFie of both of us as we are climbing to the top of Crockett Mountain to walk one of North America's longest suspension bridges!

Getting way up Crockett Mountain...
Sky Lift Park existed since 1954 but a deadly Wildfire destroyed it in the end of 2016...
It got rebuilt though and since the end of May it is again open to visit the newly constructed Sky Deck with its fabulous Rocky Mountain overlook and restaurant.

Two lines, coming down and going up so they help pull each other...

While I still was studying all this, they unexpected took a photo from us near the Sky Deck!
So we went ahead and purchased it, had it scanned into my iPhone...
Modern Technology!

The entire landscaping looked beautiful!
Behind Pieter you can see the length of the Sky Bridge

GATLINBURG SKYBRIDGE click for info
5' Wide or 1.5 m
140' High or 42.6 m
680' Span or 207 m

A very friendly Indian man took this photo from both of us.

Breathtaking view.
Oh, I'd bought the tickets on the Internet, so we could skip the line!
They put this band around our wrist that is valid all day.

There we go... Entering the on May 17, 2019 opened NEW SKYBRIDGE...
It was close to 14:00 when we started our walk across.

Admiring those sturdy steel cables!

Three THICK steel cables in One Length!
680 feet or 207 meter...

Looking down from SkyBridge down to SkyDeck and GiftShop Restaurant and SkyLift area.

Incredible view of the Smoky Mountains from SkyBridge!

My foot for comparison...

The Glass Bottom in the center part. My foot below and Pieter's feet and silhouette at the top...

Steel anchors fastened to a block of concrete below, for keeping those steel cables tight and to prevent  swinging of the bridge.

For tightening the steel cables on the bridge...

Disturbing to see at the end of the bridge that they had cut out a piece of this table!
They have a canopy to shield against the sun and for seating, and to purchase some water or soft drink if needed.
Remember we were visiting Clingmans Dome in April? That peak is seen to the right.
Panoramic views of the Smoky Mountains are fabulous from up here.

The Great Smoky Mountains stretch along the Tennessee-North Carolina border and are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains. They are called the Smokies due to the ever-present morning fog and majestic blueish tint. Great Smoky Mountains National Park protects most of the range and was established in 1934. It is America's most visited national park with over 11 million visits each year.

And then it started raining...
We ALL had to walk back to the SkyDeck for danger of lightning and being on an all steel bridge.
So we sat near the restaurant vendor area and here Pieter is getting a nice warm fanning from behind those beverage machines that needed cooling by fan, thus sending the warm air his way!

They started running the SkyLift empty for getting rid of excessive water before letting people sit in them...

There was still a queue of people outside waiting to ride down...
Now around 15:45...

At 16:15 we go down after having purchased also a Smoky Mountain poncho!

Cute Mama Bear and Cubs Statue...

Here we go down at 16:20 and notice that nobody is riding up?
The Park is open from 7:00 till 21:00

Still clouds and fog on the Smoky Mountains

Gatlinburg lies below...

Looking up how it rolls over cable...

A happy Pieter who enjoyed this adventure!

The Gatlinburg Space Needle comes into sight.

Almost back...

The Gatlinburg Space Needle a lot closer now...

Short Relive.cc video including the drive back to our Cabin at The Hill by Cherokee Lake in Tennessee.

A total of 3.5 hours including the rain interruption and the drive from Gatlinburg to Bean Station, Tennessee was 112.8 km or 70 miles.
We thoroughly enjoyed it, even if the rain did surprise us all!

Workers grab parts from a helicopter to rebuild the Gatlinburg Sky Lift click link
Kudos to the install team that erected those footers, towers, cross arms and sheaves using a helicopter and also for flying in all of its parts!

Hope you enjoyed it too and thanks for your visit and comment.

Related links:
Our Cabin Stay at The Hill by Cherokee Lake in Tennessee | previous post by me
Our Bike Ride from Whitetop to Damascus - Virginia Creeper Trail | previous post by me
Gatlinburg SkyLift Construction - Rebuild | After the wildfire destroyed the original one from 1954
Gatlinburg SkyLift - SkyDeck Construction, Part 3 | showing how the DkyDeck got made
SO Proud of my NONAGENARIAN | previous post where we went to Clingmans Dome together