A local offers advice on mistakes to avoid to make the most of your next trip to the SkyBridge
With Anakeesta drawing traffic across the valley and Ober Mountain under new ownership, the competition for your “SkyDollars” has never been higher. But the eldest of the major mountaintop attractions isn’t ready to wave a white flag of surrender. The park’s history dates back to 1953. Rel Maples – one of the people responsible for Gatlinburg’s growth into the tourism mecca it is today – got the idea for a chairlift up the mountain. A chairlift was purchased from a California sky operation, disassembled and put back together in the mountains.
Today, SkyPark is on the fourth generation of that lift, taking visitors 500 feet up Crockett Mountain. However, once you reach the top of the mountain, there is a lot more to do than there was 70 years ago.
For example, in addition to the SkyLift, the SkyDeck also offers scenic views. The SkyTrail is open for hiking. There’s the SkyPark Shop and SkyCenter which offers shopping and some food options. The Tulip Tower offers an even higher view, but there is the coup de grace, the SkyBridge – a 700-foot pedestrian cable bridge suspended 500 feet above the valley below. The bridge has 30 feet of glass in the middle of the bridge, giving a unique view of the forest below.
Clayton’s Landing is an expansion that also recently opened, featuring a new restaurant, Smoky Mountain Smash. The addition adds more reasons to stay atop the SkyPark longer. As someone who can remember visiting the chairlift back in the 80s when it was just a chairlift to a scenic view, snack bar and shops, I think it is an impressive come-up.
With this in mind, there are guidelines and kindnesses to follow at SkyPark. Therefore, I compiled a list of what not to do there.
1. Do baseball moves on the glass
A few years ago, a visitor drew worldwide attention when he cracked the glass on the SkyBridge. Now, we should say, that he cracked the first level of the glass. Multiple layers would have to be damaged before anyone would be in danger, but still, it was a bad move. The guy decided it would be funny to do a baseball slide on the glass, and the car keys in his pocket damaged the glass.
Why would you do a baseball slide on glass 500 feet in the air? That is a question I cannot answer. I fear heights, but I do not want to miss out on experience or hold the family back. I can assure you that things like trying to shake the bridge or anything else to scare other visitors are not funny. A general rule in society is you should act as if you are not the only person who matters. That goes double for the SkyBridge.
2. Plan to eat a fancy dinner
Previously, the food at the SkyCenter has been, at best, lunch fare, but more appropriately snack stuff. You can get pizza by the slice, hot dogs, nachos and that kind of stuff. You COULD have dinner there, but there are much better options down the mountain. With the newly opened restaurant as part of the Clayton’s Landing expansion, it seems that SkyBridge has improved its dining options, but I have yet to try it for myself as of this writing.
3. Approach the wildlife
Bear sightings in Gatlinburg seem more frequent than a couple of decades ago. Now, it could be that the availability of phones makes it SEEM like bear sightings are more frequent because we record and share. But anecdotally when I go to the mountains, I see more bears than ever.
Could you see a bear at SkyPark? Absolutely yes. They’ve been a bigger problem across the way at Anakeesta. However, bears live in the mountains near and around SkyPark and if they go into a candy shop on the strip, they’ll certainly go on the SkyPark hiking trail. It is important to remember that even if you see a bear in an area highly populated with people, it is a wild and dangerous animal. If you encounter a bear on the trails – or in another SkyPark location – keep your distance, alert employees and follow the same bear protocol recommended everywhere else.
4. Wear loose shoes
I don’t know the number of shoes that have been lost off the chairlift over the 70 years of operation. But I imagine that number is significant. I recommend wearing good shoes.
5. Leave before sunset
The views from SkyPark can be beautiful early in the day when the sun is coming up over the mountains and, technically, you’re looking the wrong way for sunset. But the colors in the sky and the lights of Gatlinburg coming up as the sun goes down provide the best views in the park. If you have the option, being up there in the gloaming is the ideal time to visit.
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