Record-holding attractions in the Smokies and beyond
When it comes to attracting attention in the Smokies, you’ve got to try … hard. Any angle or idea. In other words, any possible thing you can trumpet that will attract the public’s attention – and folding money – is what is necessary to succeed. It’s not enough to provide a mountain coaster. It has to be the biggest or the fastest or the steepest around.
This, my friends, is the way of the Smokies. You find the angle, the niche and if it’s not there, you create it. And so, with this in mine, here is our list of record-setting attractions in the Smokies.
World’s largest attractions – and more – of the Smokies and beyond
1. Buc-ee’s
Didn’t we almost have it all? For a brief span of time, the Sevierville Buc-ee’s was the biggest in the world and therefore the biggest gas station and convenience store in the world. And then the Buc-ee’s powers that be came to their senses.
In retrospect, it’s strange that this iconic Texas chain ever let its biggest facility be constructed outside the Lone Star State. At 74,000 square feet, the Sevierville Buc’ees has 120 fueling stations, a massive car wash and more available restroom space than many area high schools. Alas, we were only to be the biggest for a short time. A new Buc’ees opened in Luling, Texas at 75,000 square feet, unseating the King. For now, we’ll have to live with being No. 2.
2. Wildside Adventure Park’s MegaZip
I have been burned before by taking marketers at their word. Somebody calls and says they’ve got the biggest or the longest or the fastest attraction and you take them at their word only to get a call later from some irate person who demands a retraction. The MegaZip Zipline – located at the Wildside Adventure Park – is billed as the long zipline in North America.
But, is it? I don’t know. I’m an educated man but I’m afraid I can’t speak intelligently about zipline lengths in Canada or Mexico. All I can really say definitively is this is one long zipline. At 5,771 feet, you’re zipping through the Smokies for more than a mile, reaching speeds up to 55 mph. Wildside is a cool new adventure park where you can zip, go off-roading and more. Is it really the biggest? It’s big, that’s all that really matters.
3. Ruby Falls
Located inside Lookout Mountain, Ruby Falls is the largest underground waterfall in the United States… we think. It turns out there’s quite a bit of the Earth’s underground that is yet to be discovered.
Did you know that Ruby Falls was discovered in the 1920s by accident? An Indiana chemist and spelunker named Leo Lambert was trying to access Lookout Mountain Cave – which had been sealed off decades earlier – when he and his crew found a void in the passage and decided to explore it. After 17 hours, they returned, having found what had been an unknown 85-foot underground waterfall. Are there bigger falls underground anyplace else in the country? It’s possible but we need more Hoosiers out there digging to find them.
4. Hellbender salamander
Not all of the biggest things in the Smokies are manmade. The Smokies are the salamander capital of the world with an abundant and diverse section of the amphibians. They come in an array of sizes and colors – the bright red ones freak me out – but the undisputed King is the Hellbender., the largest salamander in North America. The adult Hellbender can grow up to 29 inches long, weighing up to five pounds. Roughly the size of a small to medium puppy, they are the fifth heaviest amphibian in the world. They are harmless, living under rocks in the mountain’s streams, but surprise one in the wild and you might perish of a heart attack.
5. Grandfather Mountain suspension bridge
Welcome to America’s highest suspension footbridge. Since 1952 visitors to Grandfather Mountain have enjoyed the panoramic views provided by this 228-foot suspension bridge that dangles over an 80-foot chasm. At an elevation of 5,305 feet, it is known as the Mile High Swinging Bridge. Located about two miles from Linville, North Carolina, Grandfather Mountain is one of the premier destinations in the area with much more the bridge to attract guests. But the bridge is why Grandfather Mountain gets to make the list.
6. Rocky Top Mountain Coaster
Depending on where you click, the Rocky Top Mountain Coaster is the longest in East Tennessee or possibly Tennessee itself. Is there a longer mountain coaster in Memphis? Hard to say. Seems unlikely. The Rocky Top Coaster is also reportedly the first in the world with four uplifts and can reach speeds of up to 30 mph.
7. Kuwohi
At an elevation of 6,643 feet – take that Grandfather Mountain – Kuwohi (formerly Clingman’s Dome) is the highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the highest point in Tennessee, the highest point on the Appalachian Trail and the third highest point in the Eastern U.S. From the Kuwohi observation tower, you can see for miles into the distance. One of nine observation towers built as part of the Mission 66 program – designed to improve National Parks before the Park Service’s 50th anniversary – the Kuwohi Tower may well be the NPS’s most iconic.
Cumberland Falls
Famous for its moonbow – a nighttime rainbow created in the waterfall’s mist in bright moonlight – Cumberland Falls is the second largest waterfall east of the Rockies. It is also the largest one in the Eastern United States behind the Niagara Falls. Located in Cumberland Falls State Park near Corbin, Kentucky, the falls are wheelchair accessible and when conditions are right for the moonbow, one of the most unique sights in the world.
Have you visited any of these record breakers? Let us know in the comments! Are you planning a trip to the Smoky Mountains soon? Make sure to check out our coupons page before your trip!