THRILLGROUNDS Ground 05 · Smoky Mountains · Gatlinburg · Pigeon Forge · Sevierville
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Ridges of the Great Smoky Mountains in autumn colour seen from Newfound Gap

35° 43′ N · 83° 31′ W · Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee · Ground 05

Smoky Mountains

475 feet above the river.
Half a mile of blue haze ahead.

You're clipped to a cable on a ridge outside Sevierville. Ahead: half a mile of wire, a river gorge, and the blue haze that gave these mountains their name. Behind you: Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, where every hillside has a coaster bolted to it. Scrolling means jumping. We show you every stop on the way down, with real prices and an honest rating of how hard your heart will pound.

1 · the view3 · sweaty palms5 · heart in your throat
Jump
Forested ridges of the Great Smoky Mountains under low cloud

Stop 1 · Zipline · Foxfire Mountain, Sevierville

475FT OVER THE RIVER

Half a mile, one cable

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The platform is just planks and a gate. The guide opens it, and the ground walks away from you – 475 feet down to the river, fifty-five miles an hour, and nobody steering.

Pulse 4/5 our editors' rating
Height
475 ft / 145 m
Longest line
over ½ mile
Top speed
55–60 mph
Goliath tour
5 lines · age 10+

Weight limits are strict. The Goliath tour takes riders from 100 to 250 lb, age 10 and up; the gentler Waterfall Canopy tour starts at age 7 and 45 lb. Photo: the Smokies near Newfound Gap, not the zipline itself.

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

Downtown Gatlinburg in its valley seen from the mountainside above

One sled, one rail, two levers. Push forward and the mountain takes over – four hundred feet of elevation unspooling through the trees, and every curve asks the same thing: brake, or not?

Pulse 2/5 our editors' rating
Rail Runner drop
over 400 ft
Rail Runner track
1,600 ft · 25 mph
Rocky Top
4 lifts · 9+ min · 30 mph
You control
the brake

Read the small print. At Anakeesta the coasters cost $16.99 on top of admission. And most of the area's other coasters – Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster, Ober, Goats on the Roof – aren't on GetYourGuide at all: you buy at the gate. Only the Rail Runner publishes its vertical drop, so that's the number we print. Photo: Gatlinburg from the SkyLift.

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

Stop 2 · Mountain coasters · Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge

400FT OF ELEVATION

The brake lever is a suggestion

The Gatlinburg SkyBridge suspension bridge seen from below against forested mountains

Stop 3 · Suspension bridge · Gatlinburg SkyPark

140FT TO THE FOREST FLOOR

Thirty feet of glass in the middle

All bridges and skywalks compared →

It moves. Not much – just enough that your hands find the cable. Then the planks turn to glass, and there are 140 feet of nothing between your sneakers and the treetops.

Pulse 1/5 our editors' rating
Height at midpoint
140 ft / 43 m
Span
almost 700 ft
Glass floor
30 ft
Getting up
SkyLift chairlift

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

The timber-framed entrance of Anakeesta on the Parkway in downtown Gatlinburg

Rope netting on both sides, planks that give a little with every step, and sixty feet down a forest floor you stop looking for after the third bridge. The slow kind of high.

Pulse 1/5 our editors' rating
Height
50–60 ft
Bridges
16
Total length
880 ft
Included in
park admission

Included vs. extra: admission covers the gondola up, the Skywalk and the AnaVista tower. The dueling ziplines ($59.99) and both coasters ($16.99) are add-ons. Photo: Anakeesta's entrance in downtown Gatlinburg.

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

Stop 4 · Treetop walk · Anakeesta, Gatlinburg

60FT IN THE CANOPY

Sixteen bridges, no ground

All bridges and skywalks compared →
Rafters with raised paddles heading into a whitewater rapid on the Ocoee River

Stop 5 · Rafting · Pigeon, Nantahala & Ocoee

0FT · ON THE WATER

The river runs when the dam says so

All rafting rivers compared →

Somewhere upstream a gate opens, and an hour later the river under your raft is twice the size. Sixty rapids in four miles. The guide yells “forward”, and you stop thinking about heights.

Pulse 3/5 our editors' rating
Upper Pigeon
Class III–IV · 60 rapids
Lower Pigeon
Class I–II · age 3+
Upper Pigeon min.
age 8 · 70 lb
Dam releases
Tue–Thu & Sat

The closest river isn't bookable here. The Pigeon at Hartford – about an hour from Gatlinburg – is the Smokies' home run, but GetYourGuide doesn't list it; book directly with the outfitters. Listed are the Nantahala (N.C. side, about 1.5 h) and the Ocoee (about 2.5 h). Photo: rafting on the Ocoee.

↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling

Touchdown. Now build your day on these grounds.

    Also on these grounds

    The grounds in numbers

    ActivityPulseThe numberDurationFromReviewsBookable online
    Zipline · Foxfire MountainBook now →
    Mountain coastersBook now →Rocky Top, Moonshine · others at the gate
    Gatlinburg SkyBridgeBook now →
    Treetop Skywalk · AnakeestaBook now →
    Rafting · Upper Pigeon4/5Class III–IV, 60 rapids2–3 houtfitter—no – book direct
    Rafting · NantahalaBook now →
    Rafting · Middle OcoeeBook now →
    ATV · Pigeon ForgeBook now →

    Before you jump

    Which mountain coaster in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge is the best?

    It depends on what you want. Rocky Top in Pigeon Forge is the longest ride – four lifts and more than nine minutes – and the most-reviewed on GetYourGuide ($18). Anakeesta's Rail Runner is the only single-rail mountain coaster in the U.S., with over 400 ft of elevation change, but needs park admission plus a $16.99 add-on. Moonshine Mountain Coaster in Gatlinburg costs $17 (as of Sept 21, 2026).

    How much does a mountain coaster ride cost?

    Bookable rides on GetYourGuide run $17–$18 per person (as of Sept 21, 2026). Most other coasters in the area sell tickets only at the gate.

    How high is the Gatlinburg SkyBridge?

    At its midpoint the SkyBridge is 140 ft above the forest floor, according to the operator. It spans almost 700 ft, has 30 ft of glass floor panels in the middle, and is the longest pedestrian cable bridge in North America. You reach it on the SkyLift chairlift from downtown Gatlinburg.

    What is the highest zipline in the Smoky Mountains?

    The Goliath at Foxfire Mountain in Sevierville: 475 ft above the East Prong of the Little Pigeon River on a line more than half a mile long, at up to 55–60 mph. Riders must be 10 or older and weigh 100–250 lb.

    Where can you go whitewater rafting near Gatlinburg?

    The closest river is the Pigeon at Hartford, about an hour away: the Upper Pigeon is Class III–IV (age 8 and 70 lb minimum), the Lower Pigeon a Class I–II float for children from age 3. It runs on dam releases, usually Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday in summer. GetYourGuide lists the Nantahala and the Ocoee instead; for the Pigeon, book with the outfitters directly.

    Is Anakeesta or the SkyPark better?

    SkyPark is one big moment – the chairlift and the SkyBridge – and takes an hour or two. Anakeesta is a half-day park: gondola, Treetop Skywalk, observation tower, play areas, plus paid add-ons for coasters and ziplines. They are a few minutes' walk apart in downtown Gatlinburg, so many visitors do both.