Anakeesta ~

We only had two days in Gatlinburg, so we were limited on what we could see and do.  We went to Anakeesta which is considered a theme park, though not the kind of theme park I would normally think of.  To get to Anakeesta you rode on a chondola, which I would just call a ski lift chair.  The ride takes you up 600' to the summit of Anakeesta Mountain.  

At the top there are a few restaurants and of course the requisite gift shops.  

We climbed 84 steps to the top of AnaVista Tower, Gatlinburg's highest point, with beautiful 360* vistas of the surrounding area.

Treetop Skywalk is the longest tree-based skywalk in North America with 880' of spectacular bridges suspended 50' - 60' in the air.

We even took the lift back up in the evening to walk the Skywalk at dusk.

The flowers were spectacular!

Anakeesta also has a single-rail mountain coaster, the first of its kind in the US.  You fly down the mountain on this single rail track with 1600 feet of downhill twists and turns at speeds up to 25 mph.  You control the speed as you descend.  I must say, it was great fun 😁  DSO opted not to ride because of his back issues and it was probably wise he decided to pass.  Not me, but the picture gives you an idea of what the coaster looked like.

I was going to share a bit about the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, but this post has taken far too long and I am hoping to pull a few loops.

Thanks so much for stopping by 
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren