Our First Visit to Anakeesta was with mixed feelings. To get to Anakeesta you buy tickets at booth on Gatlinburg’s main street. The lady we dealt with must have been having an unpleasant day. After purchasing our ticket, which is about twenty dollars per person, we rode a chair lift to the top of the mountain. We could have waited in line for enclosed seating but chose the chair over waiting.
When we reached the top, we found a small village with shops, food, activities and great places to just sit and enjoy the views. We walked through the shops and explore the path going up the hill.
Along the way we passed some interesting landscaping and some great views and photo ops.
We read the story of the Gatlinburg fire as we walked and looked at the views. One of the really neat thing that we found was the tree houses.
To get to the tree houses, we had to walk on rope bridges. The bridges which connect the tree houses are safe for children as was proven by me being able to walk on them.
After our success with the tree houses, we decided to tackle the Treetop Skywalk. The Skywalk is “the longest tree-based bridge in North America”. The walk is about eight hundred feet along and is fifty to sixty feet above the ground.
The skywalk take you through the woods from one tree to another.
Anakeesta has lots of other activities such as the Rail Runner and the Zip Lines. Being our first visit to Anakeesta, we had not allowed our selves enough time so we had to pass on them. I do want to come back a try the Zip Lines and maybe work up to rail Runner. These two activities have additional charge. The Rail Runner is $12.99 per person and the Zip Line is $29.99 for adults and $25.99 for children (4 to 11).
After our Skywalk we decided to sit down and rest with food and drinks. We really enjoyed the Cliff Top Grill and Bar.
From the Cliff Top we had a great view of Gatlinburg and the Sky Bridge on the mountain across from us.
We had a great meal of nacho’s and enjoyed the Cliff Top’s views.
