Want to drop a pumpkin off the SkyBridge in Gatlinburg? Here's your chance

Robin Gibson, Knoxville News Sentinel
Updated ·2 min read

If you think a pumpkin that falls off your porch makes a mess, just imagine what happens when you drop one off the SkyBridge in Gatlinburg.

If heaving a pumpkin down 150 feet sounds like a satisfying, appropriately seasonal thrill, here's your chance to try it. Gatlinburg SkyPark will have a Pumpkin Drop event the afternoon of Nov. 4.

Participants will get to cross the 700-foot-long bridge - billed as the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in North America - and drop a pumpkin into the valley below. Gatlinburg Skypark will provide pumpkins for those who need them, or you can BYOP as an unusual way to dispose of your own Halloween decorations.

To join in the pumpkin chucking, participants must make a minimum donation of $5 in support of Sevier County Food Ministries, according to a news release. Registration will begin at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 4 at Gatlinburg SkyPark, with the pumpkins beginning to drop at 1 p.m.

For more information, visit gatlinburgskypark.com/events/pumpkin-drop.

Asked whether dropping pumpkins into the valley would violate state and local rules that prohibit feeding bears, a spokesman for SkyPark said in an email that the attraction was aware of community concerns and had planned accordingly: "The Gatlinburg SkyPark operations team will be hiking into the valley under the bridge after the pumpkin drop to clean up, preventing the bears from being fed."

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The SkyBridge, located at 765 Parkway in Gatlinburg, opened in May 2019. It spans 680 feet across a valley and features glass floor panels, inviting visitors who dare to look down.

Gatlinburg SkyPark also features the SkyLift, which carries guests from the heart of town up 500 vertical feet to the top of Crockett Mountain, as well as the SkyTrail and four-story Tulip Tower.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Gatlinburg SkyPark will let you drop a pumpkin off SkyBridge Saturday