Foxfire Mountain Swinging Bridge

Swinging bridges have long been used in the Appalachian Mountains for folks to get from one mountain to another in the shortest amount of time. These bridges are made of steel cable, wood, rock, and a lot of sweat. The fun thing about a swinging bridge is that they really do swing, and while completely safe to cross, they are a bit scary. Here at Foxfire Mountain you can cross the longest swinging bridge in America. Our bridge goes from the base camp at Foxfire Mountain across Dunn's Gorge to Prosperity Mountain.

Our bridge, known as America's Bridge to Prosperity, is 4 feet wide and over 400 feet long (one and a third times the distance from goal post to goal post across a football field). The Bridge to Prosperity is built with six, one and a quarter inch cables strung 424 feet, then crossed with 134 6″x6″ cross ties before being planked again with 204 2″x8″ decking boards. It is anchored at each end by over 90 tons of concrete buried 10 feet underground and is capable of holding over 135,000 lbs (that is equal to 6 yellow school buses full of screaming kids parked end to end).

In other words, you are safe on America's longest swinging bridge even if it is scary! The Bridge Adventure at Foxfire Mountain includes the Bridge to Prosperity followed by a covered walking bridge, where you can hang a wish to blow in the winds of prosperity. The trail then leads to Lost Mine Falls and the smaller Cliffhanger Swinging Bridge which is only 30 ft. long but goes over the top of the falls, so you can peer 60 feet below into the pooling water. The entire bridge experience takes about one hour.Don't forget to visit Zippin' Pig BBQ to enjoy savory sandwiches, refreshing farm-made ice cream and other finger-lickin' vittles.

Explore Related Categories