Lost Mine Mountain Coaster & Mini Golf

Why go: A rider controlled mountain coaster, an 18 hole mini golf course, and a gem mine share one heavily themed site a street back from the Parkway, open late every night of the week.

About Lost Mine Mountain Coaster & Mini Golf

Lost Mine opened in 2023 on Teaster Lane, one street back from the Parkway and directly behind The Island. The entire property runs on a single story, a colony of bears mining for honey, and that story turns up everywhere: in the queue building, along the coaster track, and across the golf course.

The centerpiece is a Wiegand Gen 2 alpine coaster. Each cart seats one or two riders and the rider works the brake levers, so the same track can be a slow drift through the trees or a run at up to 30 miles per hour. Nothing is on a timer and nothing is automated, which is why two people on the same track can come off it describing completely different rides.

Sharing the site are an 18 hole miniature golf course built around the same bear and honey mining story, and a gem mine sluice where you work a bag of rough for gems and fossils. A combo ticket covers more than one, and most visitors treat the property as a single stop rather than three separate errands.

Getting to Lost Mine Mountain Coaster & Mini Golf

Lost Mine sits at 2509 Teaster Lane, between Christmas Tree Lane and Wears Valley Road, on the stretch of Teaster that runs parallel to the Parkway behind The Island. Turn onto Teaster from either end and watch for the red mining outpost building; the coaster track threading up the hillside behind it is visible from the road well before you reach the entrance. Teaster is often the quicker way to move through this part of town when the Parkway backs up, and the LeConte Center, Mountain Mile, and The Ripken Experience all sit within a few minutes of the same road.

Why Choose Lost Mine Mountain Coaster & Mini Golf

Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg between them hold more mountain coasters than any other corner of the Smokies, so the question is rarely whether to ride one but which one to pick. Lost Mine competes on ride length, theming, and where it sits rather than on raw speed.

• A long ride for the category. The track runs more than 5,000 feet with four uphill sections and four downhill sections, and the business bills it as the longest mountain coaster ride in the area. A run takes roughly 9 to 18 minutes depending on how much brake you use.
• Four lifts instead of one. Most mountain coasters climb once and coast the rest of the way down. Four climbs break the descent into stages, so the ride keeps starting over instead of winding down.
• Theming that carries the whole way. Named stops line the track, among them Honeycomb Hut, Trepid Tunnel, Bramble Bridge, and Goldilock’s Glen, which gives the ride something to look at beyond the treeline.
• Downtown rather than up a mountain. The operator calls this the only mountain coaster in downtown Pigeon Forge, and from the upper lifts you look out over the Parkway, the wheel at The Island, and Mount LeConte in the distance.
• Carts kept apart by design. An Intelligent Distance Control Assist System holds carts at least 80 feet apart on the track, and tailgating and bumping are not permitted.
• Late closing every night. Doors stay open until 11:00 PM seven nights a week, which makes this one of the few outdoor attractions in town you can still start after dinner or after a show.

Must Do

The coaster is what brings most people through the gate, but there are three separate things to do here and they can be bought individually or bundled.

• The Mountain Coaster. Board through the indoor mine shaft queue, then climb and drop four times over a track that runs above the rooftops of Pigeon Forge. Coming over the upper lifts is the stretch riders tend to remember.
• A night ride. The track carries what the business calls the largest lighting package in the area, and the run reads as a genuinely different ride once the sun goes down. A discounted ride again pass lets you come back after dark on the same visit.
• The 18 hole course. Trick shots run all the way through: jump the water at Creek Jump, putt into an infinity mirrored cave at Mining Cave, thread the tree trunk at Treetop Clubhouse, and finish on a spiraling mine track at TNT Twist.
• The Gem Mine. Buy a bag of rough and work it through the sluice. The larger bags mix fossils, shark teeth, and arrowheads in with the gems, which tends to hold younger kids longer than the gems alone.

What to Expect

This is an outdoor attraction with real physical requirements on the coaster side, and they are worth reading before anyone in your group pays for a ticket.

• Height, age, and weight. Riders must be at least 38 inches tall and 3 years old. Anyone between 38 and 54 inches must ride with an adult. Maximum combined weight per cart is 375 pounds in dry conditions and 330 pounds in wet or icy conditions.
• Other rider requirements. Guests who are pregnant or who have neck, back, or heart conditions may not ride, and casts that interfere with safe operation are not permitted. Riders must have control of their upper and lower extremities and be able to walk out of the ride area if it is ever evacuated.
• Accessibility. Nine holes on the golf course are built to ADA standards, holes 1 through 8 plus hole 18, and playing that set twice makes a full round of 18. ADA compliant clubs are available on request. The coaster is a separate question given the rider requirements above, so call ahead if someone in your group needs specific accommodations.
• Riding with small children. A cart holds two people, and anyone under 54 inches needs an adult beside them, so a family riding two small children at once needs two adults in the party.
• Time on site. Allow one to two hours for the coaster and a round of golf together, longer if you arrive into a queue on a summer evening.
• Weather. The coaster runs year round and stays open in the rain. It shuts only when lightning is in the immediate area, and a prolonged closure is handled with a raincheck to come back another time.
• Buying tickets. Tickets are sold at the outpost and online through the operator’s own booking site rather than a third party. Advance purchase is not required, though a weekend evening is the busiest window of the week.
• Groups. Discounts begin at 10 or more guests and are arranged ahead through the group inquiry form or by phone, not at the ticket window.

Nearby in Pigeon Forge

• Rocky Top Mountain Coaster. Another rider controlled coaster with four lifts, close enough that riding both in one afternoon and comparing them is a perfectly reasonable plan.
• Mountain Monster. A hilltop thrill ride complex a short drive further up Teaster Lane, built around a tower with several separate rides.
• The Escape Game. Themed escape rooms at The Island, and a useful indoor fallback on the afternoon a storm closes the coaster.
• Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show. A pirate themed dinner show on the Parkway built around an indoor lagoon and a full meal served during the performance.

Explore More

My Smoky Mountain Guide Pigeon Forge is a great resource for finding things to do and places to eat.

• Pigeon Forge Food & Beverage Guide. Restaurants, dinner shows, breweries, distilleries, and eateries throughout Pigeon Forge, from sit-down meals to grab-and-go stops.
• Pigeon Forge Outdoor Adventure. Mountain coasters, UTV rentals, rafting, helicopter tours, and other ways to experience the Smokies from outdoors.
• Pigeon Forge Attractions. Museums, escape rooms, mini-golf, arcades, and other family-friendly stops across the city.
• Pigeon Forge Entertainment. Dinner shows, live music, comedy, magic, and theater experiences throughout Pigeon Forge.