Mountain Monster

Why go: Three separate thrill rides hang off one 200 foot tower on the Mountain Mile, and each one exposes you a different way: a straight drop with nothing but a lap belt, a compressed-air launch, and a face-down free fall that swings out over the complex.

About Mountain Monster

Mountain Monster is a single 200 foot steel tower, and everything the attraction does happens on it. Three separate rides operate from the same structure rather than from three separate buildings, which is why it reads as one attraction instead of three. The tower is tall enough to serve as a landmark for the north end of Pigeon Forge, and the rides are visible from the road long before you reach the parking lot.

The tower is a Stan Checketts design. Checketts built a career on drop, launch, and free fall rides, and the attraction carries a tribute to him on its own website. The pedigree shows in the hardware, which favors open seats and minimal restraint over enclosed cars and shoulder harnesses. You are meant to feel exposed.

Rides are sold individually or in packages, so a visit can be one ride and out or a run through all three. Nothing here is a walk-through, an observation deck, or a queue for a view. Every ticket is a ride, and the attraction rates its own thrill level as intense.

Getting to Mountain Monster

Mountain Monster is at 2655 Teaster Ln Suite #400, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863, inside the Mountain Mile and Tower Shops complex. Teaster Lane runs parallel to the Parkway on the east side and is often the calmer approach when Parkway traffic is heavy, with access from either end. The tower is its own wayfinding: once you are on Teaster Lane you can steer toward it by sight. Park in the complex lots and walk to the tower base, which sits at the edge of the shops rather than inside them.

Why Choose Mountain Monster

Pigeon Forge has no shortage of coasters, go-karts, and ropes courses, and most of them are built to be survivable by almost anyone in the family. Mountain Monster is built the other way. It is a short, concentrated, deliberately uncomfortable attraction aimed at people who want the fear rather than the scenery, and the things that set it apart follow from that.

• Three distinct sensations in one stop. A vertical drop, a vertical launch, and a face-down swing are three different kinds of fear, and you can take all three without moving your car.
• Exposure instead of enclosure. The seats are open and the restraints are minimal, which is the whole design intent and the reason these rides feel harder than their heights suggest.
• A ride with almost no equal. The attraction states that only one other ride like the Monster Swing exists anywhere in the world, which is not a claim many operators in this market can make.
• Real ride engineering. This is Stan Checketts hardware, built by a designer whose rides run at major parks, not a portable carnival unit dropped onto a lot for the season.
• Height that earns its view. The climb and the hang time at the top put the Smokies and the length of the Parkway in front of you before the ride takes it all away.
• Late enough to ride after dinner. The tower runs into the evening most nights, so it works as an after-dinner stop when the town is lit up beneath you.

Must Do

The three rides are sold separately, so the real decision is which ones you are willing to do. They are not variations on a theme. Each one removes a different sense of control, and riders who love one of them often want nothing to do with another.

• Monster Drop. A 200 foot drop tower with a lap belt and nothing to hold onto. Riders are held at the top for up to 12 seconds, then released without warning at speeds reaching 52 miles per hour before the brakes bring it to a smooth stop.
• Monster Launch. Two riders sit back to back on a saddle-style seat and are fired straight up more than 170 feet by a blast of compressed air, hitting hard negative G forces at the top. The ride has a few tricks left after the launch.
• Monster Swing. The attraction’s premier ride and the one it is known for. A two-seat elevator inside the tower carries you to the top, the platform opens, the cart tilts until you are face down over the ground 200 feet below, and the release drops you into a free fall that is caught and swung out over a water feature and the complex.
• Double Dare package. The Monster Drop and the Monster Launch together, which is the sensible pairing for a first visit and the usual choice for riders who want the tower without the face-down swing.
• Monster Madness package. All three rides on one ticket, and the only way to compare a drop, a launch, and a dive against each other in a single afternoon.

What to Expect

The attraction publishes an unusually blunt set of rules, and they are worth reading before anyone in your group commits. The restrictions are not formalities. Ride staff enforce the height, weight, and health rules at the platform, and a rider turned away at the top of the queue has still spent the drive over.

• Height and weight limits. Riders must be at least 46 inches tall and weigh no more than 275 pounds each. On the Monster Launch and the Monster Swing, the combined weight of both riders cannot exceed 450 pounds.
• Who cannot ride. The rides are closed to guests who are pregnant, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or who have heart conditions or high blood pressure, neck, back, or bone ailments, a fear of heights, or one or two leg amputations above the knee.
• Empty pockets, every time. Loose articles are prohibited, including phones, cameras, bags, glasses, and hats, so leave everything with someone on the ground and expect to ride without your own camera.
• Buy the ride video if you want proof. Because you cannot carry a phone up, the on-ride video sold afterward through the attraction’s video partner is the only footage you will come home with.
• The Monster Swing needs a partner. It seats two and requires two riders, so a solo traveler needs to pair up on site or choose one of the other two rides.
• Check the ride status before you drive over. Tower rides pause for wind, lightning, and maintenance. The attraction posts ride status on its website and announces late openings on its Facebook page, which is worth a look on an unsettled day.
• Budget less time than you think. These are individual rides rather than a park, and even all three plus a queue is a short visit. It pairs naturally with something else on Teaster Lane rather than filling an afternoon on its own.
• Food and shops are steps away. The tower sits inside the Mountain Mile and Tower Shops, so restaurants, coffee, and a good stretch of retail are close enough that the rest of the group has somewhere to wait.

Nearby in Pigeon Forge

• Lost Mine Mountain Coaster. A gravity coaster a short drive down the same road, where you control the speed instead of surrendering it.
• Circle Bar T Forge and Blade Works. A neighboring Teaster Lane forge where you can hammer out your own blade under a smith’s guidance.
• The Escape Game. Themed locked room challenges at The Island for a group that wants to solve something instead of ride it.
• Rowdy Bear’s Smoky Mountain Funpark. A cluster of mountain rides and glider attractions a couple of minutes south on the Parkway.

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.