I spotted the tram while sitting in a restaurant on a rainy day, trying to figure out how to get to my next Airbnb. Without a taxi available, I was facing a 3-hour walk.
A quick Google search informed me that the tram ran between downtown Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Ober Mountain, a tourist attraction with a roller coaster and other rides, which was a 30-minute walk from my Airbnb.
It’s one of the largest aerial tramways in the US, according to the Ober Mountain website. Completed in 1973 to bring skiers safely up to the slopes, the tram ascends 300 feet above the Great Smoky Mountains and has carried millions of people up to Ober Mountain.
Impressed with my creative problem-solving, I boarded the tram for a $30, two-mile ride above the mountains.
I thought the aerial views of the park from the tram were epic, even in the rain. And I couldn’t help thinking that if I hadn’t struggled to find taxis, I never would have experienced the tram.
