This is crazy! The highest-elevation roller coaster in the United States sits at the edge of a cliff in Colorado and can only be accessed after a gondola ride. The coaster, called the Cliffhanger, is 50 feet tall and sits at 7,160 feet above sea level! Read more below.
If you’re naturally averse to seeking out adrenaline-pumping thrills, a roller coaster opening June 15 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, probably isn’t for you. The coaster, billed as the highest-elevation, full-size ride in the United States, also sits on the edge of a cliff.
Appropriately named “Cliffhanger,” the 50-foot tall structure is bolted to a concrete pad 7,160 feet above sea level. According to the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park where the roller coaster is located can only be accessed via a gondola ride.
Among the many challenges crews faced in building the ride, said Kelly Bates, the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park’s Maintenance Manager, to KJCT, was trucking. “We have three miles of basically a single lane dirt road that gets to the top of this hill,” she said, “and it took thirteen semis to transport this ride from where it was at previously in Branson, Missouri.”
KMGH adds the coaster cost the park $375,000 plus another $425,000 to disassemble, ship, repair, and reassemble the structure.
Day passes to Glenwood Caverns Park cost $42 for adults, $38 for kids, and include unlimited rides (including the gondola). Alternatively, tickets can also be purchased for each ride individually. Prices range from $3 to $10 based on the attraction.
