Sunday, October 9, 2011

Kinzua State Park, Pennsylvania: Kinzua Sky Walk


The Kinzua Bridge used to be quite a tourist attraction. It was a railroad bridge that crossed the Kinzua Gorge. Passengers in the 19th century thought it was the closest thing to flying possible.

Eventually the bridge fell out of use, but the land became a state park. People, like me, visited it just to gawk at the construction involved. People were blocked from walking on it, but they could still marvel at it.

Then came 2003, as a tornado hit the area. The old bridge couldn't handle the winds at that point, so most of it tumbled into the gorge. That put an idea in someone's head. Why not firm up the part of the bridge that survived?

The state did exactly that, and the Kinzua Sky Walk was officially opened in 2011. Visitors can now walk on the top of the bridge shown here. There are even a few windows on the floor so that people can see what's below. The view of the gorge is great; the best part is seeing the destroyed portions of the bridge still on the ground. This picture was taken from the edge of the gorge.

Kinzua State Park is located east of Mount Jewett; look for a sign heading north off of Route 6, and another sign to the Sky Walk.

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