Sky ride construction underway at Riverbanks Zoo

Hold onto your hats and get ready to soar! Riverbanks Zoo & Garden’s “Bridge to the Wild” is taking off as construction begins along the Saluda River.

Set to open later this year, the attraction will feature 19 aerial gondolas, each accommodating as many as eight passengers, “offering a thrilling bird’s-eye view of the Saluda River and surrounding landscape,” according to information released by Riverbanks Zoo & Garden. 

Called the Saluda Skyline, the ride promises to offer a unique, unparalleled view of the zoo.

The zoo’s already-completed Phase One of “Bridge to the Wild” brought back a Southern white rhino exhibit for the first time in 30 years, a Komodo dragon breeding facility and a completely new aquarium and reptile conservation center.

Phase Two, now underway, is bringing a series of new animals – many of them endangered – the Saluda Skyline attraction and a new restaurant overhanging the Saluda River that can be rented out at night for events and weddings. 

The 170-acre zoo has evolved over the years, offering a variety of interactive attractions. That matters when almost half of the zoo’s members live in the Midlands – repeat visitors hoping to see something different. 

“I remember the zip line,” said Lisa Blackmon, a Columbia resident and zoo member. “I did the zip line once across the river. … Really makes the experience even better. You know, I mean, walking the zoo is great, but having something where you can look down and see everything that’s going on, that would be really neat.”

The skyline system will last about two and a half minutes, transporting guests across the Saluda River between the zoo and the botanical garden, which is home to more than 6,000 plant species.The ride will be a pay-once attraction allowing people to ride all day.

Visitors already could walk across a bridge over the river. The ride will make it easier for guests to get from one side of the park to the other without having to walk the length of the zoo.

Phase Two is expected to create 500 jobs and bring more than $175 million in economic impact to the Midlands.

Phase Two “will boost tourism and the economy at (a) major time of growth in South Carolina – bringing one of the area’s most treasured natural resources, the Saluda River, to the forefront of the guest experience,” Riverbanks president and CEO Tommy Stringfellow said through the zoo. 

The zoo has canceled plans to bring in orangutans and red wolves and instead will add giant anteaters, spider monkeys and domestic cat-sized red pandas. 

Also coming is a new tiger exhibit, following the recent passing of the zoo’s lone tiger earlier this week. 

While details are still being finalized, the zoo intends to introduce a different tiger species, with a timeline yet to be determined.

“I do presentations all the time for Rotary clubs and chambers and stuff like that,” said Matt Perron, public relations manager at the Riverbanks Zoo & Garden. “I always tell people, if you haven’t been to Riverbanks in the past three months, you haven’t been to Riverbanks. There’s always something new to see.”