We Dare You to Walk Across These Bridges

Sure, the Brooklyn and Golden Gate bridges are impressive, but we're equally smitten by these pedestrian-only walkways and foot bridges…

Aiguille du Midi Bridge

Acrophobics beware: Not only does this overpass sit more than 12,500 feet above sea level, but it requires a 20-minute cable car ride to climb the 9,200 vertical feet up to the access point on the mountain.

Aiola Island Bridge

While some crossings exist merely to connect points A and B, this New York City artist Vito Acconci designed this Mur River-traversing structure to serve as five different venues in one. Erected in 2003, the steel-and-glass installation houses a bar, coffee house, a sunbathing spot, a children’s playground, and an alfresco theater.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

Each year, roughly 250,000 travelers carefully traverse this delicate, 98-foot-high path between the mainland and the bridge’s namesake island. Visitors who brave the 66-foot-long bridge are rewarded with sweeping views of Rathin Island, Scotland, and the Irish Sea, along with at least four species of native birds.

Capilano Suspension Bridge

Perched 230 feet above the meandering Capilano River, this narrow passage stretches 450 feet through the evergreen forest of the Canadian Rockies. Technically, the bridge has been around since 1889, but its current incarnation goes beyond the original hemp rope and cedar plank construction with seven additional suspension bridges and a cantilevered walkway.

The Monkey Bridges

Nicknamed for the bent, primate-like position many locals assume when crossing, these narrow, rough-hewn passageways (cau khi in Vietnamese) typically comprise just one or two bamboo poles under foot, plus one more as a handrail on each side.

Iya Valley Vine Bridges

Tucked within remote mountain valleys, these three secluded overpasses consisted of just vine and wooden slats when they were built about 900 years ago. The 147-foot-long bridges have since been bolstered by wire reinforcements and side rails, which make the 46-foot drop to the Iya-gawa River below only slightly less harrowing.

Canopy Walk

Seven hanging rope bridges, suspended 131 feet off the rainforest floor, allow visitors to spot all manner of tropical vegetation and wildlife as they pass through portions of 86,000-plus acres of protected terrain.

Xiying Rainbow Bridge

Visitors who inspect this passage by day might walk away nonplussed, but those who stop by once the sun goes down will be treated to a spectacular technicolor reflection on the water below. Neon lights attached to the bridge’s side create the shimmering ROYGBIV effect.

“Living Root" Bridges

Utilizing betel nut tree trunks as guides, the Khasi people of this northeastern state train the growing roots of rubber trees to form these ever-evolving structures, which begin sturdy and grow even stronger over time. Most estimates put the youngest fully formed bridges at 10 to 15 years old and the most mature at possibly 500 years old; exact measurements for their respective lengths are unknown, but some bridges stretch at least 100 feet.

Seonimgayo (“Seven Nymphs”) Bridge

According to Korean lore, a septet of fairies descends from the heavens each night to frolic in the Cheonjeyeon waterfall below. The alabaster-white pixies, who each play a different instrument, appear on both sides of the 256-foot-tall, 420-foot-long crimson arch.


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