Thank you to The Adventure Center of Asheville for hosting me. As always, all opinions and recommendations are my own. This post also contains affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure policy here.
A couple of weeks ago, I took a girls’ trip to Asheville, North Carolina. I had been to Asheville before in a brief one-day visit to the Biltmore Estate. But, I knew there was a lot more to Asheville and so this time, I set out to find different, fun activities to do. Since ziplining is something I love to do, I looked into doing this with the Adventure Center of Asheville. They asked if we would also be interested in checking out their new adventure park which sounded very intriguing so we agreed.The day became a highlight of our entire trip!! We ended up spending a beautiful day outside in the trees and had the most fun all while getting great exercise. This, in turn, allowed us to enjoy Asheville’s phenomenal food scene. In case you haven’t picked up on it yet, this was a total win-win!!
Asheville Resources & Recommendations
- Aloft Asheville Downtown– (where I stayed) Read reviews | Book rooms
- Allianz Travel Insurance
– Protect yourself and your trip-get a free quote!
- TripAdvisor– Read reviews on hotels and tours for Asheville
- Skyscanner– Compare the best prices on flights
| best prices on rental cars
Asheville Tree Tops Adventure Park
The Tree Tops Adventure Park is a new attraction! It is made up of 60 unique challenges broken down into courses that are color-coded and categorized from easy to difficult. These challenges include ropes courses, crawling through suspended tunnels, jumping from swing to swing, and rappelling. The courses are anchored in 30 trees and range anywhere from 12-45 feet off the ground!
The most interesting part to me is their safety system. Your body harness includes two “smart cables” that talk to each other. When one is open, the other will not open. The system is designed so that the participant is clipped 100% of the time to the apparatus, ensuring safety. It takes a second to get down how it works, but you catch on quickly and then it’s easy!
Blue Course
After suiting up, receiving our safety briefing and completing the safety cable practice course, the guides recommended we start with either the Green or Blue course and so we started with Blue.
Getting through the first few challenges took a little time as I was getting used to the cable system. This one is called the Swiss Fish and is one of the easier elements on the Blue course.
Here’s my friend, Heather (yes, there’s two of us!), on Rainbow Bridge. I love all the colors!
Isn’t this a cool tunnel? This is called Tunnel Road and it doesn’t move. The challenge here is to make yourself small enough to fit through!
Getting to it!
So…remember how I said that Tunnel Road didn’t move? Well, this Conveyor Belt Bridge does move! Let’s just say I began trying to perfect my balancing act! 😉
No need to worry about falling. See those two parallel cables going all the way across? I’m hooked up to both!
One challenge between me and the finish line for the Blue course. Getting ready to do the Exit Zip!
Stuck the landing! That’s a wrap and a win for the Blue course! Next, please!
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Yellow Course
Hello, Yellow! Nice to meet you. It’s you against me and you’re going down! Hopefully. 😜
Can you tell I’m having fun yet?
This is Vortex Bridge. I took a couple of minutes to think about my “strategy” and then got to it!
Got my cables engaged and I’m ready to go! In case you’re wondering what it looks like to look down, here you go!
The evidence that I’m conquering Vortex Bridge. If you look closely, you’ll see me smiling!
Just as I was thinking I had all this under control, no problem, I met the Stump Jump. My friend had warned me that it was hard. I found myself confronting little unevenly spaced targets that moved and tilted!
I began cautiously and got about two steps in and then stopped and had what I felt like was a business conference right then and there to figure out how the rest of this challenge was going to go down.
Made it!! This is looking back at the Stump Jump from the opposite direction.
Next up was the Parkway Tunnel. It sways…
and you even change to another tunnel while crawling. This is really cool!
Waving at you as I zip along the Zip Glider!
And for my grand finale, I climbed down this Taco Net. Backwards!
After I finished the Yellow course, our time was up. It went by fast! I think my favorite thing about this adventure was the mental challenge-sizing up my competition and developing my strategy. I also loved the feeling of accomplishment when I completed a challenge.
And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love getting great exercise when you are having fun? Burning calories when it doesn’t seem like you are exercising is ALWAYS heaven!
On to the next adventure!
Asheville Zipline Canopy Adventures
If you’ve never ziplined before, it is super fun! This is something I like to try to do everywhere I go whenever possible. What drew me to Zipline Canopy Adventures was the fact that their Full Canopy Tour has 11 ziplines. 11!! Not many places have this many. Plus, at the end of the Full Tour, there are two parallel lines so if you are with a friend like I was, you can zip side-by-side and have some friendly competition!
After a training session on the ground, we climbed the stairs where our first zip took place halfway up this tower.
While we were zipping, once we got to certain platforms, our guides Doug and Josh gave us information about the trees we were flying in and out of. Most of these were red and white oaks and some of them even dated back to the Civil War!
We also got views of the mountains, a golf course and even downtown Asheville in the background. It’s a really beautiful and scenic area!
Remember the parallel ziplines I mentioned earlier? Here they are! It was game on with Heather!
Here we are with our awesome guides Doug and Josh! Definitely try to get these guys if you can!
Let’s Zip!
Before we knew it, it was 3:45 in the afternoon and we had spent the whole day outdoors having a lot of fun. Heather kept saying she wanted to keep going to tackle the Orange and Red courses at the Adventure Park!
We both left feeling accomplished and like we had had enough exercise to completely deserve the big meal we were going to eat later that night. We also knew we would sleep really well that night. But most importantly, we had so much fun!
Know Before You Go
- The Adventure Center of Asheville is located only 5 minutes from downtown (without traffic) and there is free parking and covered picnic areas.
- GPS won’t always take you straight to them. We found that putting in the Crowne Plaza Resort Asheville’s address got us there and as soon as we got to its parking lot, there were Adventure Center of Asheville signs everywhere pointing us right in!
- If you go in the offseason, it might be really cold as it was the day we went. Wear layers and make sure your outer layer is a windbreaker! Thin tech gloves work well since you will be given big, leather gloves to wear for ziplining. Also, wear a thin beanie that will fit under your helmet to keep your ears warm.
- Wear closed toed shoes no matter the season.
- There are restrooms on site.
- They have limited snacks and drinks for purchase so you might want to bring your own.
- You can bring your own camera and phone, however, if you do, it’s best to make sure it’s somehow strapped to your body. For example, I brought my camera attached to its crossbody strap and my GoPro with the hand strap. My phone was in my pocket. I did use my phone a few times on the challenge courses, but I didn’t take it out much at all ziplining unless I was standing on a platform. Even then, I didn’t do it much because if you drop it from there…
- This is a perfect activity for a girls’ trip like ours, a couples’ trip and a family trip. They have adventure courses designed for kids as well as kids’ ziplines!
PIN IT!
This is definitely something you want to try if you are planning a trip to Asheville! It’s different and fun and you have to take advantage of those mountain views, right?
Have you ziplined or done challenge courses like these? If you try these out in Asheville, I would love to hear how it goes!
‘Til next time…
Trimm Travels,
Heather
Thank you to Heather for taking the photos of me on the challenge courses and to Adventure Center of Asheville for taking the photo of Heather and myself with our guides.
Loved this post! Looks like you and Heather had a lot of fun!
We definitely did!!
This is amazing!!! I did ziplining for the first time last year in my city and fell in love! Those courses look like military basic training abut they sure work them glutes lol. The Stump Jump looks fun. I’m gonna find similar here…
You’re SOOOO right! Let’s just say I earned EVERY calorie I ate that night! It’s great exercise and a lot of fun. Ziplining is my favorite. I fell in love my first time too! Have you gone paragliding yet? That is super fun and I’m in love with it too!
This looks so much fun! I love the little videos you have in between and how you wave on the zip line! The final zip line looks amazing! What an incredible day out!
Hi Anna! It was a LOT of fun!! If you ever have a chance to visit Asheville, definitely try out the Adventure Center! I’m glad you like the videos, I had fun making them. Just a great experience! Thanks for reading!
I think my nephews and some of my friends’ children would absolutely love this, and I’m sure a lot of grownups too! I’m a bit scared of ziplining but at the same time, what a rush! The centre looks like a great place to experience.
Hi Kavita! Yes, it’s GREAT for kids! Especially if you are wanting to wear down their energy! LOL! Ahem, well it wore out mine anyway, but that’s fine because I slept better and got to eat more after the day! Ziplining is a little scary your first time, but then it’s addicting! And yes, a rush! If you get to Asheville, definitely check out the Adventure Center, so much fun! Thanks for reading! 🙂
Have never done ziplining – yet. Some our months ago I went all the way to Monteverde in Costa Rica to do the Canopy Tour. Unfortunately, the tour was canceled and the park shut down due to high stormy winds. Such a pity as ziplining seems to be great fun. Next time?
Hi Eva! Oh, no I hate that happened! Costa Rica is actually high on my list for ziplining. I imagine it will rival Hawaii for me. Yes, you must do it next time! It’s SO much fun! Thanks for reading! 🙂
Ive never gone ziplining before but I feel like I would love it! The height doesn’t really bother me either if I’m strapped up, I think the rush would be fun!
Hi Lauren! Ziplining is SO much fun! I love to zipline and paraglide and parasail! You should definitely try it!! Thanks for reading! 🙂
This looks like so much fun! I love outdoor activities like this, especially zip lining! The parallel zip lines look like a blast 🙂
Hi Lauren! This was the first time I had done parallel zip lines and what I was most looking forward to! My friend and I raced each other both times! Thanks for reading! 🙂
We love ziplines and ropes courses. We both used to work the high ropes course for Girl Scouts. It was always great seeing how confident overcoming challenges can make you. It was usually the adults who were most challenged and subsequently rewarded. Ashville looks like our kind of town and we really have to visit soon.
Hi Jenn and Ed! Wow, high ropes courses for Girl Scouts? This was my first ropes course ever and it was challenging. I didn’t even get up to the high ones! But yes, I definitely felt a huge sense of reward and satisfaction that I could do it! Now ziplining, I’ve done several times. I love it! Definitely visit Asheville and check out the Adventure Center when you go! Thanks for reading! 🙂
It looks like so much fun, however, I wouldn’t do it (afraid of hights etc). But if there is a place where I might dare doing something like this, it’s the US with all the crazy laws that you can sue anybody for everything – I hope it leads to more caution. Anyway, looks like great fun – for all the others 😉
Hi Renata, You aren’t the only one afraid of heights so no worries! Definitely a legitimate fear! It is a lot of fun if you ever get past it though! Thanks for reading! 🙂
When I read your title, I said “Oh good, a reminder of the beautiful Biltmore Estate which we saw in 2010. This Adventure Center looks like a great training place for groups. I would have been able to do this in the past. But now too old for such stuff!
Hi Carol, The Adventure Center was a lot of fun! Great exercise and something new! And I do have the Biltmore on another post I did on Asheville if you want to read it! Thanks for reading! 🙂
This looks like so much fun. I actually received birthday money this year to do a similar ropes course and zip line in my hometown, but have not yet scheduled it. Asheville’s courses look exciting and challenging. That yellow course might about do me in. Also, how fun it must have been to zip line among trees that date back to the Civil War. What a great way to experience a little history with your day of adventure.
Hi Lance! That’s a great birthday gift! The yellow course wasn’t easy, I will say! Great workout though. And yes, it was really cool to know I was whizzing by Civil War trees!! If you’re ever in Asheville, check out the Adventure Center. Great place for families! Thanks for reading! 🙂
I love Asheville, and I love ropes courses!! So these sound like places I need to visit next time I’m down there. And I’ve never seen that kind of safety system that the first place has! That’s pretty cool. And good tip about the beanie!
Hi Maggie! You would LOVE the Adventure Center then! I thought the safety system was uber cool too! Check them out when you’re in Asheville again! Thanks for reading! 🙂