By Laura Moss
While I've never had a fear of heights, I'll admit that standing precariously on the edge of a platform hundreds of feet in the air with the distant sound of a river below me was a bit unnerving. But as soon as I leaped from my leafy perch high in Jamaica's Blue Mountains, I knew jumping was the right decision.
I soared over the river gorge, swooping through the trees like a bird until my journey ended all too soon as I lightly landed upon another platform. Luckily, I still had fourteen more soaring leaps to make — some long and smooth where I'd fling my arms out wide, others a nearly vertical drop where I'd cling to my harness for dear life — until I'd reach the forest floor.
This summer in Ocho Rios I got my first taste of a canopy tour, and it's an experience I'd recommend to any adventurous traveler. And while you may think you need to trek to Costa Rica or Jamaica for such a high-flying experience, there are actually a variety of exciting zip line adventures right here in the United States. Depending on your location, you can soar anywhere from 50-150 feet off the ground at speeds ranging from 30-50 mph (at the world’s fastest zipline in Sun City, South Africa, participants can fly at up to 100 mph!), and with zip lines located everywhere from Alaska to Texas to New Hampshire to Hawaii, you're bound to find one just right for you.
The recently opened
Wimberley Zipline Adventures in Wimberley, Texas, located between San Antonio and Austin, boasts 2,500 feet of breathtaking zip line fun. Upon completion of “flight school,” your group embarks on a high-flying, two-hour tour across the valley. In nearby Austin,
Cypress Valley Canopy Tours lets participants glide through a canopy of old growth trees, some up to 100 feet tall. And if you haven’t had enough zip lining fun, zip into your evening quarters at the Lofthaven. Here, guests can spend the night nestled in the trees listening to screech owls and coyotes and awakening with the songbirds.
“A canopy tour here allows guests to fly through cypress tress in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, and we have all types of groups that come out to partake in it because it’s something new and exciting to do,” says Amy K of Cypress Valley Canopy Tours. “Many of our guests come out here afraid of heights, but we help them conquer that fear and by the end of the tour, they’re ready to it again!”
And if you’re really ready to conquer your fears, you can soar through and above the Aspens at Soaring Tree Top Adventures in Colorado for an even more exciting trip into the world of ziplining. With no road access to the site, guests enjoy a ride on the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad before beginning their four-hour flight through ponderosa pines. And Soaring Tree Top Adventures features 32 different platforms that each have something different to offer participants, including being airlifted by helicopter hoist and rappellin
g to the forest floor.
If you’re hoping for a good glimpse of wildlife, check out Alaska Canopy Adventures. Located in one of Alaska’s rainforest reserves, there’s a good chance you’ll see bald eagles, black bears, or other animals while soaring through the trees. You’ll also cross over three hanging bridges, get a bird’s-eye view of Eagle Creek Falls and fly down the 850-foot, heart-pounding “Ben’s Revenge” zipline.
And for some of the most breathtaking ziplining in America, try out one of the numerous canopy tours offered on the islands of Hawaii, such as the zipline tour at Outfitters Kauai at Poipu Beach, Hawaii. Here, participants fly over black basalt boulders and soar past a 150-foot waterfall. The four-and-a-half-hour tour also incorporates a hike to Kipu Falls where you can try out the rope swings, swim beneath black lava cliffs, or just relax and enjoy the scenery.