Niche Biz: Treetop Adventure Parks

Springwise:

Tarzan fans have long yearned for the ability to swing from the trees like the Lord of the Jungle, and in recent years new opportunities to do just that have arisen around the world. Most recently one of our spotters came across Go Ape, a UK-based park that first launched in 2002 and has since expanded to 16 locations throughout Britain. Each of Go Ape’s award-winning high forest adventure parks is essentially a network of rope bridges, trapezes and zip slides that stretches for roughly a mile through the tree canopy.

Visitors can climb trees, slide across high wires, crawl through tunnels, cross rope bridges, swing on Tarzan swings and walk over planks before zipping down to the ground again. All users are fitted with a climbing harness and given instruction before undertaking the course, which takes approximately 2.5 to 3 hours to complete. Entry is GBP 25 for adults and GBP for children 17 and under; the minimum age is 10.

In Lyon, France, City Aventure operates two parks that also offer a variety of high-forest adventures. Attractions include rope bridges and Tarzan swings, along with the Tyro X-speed at Ste. Foy, a giant Tyrolean traverse 110 metres long that visitors can use to zip throughout the 4-hectare park. The courses take between 1 and 2 hours to complete. Both parks are built with environmental preservation in mind, including fastening systems that do not interfere with the trees’ normal growth.

Adrenalin Forest in Christchurch, New Zealand, spans more than 1km with 4 pathways between 1.5 and 17 meters off the ground. Visitors to the park, which launched last year, negotiate a series of rope bridges, Tarzan swings and flying foxes from platforms constructed in the tree canopy. Last but not least, Thailand’s Tree Top Adventure Park, set in the forest of Koh Chang, also offers an assortment of rope bridges, Tarzan swings and giant zip lines.

Photo by Go Ape.

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