Outdoor Playground

Zip Lines

North Carolina’s zip line attractions are a breezy treat for thrill seekers of all ages. You can embark on a three-hour tour or just add on a fun zip line ride to a day spent rafting or wine tasting.

North Carolina is home to more zip lines than any other eastern state.

On a zip line, you glide on industrial-strength steel cables above ground between platforms. Riders are strapped into a secure harness and hooked to the cable by a carabineer-type device that acts as a pulley. While heights and speeds can be breathtaking, swooshing between landing points involves no banging, jarring or jostling. Your ride is naturally propelled by the gravity of your own body weight. On-site guides help riders launch and brake to enjoy a smooth and exhilarating ride. Check out these destinations for a great outdoor adventure:

Big Woods Zip Line at Sanders Ridge
Boonville
Located near Winston-Salem, Big Woods offers an extra place to celebrate. After you swing through 150 acres of secluded Yadkin Valley forests on a canopy tour with 14 platforms and 12 cables up to 65 feet high, you can toast your adventure at the adjacent Sanders Ridge Winery.

Carolina Ziplines Canopy Tours
Westfield
Here you can choose the “High Course,” “The Web,” a “Low Ropes” teambuilding tour and an evening “Lantern Tour.” You’ll love the inspiring natural location at the edge of Hanging Rock State Park, north of Winston-Salem.

Earthshine Discovery Center Zip Line
Lake Toxaway
Earthshine describes its zip line canopy tour as a powerful tool that can help kids and adults develop important life skills such as trust, confidence and courage. The seven-stage course has six different zip lines, including a tandem zip, plus a sky bridge.

Hawksnest Resort Zipline Tour
Seven Devils
Speed over trees, through trees, over lakes and creeks on 19 zip lines, including four super- or mega-zips over 1,500 feet. Four miles of zip line riding puts you at heights over 200 feet and speeds up to 50 miles per hour.

Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tours
Almond
At this zip line attraction southwest of Bryson City, you’ll get a smooth, bird’s-eye glide through 20 acres. During a three-hour, half-mile tour, you’ll stop at three sky bridges and five transfer bridges or “zippers” located to view multiple ecosystems.

Navitat Canopy Adventures
Barnardsville
True to its mash-up moniker (“navigation” and “habitat”), this three-hour course 20 minutes from Asheville was designed to highlight the natural landscape. You’ll coast through 240 acres in Moody Cove, over mountain streams and a few 100-year-old hardwoods.

Plumtree Canopy Tours
Plumtree
Located on the edge of Pisgah National Forest 15 minutes from Linville Gorge, this zip line is owned and operated by the Vance Toe River Lodge, where you’ll enjoy lunch or brunch as part of your fun day. You’ll fly 60 feet above Isaac's Branch Creek, launch from "Rock & Roll," and zip past trees and mountainsides on "The Zinger."

Richland Creek ZipLine Canopy Tour
Asheboro
Soar through the forest at the base of Purgatory Mountain in Asheboro on 14 different zip line cables. In addition to two hours of white-knuckled excitement in a Randolph County scenic wilderness area, you make a stop at beautiful Mendenhall Falls.

Screaming Ziplines
Vilas
Home to the first triple-wide, 2,000-foot line called the “Super Zip,” this is a perfect course for racing. The Super Zip is an add-on to the standard six-line tour. Riders can descend on this treetop High Country attraction, just minutes outside of Boone, year-round.

The Beanstalk Journey at Catawba Meadows
Morganton
You’ll be whisked away through a life-size Ewok Village via a network of 15 interconnected islands in the sky. You can also challenge your climbing skills on the 32-foot “Beanstalk Climbing Tower,” play on the giant “Spider's Climbing Web” and do night zipping.

U.S. National Whitewater Center Canopy Tour
Charlotte
During the course of this three-to-four area guided excursion through the wooded tree canopy along the scenic Catawba River, you’ll travel along 14 tree platforms, seven different zip lines, cargo net climbs, rappel stations, sky bridges and other aerial elements. Also enjoy a zip line excursion paired with a fireside dinner with craft beer and wine.

ZipQuest® Waterfall & Treetop Adventure
Fayetteville
This 2.5-hour treetop tour has eight zip lines, 16 tree platforms, three canopy sky bridges, and three spiral staircases in the canopy. Some lines give a pure adrenaline rush. Others let you soak up the natural beauty. Your tour ends with a long zip parallel to the only major waterfall in the Sandhills.

added: July 13, 2010

updated: March 8, 2013