Thrills for Everyone: A Zipline Guide to Asheville

By Shayla Martin

Find Your Perfect Zipline Tour in Asheville

Take in the sites of Asheville from a new perspective – by soaring hundreds of feet above the ground. From strictly tree-based courses to courses fit for little ones, here’s a guide to the best zipline experiences in Asheville.

Go Far, Go Fast

If you’re looking for a heart-pounding thrill, grab a friend and head out on the Mountaintop Tour at Navitat Canopy Adventures, a side-by-side experience that features zips as high as 350 feet and as long as nearly three-quarters of a mile.

For those looking to scare their socks off, take the 40-minute ride from downtown Asheville, to The Gorge, the steepest and fastest zipline tour in the country. The Gorge is made up of 11 ziplines, three towering rappels, a sky bridge, and drops 1,100 vertical feet from start to finish, earning its moniker as the fastest zip in the nation. It winds through 120 acres of forest, and offers breathtaking views of more than 14,000 acres of lush mountain scenery and the Green River.

Another day trip takes you west to the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Soar high above the trees with the NOC's signature Mountaintop Zip Line. Perched on the rim of the Nantahala Gorge, you'll glide more than 350 feet above the Nantahala River below, with spectacular 360-degree views of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Nantahala Gorge.

Zips in the City

Zips in the City Asheville Zipline Canopy Adventures at the Adventure Center of Asheville offers 2 urban zipline tours that include The Asheville Zipline Tour with 9 ziplines and a sky bridge. Or a shorter version, The Asheville Skyline Tour with 5 ziplines. Both trips include our 1,200 ft side-by-side lines with sweeping views of downtown Asheville. All AZCA tours are fully guided and available to guests 8 years and older.

Kid-Friendly Ziplines

KidZip at the Adventure Center of Asheville is one of the first zipline tours in the United States that was designed specifically for kids age four to 10 years old. This fun course includes nine ziplines that range from 50 to 250 feet long and from ground level to 25 feet high. There are also four fun climbing elements that are self-guided, but kids four to six years old are required to have an adult escort.

Tree-based Adventures

Family enjoying the fun at the Adventure Center of Asheville Nature-lovers will love Navitat's Treetop Tour zipline course because it is entirely tree-based and uses no poles or structures to support the platforms and course features such as sky-bridges and rappels. Additionally, because of their prime location in the Blue Ridge Mountains, 20 minutes north of downtown Asheville, you may spot wildlife like black bears, gray foxes and cottontail rabbits mingling among the Black Cherry and Maple trees.

French Broad Adventures, also about 25 minutes from downtown, features 10 separate lines and two rappels, plus a treehouse deck (the only one in the area) accessed by a 100-foot walkway through the treetops.

Additionally, Asheville Treetops Adventure Park at the Adventure Center of Asheville is an aerial obstacle course with over 77 unique climbing, rolling, walking, jumping, swinging, and rappelling challenges on 7 aerial trails anchored to over 30 trees in a wooded park just minutes from downtown Asheville. The experience is self-guided and ranges from “beginner” aerial trails to expert “Ninja-Warrior” level. Open all year for ages 4 and over, there is a level for everyone.

The NOC also offers an adventure park experience: the Zip Line Adventure Park or “ZLAP.” It's just a short walk from the river to ZLAP, which features 16 aerial adventure elements, from beginner to advanced, along with an exciting 600-foot long dual zipline.