For many years, Ohio University students have been exploring the caves, creeks and forests of the Hocking Hills Region on foot.
But now they can leave their hiking boots at home and explore the wilderness in a new way ' by flying through the air, the sound of a zip line mixing with bird songs.
Located about 30 minutes from Athens in Rockbridge, Hocking Hills Canopy Tours offers participants a two-hour guided zip line tour through the tree tops.
Named the hottest new attraction in Ohio in 2008 by USA Today, the 43-acre course includes 10 zip lines, four swinging rope bridges and short repel, said Julieann Eckel, one of the six owners of the course.
Eckel and the other owners opened the course in April after she and her husband Dan were inspired by a zip line trip they took last July, she said.
We were on a two-week excursion in Alaska
and I signed me and my husband up for the zip line. He said 'No I don't like heights ' Eckel said. (He) was hugging the trees at first
and by the end he thought he was Superman. We had a fabulous time
and he doesn't have a fear of heights anymore.
When the Eckels returned to Ohio, they went looking for a zip line course in the area, only to discover there were none to be found.
The Eckels joined Julieann's sister Jodi Burroughs, her husband Ray Smolinski and their friends Larry and Joyce Gerstner to create Hocking Hills Canopy Tours.
To design the course, they worked with Bonsai Design Incorporated, a company in Grand Junction, Colo., that creates zip line courses. The course opened in April after six months of construction, Eckels said.
The first month started out slow, but by the middle of May, the course was booked seven days a week until August, Eckels said. There are currently tours available during the week, but weekend tours are booked until the tour's season ends in November, she added.
Zip lining is becoming more and more popular in the United States but was almost unheard of five years ago, said Sarah Shrader, chief operating officer of Bonsai Design Incorporated. An increased number of zip lines in Costa Rica gave more Americans the chance to use zip lines, Shrader said.
The whole point of a (Costa Rican) canopy tours was explore the rain forest canopy
she said. So when folks from North America were visiting South America they were thinking
'I did an awesome zip line
and I want to do one here.' The industry is exploding.
Bonsai installed three zip line courses nationwide in 2006 and three more last year. The company already has installed five this year and is almost completely booked for 2009, Shrader said.
To get inspiration for the Hocking Hills course, representatives from Bonsai visited the site to look for beautiful features to highlight.
Our philosophy is to take a place and showcase the unique aspects of it
she said. The Hocking River Valley is so beautiful (and) the whole point in installing the program is (to) give folks ways to connect with that beauty. It zips you along the river and through the beautiful trees.
After the course was designed, representatives from Bonsai met with arborists and foresters to make sure the trees were healthy enough to support the course. After the course was installed, Bonsai's sister company, S.T.E.P.S. Incorporated, sent representatives from Ann Arbor, Mich., to train the Canopy Tour's guides.
Each eight-person tour group is led by two guides who help participants get on and off each zip line and point out interesting sites along the way, Eckel said.
For Jamie Denlinger, a 2008 OU graduate, becoming a zip line tour guide was a way to work with people and spend time outdoors.
I kind of just leapt into it
she said. I love being outside and sitting behind a desk for 40 hours a week didn't seem appealing to me.
During the summer, Denlinger was working 12-hour days, seven days a week but since the school year started, she has cut back her hours. October will be a busy month for the guides because everyone wants to see the leaves change color, she added.
I meet new people all the time
she said. I meet new people from all walks of life from grandparents to young children. You get to know about the way people live and how they carry themselves. It's really interesting.
Mike Novak, a junior studying audio music production, visited Hocking Hills Canopy Tours with his parents and girlfriend in July and said that his favorite part of the tour was when he zip lined alongside the Hocking River.
It was just exciting
