Christy & John from Texas get zip line instructions at
Pigeon River Canopy Tours
No need to travel to the tropics to fly through the treetops. You now have several zip line canopy tours to choose from in the Asheville area in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. No experience is needed. Canopy Rangers provide all the necessary instruction and assistance and use state-of-the-art equipment, including helmets, full body harnesses, trolley, gloves, tether safety lines. There are two canopy rangers per group.
Pigeon River Canopy Tours A new canopy zip line tour arrives in 2010 on the Pigeon River, about 60 miles west of Asheville via I-40, just over the Tennessee state line. The tour includes six zip lines that fly you beside, above and across the Pigeon River and back to your starting point - at heights up to 120 feet above the river and whitewater rafters below. You start on the mid-level platforms of the 50' tower, eventually zipping off the top platform 600 feet up to the Double Decker and Pigeon's Perch that takes you across the river. After climbing the 'Stairway to Heaven,' you zip over 1200' back across the Pigeon River to the rafting center. Phase two is scheduled to open in August with five additional zips and several sky bridges soaring above waterfalls and landing 40 feet up on a rock wall deck. Contact Wildwater Rafting for more. Click here to visit their Web site.
Thanks to John and Christy for letting us zip along!
Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tour The first canopy zip line tour in the North Carolina Smokies is convenient to many southeastern cites like Atlanta, Charlotte and Asheville. Located on the southern edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the Nantahala National Forest, adventure in the Smokies now moves a bit faster.
The 3-hour zip line flight is powered by gravity and a gradual 3 percent elevation change. The 1/2 mile air time Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tour takes you through multiple ecosystems, past hemlocks, into hardwoods, and through a deciduous forest packed with native flowering plants such as mountain laurel, dogwood, rhododendron, giant Frazier magnolia, rare umbrella magnolia, silver bells and many more. Your canopy ranger will point out these natural features and will also share with you some of the cultural history of the gorge.
The zip line is just one way to get to each section on the 20 acre course. Flyers use three Sky Bridges to get to the 11 zip line sections in the trees, slope side and elevated platforms.
The zip line course is located 12 miles west of Bryson City, NC (about 80 miles west of Asheville) at the Falling Waters Adventure Resort in the Nantahala River Gorge. Age and weight minimum is 10 years and 70 lbs. with a weight maximum of 250 lbs. Click here to visit their Web site.
Plumtree Canopy Tours
More than just a three hour zip line experience, enjoy 11 zips and 4 sky bridges while learning about the trees, wildlife habitats, community of Plumtree, the vast underground mines, the hey days of the early to mid-1900’s, and how this region of North Carolina mountains soaring 5,500 feet above sea level remains a world leader today. Plumtree flies you 60 feet above Isaac’s Branch Creek, launches you from“Rock & Roll” and zips you past trees and mountainsides on “The Zinger.”
Included with all Plumtree Canopy Tours is a fabulous lunch or the famous Sunday Brunch experience at the popular Vance Toe River Lodge. Morning canopy tours will have lunch after their tour and afternoon canopy tours will have their lunch before their tour. Located in the heart of western North Carolina’s High Country on US Hwy 19, 5 miles from Linville Gorge, 14 miles north of Spruce Pine, just a short drive from Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, Boone, and Asheville. Plumtree is located in Avery County. Opens for the season on Memorial Day Weekend. Click here to visit their Web site.
Navitat Canopy Adventures Navitat opened May 15, 2010, showcasing the breathtaking natural beauty of a serene mountain cove, located just 30 minutes north of downtown Asheville. The canopy tour course is entirely tree-based and features 10 zip lines ranging from 120 to 1,100 feet in length -- including one that sends guests soaring 200 feet above the forest floor.Click here to read more about Navitat Canopy Tours.
The zip line is just one way to get to each section on the 20 acre course. Flyers use three Sky Bridges to get to the 11 zip line sections in the trees, slope side and elevated platforms. 
Included with all Plumtree Canopy Tours is a fabulous lunch or the famous Sunday Brunch experience at the popular Vance Toe River Lodge. Morning canopy tours will have lunch after their tour and afternoon canopy tours will have their lunch before their tour. Located in the heart of western North Carolina’s High Country on US Hwy 19, 5 miles from Linville Gorge, 14 miles north of Spruce Pine, just a short drive from Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, Boone, and Asheville. Plumtree is located in Avery County. Opens for the season on Memorial Day Weekend.