This information is sponsored by our partners at GoApe Zip Line and Treetop Adventure. We appreciate their wonderful staff and this opportunity for adventure!
We’ve all been there. Your kids have a TON of energy and they’re bouncing off your furniture and climbing anything that could be climbed. We have the place for you!
Go Ape Zip Line and Treetop Adventure Course in Creve Coeur Park is the perfect place to take those high-energy kiddos 10 years and older. My children and I along with St. Louis Moms Blog tried out the course to give you a literal bird’s eye view of how everything works. We had no idea what to expect and the description was both terrifying and intriguing! When we arrived, I realized it was so much more than I expected.
After either booking online or simply walking in, (tickets start at $38 for kids 10-15, and $58 for ages 16 and up), you’ll sign a waiver (one 18-year-old or older adult can supervise up to two 10-15 year olds) and start your training to begin the course.
Training is a 30 minute in-depth course on safety, harness fitting, and how to connect and disconnect the harness to the different types of cable systems. The staff gave tremendous guidance and correction accordingly.
After you clear training with the knowledgeable and attentive staff members, your party will move to the first of five different adventure sections. By the end you’ll have passed through 24 unique obstacles and feel like you’ve accomplished an amazing feat!
The five different sections all start with a climb up the trees to a large platform where you will either start the challenge or wait your turn. (Only three bodies are allowed on a platform at a time!) Once it’s time for you to cross, handy signs remind you how to properly clip into the course and cross.
I nervously hoped I could remember all of the connecting and disconnecting I would need to do. To my relief, we walked through the process again, but this time on a miniature version of the course just two feet off the ground. Since I was doing this with my children, there were some additional safety checks that I would need to make. I greatly appreciated all of the time and attention paid to safety, especially with my kiddos in tow!
This particular day was hot, so we were thankful for the water stations at the beginning of each course. Once I mounted the first platform, I checked my son’s connections and proceeded over a wire tightrope 20 feet from the next platform in another tree. I felt very secure knowing that even if I lost my balance, I’d be safely suspended. The next obstacle was a netted bridge which I crossed with more speed. Then came a wooden bridge with large spaces between the pieces.
It reminded me of those movies where the hero is forced to walk over a delegated bridge to escape danger! I brought my Indian Jones, and slowly and deliberately made my way across to the next platform. The next obstacle was my absolute favorite – The Tarzan Swing!
Tarzan Swing starts when you swing off of the platform, suspended in mid-air by a single cable connected to your harness and into a large vertical cargo net. Once you swing into the net the second time, you grab hold and climb your way up to the next platform! The course was nearly finished, only to be completed by a zip line ride. What an exhilarating way to end an exciting course. Midway on the zip line I somehow spun around backwards – that made for a real adventure!
Plan on the full course to take between two and three hours depending on your fitness level and how many people are in your group. Go Ape’s helpful staff are always on the ground, surveying closely, and ready for questions and guidance as you cross each section. Not quite ready to adventure among the treetops? No problem! There are trails beneath each course where those not participating can observe.
We had a wonderful time, and next time I may even leave the kids at home and have an exciting girls’ night out at Go Ape! Even though historically I’ve been fearful of heights, I felt so safe and free up in the treetops. Give it a try with kids 10 and older and adults ready for a challenge! Thanks, GoApe!
