Niagara Falls latest natural attraction to add zip lines
Trend toward adding adventure to natural wonders divides visitors
Niagara Falls is the latest natural wonder to add a zip line, offering visitors the chance to take an adrenaline-pumping plunge toward churning mist at speeds topping 40 mph.
The elevated rides have evolved from a novel way to explore jungle canopies to almost necessary additions to lure tourists to established destinations. It’s a trend that’s exposed a rift between those who approach nature like contemplative monks and others who require an Indiana Jones-style experience.
Tom Benson, co-founder and chief experience officer at WildPlay Element Parks, which built the Niagara Falls zip line, says, “How do you take a teenager and get them away from a game console to something that is going to capture their imagination?”
The popularity of commercial zip lines over the past five years — there are at least 200 in the United States alone — means more people are experiencing nature in a new way.
They can ride above the tree line at New River Gorge in West Virginia, over California’s Catalina Island, above lush Hawaiian landscapes and in view of Denali in Alaska.
A zip line ride in Mexico’s Copper Canyon runs more than 1½ miles, one in Nepal drops 2,000 feet and another in Sun City, South Africa, boasts top speeds of 100 mph.
“You feel all this air rushing past you, it’s this great almost roller coaster-esque feeling,” Quillan Brady said after riding the new Eagle Flyer zip line at Lake George in New York’s Adirondacks. “But, really, what I think makes it is ... seeing all this natural New York beauty.”
Niagara Falls-area resident James Bannister doesn’t see it that way. To him, the new zip line there amounts to a “circus midway-style attraction.”
“Every once in a while, somebody comes along and says, ‘Boy, you could build another great attraction here!’ As if the falls itself wasn’t enough of an attraction,” Bannister said.
Zip line fans say it’s still possible to marvel at nature while whizzing above it at highway speeds.
At Niagara Falls, Benson said his four lines angling 2,200 feet along the Canadian side of the gorge were designed to be sensitive to the local environment.
Catalina Island’s zip line stops for presentations at designated “eco-stations” and riders of the Lake George zip line questioned after their rides said they had a new perspective on the natural wonder.