Asheville may soon have a new draw for tourists and locals alike. Plans are underway for a zip line/canopy tour at the Crowne Plaza Resort, off the Westgate Bridge. It would be the first in the city limits of Asheville.
If approved, the course would overlap an unused, 9 hole golf course and venture into the woods. The 9 zip lines would range from 200 feet to 800 feet in length, and utilize trees with decks built around them, 3 yet to be built towers, and suspension bridges.
According to the Asheville Citizen Times,
“This is good for our guests and good for the whole community,” said Angela Beattie, spokeswoman for Crowne Plaza, adding that the zip line would be open to the public.
“It is just another thing to draw people here to Asheville, and for visitors who are only staying one or two nights in town, it’s something close by Asheville they can take advantage of.”
Once approved, Adventure America Canopy Tours hopes to have the course up and running by June, 2011.
Jeff Greiner is president of Adventure America Canopy Tours, which has built four other zip lines, including its first, Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tours, in the summer of 2009.“We’ve been friends with the Crowne Plaza folks and (owner) Dennis Hulsing for a long time,” Greiner said. “I mentioned something about their property, which has got some really neat features to make it kind of an urban course. We decided to go into a partnership. We will manage the daily operations, staff, training and marketing.”
If approved, this would be another feather in the cap for tourism in Asheville. Unusual tours like La Zoom Comedy Tours and the Brews Cruise, 2 distinct walking downtown areas- downtown Asheville and Historic Biltmore Village, the Biltmore House, Grove Park Inn, and the hundreds of biking and walking oportunities make Asheville one of the South’s best destinations.
