Due to a big project at my work, I’ve had to put in some crazy hours over the past year. So even though covid-19 means we are all home almost all of the time, I haven’t been able to spend as much quality time with my family as I would like to. I decided to take each of the kids on a one-on-one adventure together. My oldest picked ziplining and after researching a few options in the mountains, I decided on Hawksnest.
Both of my boys spend at least one week every summer at camp at the Whitewater Center, so RB has been on their ziplines many times. I went zipling once with my husband through the jungles of Costa Rica many years ago. The options in the NC mountains are sort of in between those two experiences – more scenic than the Whitewater Center and less adventurous than Costa Rica.
Originally a ski area, Hawksnest rebranded as a snowtubing park in 2008, becoming the largest snowtubing park on the east coast. A few years later, they added ziplining to their activities, making them a year-round destination.
Hawksnest offers two different zipline options: the Hawk Tour ($70) and the Eagle Tour ($80). The Hawk Tour is a run of 11 cables over 1.5 miles while the Eagle Tour is 9 cables covering almost 3 miles. The longest run on the Hawk Tour is 1,500 feet versus over 2,000 feet on the Eagle Tour. Both of the tours last between an hour and a half to two hours. (In the shoulder season of late winter / early spring when both their zipline and their snow tubing activities are open, they offer a 3rd option – the Snowbird Tour – with a smaller number of runs as well.)
We opted for the Hawk Tour and made a reservation for a Sunday afternoon. (They offer tours at 10:00, 12:00, 2:00 and 4:00.) We were joined by one other family (a group of 4) and there were 2 guides as well as a guide in training. I appreciated the small group size and the fact that masks were required and safety overall was emphasized.
We were there on the last day of the snowtubing season so while there was a bit of a crowd, it was more concentrated in the tubing area. We checked in to the ziplining office and got fitted for our gear. The first line (a short training run) starts from the second story deck of the main building. We were given instructions and a safety talk and then each took our turn on the first run.
Hawksnest utilizes an “active” braking method. We wore gloves, one of which had a thick brake pad on the palm that we used to pull down on the wire behind the trolley to slow down. Neither my son nor I had ever had to actively brake before. We had both been on courses that used passive brake systems, which quite honestly were much easier and seemed less dangerous. With active braking, you run the risk of either stopping too soon (which means an instructor has to come out and help bring you back in) or not stopping soon enough and coming in way too fast. (My son was guilty of the former and I of the latter.) But the biggest risk was that in the rush of the moment, you put your hand in front of the trolley instead of behind it. Doing so means that the trolley hits and/or pinches your hand and can lead to serious injury. I did it once on a small run when I had already slowed way down but the pinch was bad enough that I had to consciously think about where to put my hand every time after that. It seemed somewhat against your instincts (or mine at least) to put your hand behind you.
But braking method aside, I thought it was a well-run and safe operation. The guides were great and made sure that everyone was hooked up properly and nobody started a run before the previous person was done and off the platform.
The course made good use of the space on the side of the mountain, although I had expected more of a downhill feel to the whole experience. We crisscrossed down the side of the mountain and on some runs our elevation really only changed because the starting platform was built up higher than the ending one. Some of the lines ran close to the ground too, so much so that I thought if a person happened to be walking below while some was coming down, they would be kicked in the head.
When we got to the end, they drove us back up to the lodge in a van. While it was too far to walk back, we never really lost sight of the lodge on the course (at least before spring while the trees were still bare), which I thought took away a little from the experience. It made it feel more like a small enclosed course than an exploration down a mountain. The NC mountains are beautiful and it felt like they didn’t take full advantage of their location.
But all in all, it was a really fun day for the two of us. I certainly didn’t go to the mountains expecting a Costa Rica-type zipline experience and as long as you are either new to ziplining or manage your expectations if you have been somewhere more exotic, you will really enjoy it. I’d love to go back and try the Eagle Tour. I suspect its longer lines would be a little more like the experience I was expecting – higher cables, longer runs, faster speeds, and a more scenic, down-the-mountain type of vibe.
Bonus tip: we drove right past one of our favorite easy hikes, Otter Falls, on our way to Hawksnest. I recommend going in slightly warmer weather (mid-March was too early) and combine it with a stop at Otter Falls.
