Asheville’s location in the Blue Ridge Mountains makes it a natural launch point for canopy adventures of every kind. You can soar above the Nantahala River, race across a Green River gorge, or weave through tree-based courses minutes from downtown. Some tours focus on long, scenic glides with panoramic mountain views. Others deliver steep drops, rappels, sky bridges, and high-speed thrills.
This guide compares Asheville-area zipline tours by location, intensity level, and age range, so you can find the right fit — whether you’re planning a family trip, a group getaway, or a full-throttle mountain adventure.
Where Can I Zipline in the Asheville area?
For a Day Trip, Just Add Speed
If you’re looking for a heart-pounding thrill, grab a friend and head out on the Mountaintop Tour at Navitat Canopy Adventures, a side-by-side experience that features zips as high as 350 feet and as long as over half a mile.
For those looking to scare their socks off, take the 40-minute ride from downtown Asheville to The Gorge, the steepest and fastest zipline tour in the country. The Gorge features 11 ziplines, three towering rappels, a sky bridge, and a drop of 1,100 vertical feet from start to finish, earning its moniker as the fastest zip in the nation. It winds through acres of forest and offers breathtaking views of more than 18,000 acres of lush mountain scenery and the Green River.
Another day trip takes you west to the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Soar high above the trees with the NOC's signature Mountaintop Zip Line. Perched on the rim of the Nantahala Gorge, you'll glide more than 350 feet above the Nantahala River below, with spectacular 360-degree views of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Nantahala Gorge.
Zips through the City + Kid-Friendly
Asheville Zipline Canopy Adventures at the Adventure Center of Asheville offers 2 urban zipline tours that include The Asheville Zipline Tour with 9 ziplines and a sky bridge. Or a shorter version, The Asheville Skyline Tour with 5 ziplines. Both trips include our 1,200 ft side-by-side lines with sweeping views of downtown Asheville. All AZCA tours are fully guided and available to guests 8 years and older.
KidZip at the Adventure Center of Asheville is designed specifically for kids aged four to 10 years old. This fun course features nine ziplines ranging from 50 to 250 feet long and from ground level to 25 feet high. There are also four fun climbing elements that are self-guided, but children ages 4 to 6 must have an adult escort.
Tree-based Adventures
Nature lovers will appreciate Navitat's Treetop Tour zipline course because it is entirely tree-based and uses no poles or structures to support the platforms and features, including sky bridges and rappels. Additionally, because of their prime location in the Blue Ridge Mountains, you may spot wildlife like black bears, gray foxes and cottontail rabbits mingling among the Black Cherry and Maple trees.
French Broad Adventures, also about 25 minutes from downtown, features seven separate lines and two rappels, plus a treehouse deck accessed by a 100-foot walkway through the treetops.
Additionally, Asheville Treetops Adventure Park at the Adventure Center of Asheville is an aerial obstacle course with over 77 unique climbing, rolling, walking, jumping, swinging, and rappelling challenges on seven aerial trails just minutes from downtown Asheville. The experience is self-guided and ranges from “beginner” aerial trails to expert “Ninja-Warrior” level. Open all year for ages 4 and over, there is a level for everyone.
The NOC also offers an adventure park experience: the Zip Line Adventure Park or “ZLAP.” It's just a short walk from the river to ZLAP, which features 16 aerial adventure elements, from beginner to advanced, along with an exciting 550-foot long dual zipline.
