Grant's Getaways: Oregon Adventures with the Kids. Grant McOmie
a bit nervous about both speed and height. They’ll say, ‘I don’t know if I want to do this,’ but by end of the run they say, ‘Wow, let’s get going. I want more.’”
Each of the lines (they are numbered one to five and get progressively longer and higher) allows the zippers to gain more and more confidence. Fawkes said she loves it when she hears the zippers scream: “I do—because I know they are out of their comfort zone. I was out of my comfort zone when I first tried it too, but that’s when amazing things happen. I grew and gained more confidence. I’ve been guiding here ever since!”
Rogue Valley ZipLine Adventure is the brainchild of owner Lindsey Rice—who zipped her first high wire in Hawaii. As she flew through the air above Oahu, she thought: “We’ve got better views back in Oregon!” So 8 years ago she built Rogue Valley ZipLine Adventure across the 83 wooded acres that she owned. The longest zip line is over a quarter mile long and takes advantage of something special: “Oh, it’s all about the views—they are beautiful,” noted Rice. “You look down and across to both the Upper and Lower Table Rocks, you can see Mt. McLoughlin and even the rim of Crater Lake.” Newcomer Jessica Sites agreed and offered, “I almost wish I could have stopped in the middle of the last run to admire the scenery … sort of hang out for a bit and check it out—it was gorgeous.”
There’s more: Rogue Valley ZipLine Adventure is open to nearly everyone! “We are ADA-friendly,” said Rice. “We do whatever we can to accommodate all folks who come out. They may be in wheelchairs or they may be blind—even grandmothers in their nineties can go zipping with their grandkids. We encourage the entire family to come out and enjoy this fun activity together.” Note that children must be at least 8 years old, weigh a minimum of 65 pounds, and be in good physical condition. Riders aged 8 to 13 must also be accompanied by an adult chaperone. Drinks and snacks are available for purchase at their general store (water is available throughout the park) and they even have lockers to stow your gear. Allow 2½ to 3½ hours for the whole adventure.
CRATER LAKE ZIPLINE
When you travel to Klamath County in Southern Oregon, there are three words you must remember: Just—Let—Go! If you do, you will leave all your troubles behind! Visitors to the southern end of Oregon who pull in to the Running Y Ranch will discover a unique mix of residential development as well as fine hotel accommodations that spread across thousands of acres with stunning views to Upper Klamath Lake. The hotel rooms are generously sized and comfortable for a weekend stay, according to hotel manager and Running Y Ranch resident George Lusk: “A room with a king-sized bed and a view to either the golf course or our small village, but really you are looking at foothills, pine trees, and beautiful aspens across thousands of acres.” The Running Y Ranch is located 8 miles from Klamath Falls and the locals like to boast it is the “Sunshine City” of Oregon; it offers more than 300 days of sunny skies a year! The resort’s sports center provides facilities for family-friendly activities including tennis, basketball, swimming, pickleball, fitness classes, arcade games, seasonal activities for youth, and much more. And right next door in the winter months at the Bill Collier Community Ice Arena, your family can enjoy skating, broomball, and curling (minimum age varies depending on the activity).
The Running Y Ranch is a fine base camp for all sorts of outdoor recreation, especially golf on the only Arnold Palmer–designed golf course in the state. Weather permitting, a cleverly designed mini-golf putting course is fun for kids and grownups alike; allow an hour to play a full round. Lusk added the Running Y also boasts miles of hiking trails, canoe paddling, and wildlife watching: “Just a beautiful place to walk! It’s about 2½ miles of a nature walk right along the shore of Klamath Lake. Starting in December we’ll have the eagles migrate here and stay through the winter—hundreds of eagles will arrive and it’s just unbelievable to see so many in one place.” Your family can join thousands of birding enthusiasts who visit the Klamath Basin each year. You could even plan to join in the fun of the annual Winter Wings Festival (winterwingsfest.org) that includes several family activities.
Safety is everything on a zip line and includes a helmet and harness.
Other visitors are eager to visit the Running Y to sign up for something new: the chance to soar through the trees at the new Crater Lake Zipline. First opened in September 2015, all you need is a harness, a helmet, and a spirit of adventure and you are smack in the middle of a forest canopy. Crater Lake Zipline is the vision of Darren and Jennifer Roe, owners of Roe Outfitters, who wanted to offer visitors something that’s a bit daring, a bit challenging, and a whole lot of fun. The zip line—Oregon’s eighth, but the first east of the Cascades crest—has nine long, fast lines extending from the hilltop, a pair of swinging suspension bridges, and a couple of rappels, including a short free-fall at the conclusion of the run. From each platform, views extend across the colorful marshlands of Upper Klamath, the state’s largest lake. The 3-hour experience, Darren said, has already shown itself to be far more popular than he ever imagined it would be. Participating children must be at least 10 years old and weigh a minimum of 70 pounds. Lockers aren’t provided, so leave valuables at home or locked out of sight in your car’s trunk. Also, cameras and cell phones are not permitted, but the rangers will capture the experience on camera for you and those photos will be available for purchase at the end of your adventure.
Zip-lining is the newest but hardly the only recreational pursuit in the Klamath Falls area. Roe Outfitters itself has solo and tandem kayaks, canoes, and stand-up paddleboards available for rent. Three separate scenic areas, including the Wood River, which feeds Agency Lake on the north side of Upper Klamath, and Spring Creek, a Williamson River feeder near Collier State Park, have been designated for tours. Zip liners can also combine two adventures into Roe’s “Skyak” day, which couples a morning on the wires with an afternoon of kayaking in the serene Malone Springs area in the Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. This combo trip is reserved for those 10 and older, but Roe Outfitters also conducts paddleboarding adventures and hunting trips (minimum age 8) and fishing trips for families with children as young as 4. Fly-fishing trips are also available for families whose children are a minimum of 8 to 12 years old, depending on the location and type of fish. All excursions require that children are accompanied by a responsible adult. Trips through the marsh-lined channels of the Upper Klamath wetlands are far more than physical exercise. They are also exercises in wildlife watching, not only for that of the four-legged variety. In fact, the Klamath Basin is world-renowned as a bird-watching destination.
“It’s the original ecotour,” noted Darren. “It’s the greenest thing out there and it’s just a lot of fun.” Seven years ago, Jen and Darren fell in love with zip-lining while on vacation and they wondered: couldn’t they do something like it near their home in Klamath County. According to Jennifer, they searched the entire Oregon countryside for just the right property but discovered there’s “no place like home.” “A good friend of ours said, ‘Hey, did you ever consider Tomahawk Ski Bowl?’ And I said, ‘No, but let’s go take a look.’” The Roes really liked what they saw of the defunct community ski area that opened in the 1950s but then closed in the mid-1980s. They spent 2 years turning the old ski site into their zip line course, the longest in Oregon.
The nine routes total a mile and a half and you are in the trees the entire time. Darren said that the spacious views of the surrounding countryside really set Crater Lake Zipline apart. “I can’t get enough of it: we have views to the mountains, to Klamath Lake—plus we are in these amazing giant trees that just take your breath away.” Jennifer quickly added, “You see Klamath Lake from just about every platform of the course and it is huge—some 30 miles long and it is the biggest natural lake west of the Mississippi River.”
As for the namesake, Crater Lake—Jen noted that the zip line course is just 30 minutes south of the entrance to the national park so they are a “gateway” of sorts to the park and they offer high adventure that is a fine complement to anyone’s visit to Crater Lake National Park. The zipping experience is positively exhilarating as you speed along cables and reach 30 miles per hour—in fact, two of the zips are more than 1,400 feet long.