Treetop Trek – Daytona Beach Zipline Adventure

In the heart of Daytona, just down the street from the famed Daytona International Speedway, there’s something lurking in the trees in Tuscawilla Park. Unless you’re as out of shape as I am, it’s not as scary as it sounds.

Tuscawilla wasn’t always a go-to destination in the area, but a Central Florida company has brought a new sense of adventure to the park. Zoom Air first entered a contract with the city of Daytona in April of 2012 to develop the park into an aerial adventure with zip lines, ropes courses, wooden bridges and nets that are woven into the pre-existing trees without disturbing the natural areas below. It’s easy to drive by without realizing that people are climbing, swinging and flying through the treetops.

Ropes Course and Zip Lines in Daytona Beach

Before Zoom Air, Tuscawilla has been a disc golf course since 1993. I’m not entirely sure what disc golf is and how to play it, considering my experience with Frisbees is usually clumsily chasing after them rather than actually catching them, but Zoom Air’s presence has helped to pick up the number of players as well. In July 2020, the attraction reopened and rebranded as Daytona Beach Zipline Adventure.

Before you start thinking, “Zip lining? How hard could that be? Don’t you just…ride it?” let me set you straight. There is so much more to this park than gliding between the trees. Oh no, they make you work for that adrenaline rush.

My fiancé, Scott, and I spent the day in the trees is hopes of a fun day of exercise in preparation for our upcoming wedding. If we had an annual pass to this place, we would never have to set foot in a gym again.

Daytona Beach Zipline is a surefire way to bring out your inner child and make you feel like you’re back in summer camp. The park offers a self-guided treetop tour reminiscent of those team building activities where you had to climb trees and scoot across logs as a kid.

Be sure to get a decent meal in ahead of time, especially if you plan to be there during lunch, because you can’t leave the park and come back. There are short breaks in between each course to allow for water and bathroom breaks, but you can’t return to the course if you have to get down, so try not to chug half a pot of coffee before you go like I did.

Fun Family Things to do Outside in Daytona Beach

Each of the three courses; Lagoon, Reef and Point Break, consist of several “games,” which aren’t as easy as they sound. A game is a tree-to-tree activity, or any element used to get you from one tree to the next. These are where you will begin to discover every muscle in your body you never knew you had. In addition to zip lines, a game can be a cable or ropes bridge, tight wires or “dancing” logs suspended from ropes that freely swing as you attempt to cross. All three courses give you the chance to tackle up to 12 zip lines and 45 games.

As you move through each of the courses, the games get progressively higher, more challenging and keep your blood pumping in between the zip lines. Don’t worry though, they won’t throw you on the course without ensuring your safety first.

Every participant must first complete a safety briefing on the ground where they demonstrate that they understand how to use the equipment properly. After that, you take to the trees!

During every moment you spend off the ground, you are secured in a harness with a double sling that is attached to a safety line at all times as you move through the course. Even if a slight fear of heights sets in, you can feel safe knowing that as long as you follow the park’s guidelines you aren’t going anywhere. This is especially comforting when you are moving across bridges that are swinging out from under you and you’re practically doing the splits just to make it to the next step.

Each task you accomplish brings you one step closer to the next zip line, and that’s a pretty great feeling. You can help each other on most of the games, or sit back and laugh like Scott did to me. My short stature didn’t help me much, especially on a set of hanging stirrups where I was literally left hanging. (All participants must be 54” or taller so they can attach to the safety line.)

Because of the self-guided nature, you are responsible for securing yourself to the zip lines and stopping yourself in time at the end… which I wasn’t so great at. Luckily for me, the trees at the end of the lines are heavily padded.

While all of this can sound a little intimidating, Daytona Beach Zipline isn’t just for accomplished athletes. It’s a great way to for anyone to spend time together and burn some calories in the process – a burn that we felt for a couple days afterwards. All three courses take about two to three hours to complete, and can burn up to 2,000 calories, which means you can afford to go out for ice cream afterwards!