After a running start, I leapt out into the sky and took flight, with a big smile on my face, feeling like a giddy kid. As I zipped over the hills at 35 miles per hour, looking out over my hometown, I was exhilarated and fully in the moment.
In Wimberley, there’s no shortage of unique shops, lovely spots to drink wine, and swimming holes. But if your playful spirit is craving a little more action, you might prefer flying high over the hills at Wimberley Zipline Adventures.
Upon arrival, the efficient and friendly staff set us up with our gear, and my husband and I joined our group for “flight school,” during which our three guides gave us a rundown of how one ziplines, cracking jokes and checking in frequently to make sure everyone was at ease.
We then loaded up into a military transport vehicle and bounced — and I mean bounced — our way up to the first line. Every person or couple was from somewhere different, but we all looked around at each other and couldn’t help but laugh together at how vigorously we were being jostled around. It seems that when strangers come together to do something that is pure fun, it’s easy to form a quick, friendly bond. As the operations manager, TJ, explains it, “people become single-serving friends for the two hours.”
Wimberley Zipline Adventures leases 30 acres of wilderness in the vast Four Winns’ Ranch, which the Winn family has called home since 1937. It’s amazing to be so close to town yet so far out in nature, taking in 15-mile views, looking out over Old Baldy, Wimberley Square, the high school…everything.
Each of the ten lines — a few with some brief hikes in between — offers a unique experience. Some are as short as 150 feet, and the longest is 900. The most exciting was the one with the running start, but by the sixth or seventh, gliding lower to the ground through the trees, the feeling was more peaceful. After all, you get to experience the sensation of flying like a bird through the air knowing you’re 100% safe and secure. (We were reminded early on that all the equipment combined could hold upwards of 40,000 pounds).
After all the zipping, my husband and I moseyed over to their Biergarten to relax in the shade. We couldn’t believe it took us eight years of living in Wimberley to try out this adventure in our “little bit of heaven,” and we swore we’d be bringing our friends back. Why let the tourists have all the fun?