Go Ape! is an outdoor adventure company which runs tree top ropes courses under the names Tree Top Challenge, Tree Top Adventure and Zip Trekking, as well as ground-based Forest Segway Safaris, at locations across the United Kingdom and the United States.

History

The company was founded in 2002 by Rebecca and Tristram Mayhew, after they were inspired by a tree-top adventure course in France, and has a contract with the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also resp ...

for courses on multiple sites. The first course opened in March 2002 in

Thetford Forest Thetford Forest is the largest lowland pine forest in Britain and is located in a region straddling the north of Suffolk and the south of Norfolk in England. It covers over in the form of a Site of Special Scientific Interest. History Thetf ...

, on the borders of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

; it was the first self-belay tree top ropes course in Britain. In 2003, the company won a ''Best Tourist Attraction'' award and has also won other awards. In 2007, it was shortlisted for the ''Best Norfolk Attraction'' award at the ''Tourism In Norfolk Awards''. In 2008 the company opened new courses in Kent, Cumbria, Devon, Buckinghamshire and Staffordshire. On 8 May 2010 Go Ape opened their first course in the United States at the

Lake Needwood Lake Needwood is a reservoir in Derwood, Maryland, United States. Located east of Rockville, in the eastern part of Montgomery County, it is situated on Rock Creek. The lake was created by damming Rock Creek in 1965 with the goal of providing ...

section of Rock Creek Regional Park in Rockville, Maryland. In March 2015, a "Treetop adventure course" was opened in Wake County. The courses are made up of zip wires, rope swings, ladders, walkways, bridges and tunnels made of wood. There are "Adventure" courses at a number of sites around the country designed for 6 - 12 year olds. There are also Segway scooters and mountain bikes. In 2014 Go Ape opened trampoline parks in

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

and

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Steven ...

under the name Air Space. This part of the business was sold in 2017 to Oxygen Freejumping. On 29 September 2019 Verity Bailes, from

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...

, became the first person to complete Go Ape's Treetop Challenge at all 34 locations across the UK. On 6 March 2022 Greg Whittle, from Peterborough (originally Adelaide, Australia), became the second person to complete Go Ape's Treetop Challenge at all 34 locations across the UK.

Facilities

There are 34 Treetop Challenge courses in forests in England, Scotland and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

consisting of rope ladders,

zip-line A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the bo ...

rope bridge A simple suspension bridge (also rope bridge, swing bridge (in New Zealand), suspended bridge, hanging bridge and catenary bridge) is a primitive type of bridge in which the deck of the bridge lies on two parallel load-bearing cables that a ...

trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...

s and swings. There are also 12 Forest Segway experiences, 25 Treetop Adventure, 16 Treetop Adventure Plus and 3 Nets Adventure courses. The course in Grizedale Forest, near The Lake District in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

, has the longest dual zip-lines in Britain. , four Go Ape locations offer an axe throwing experience.

Public opposition

There have been public opposition to some of Go Ape's proposals. They chose not to build a course in the Bidjigal Reserve in New South Wales, and met some opposition to their plans to expand in Moel Famau, North Wales. In England, there was a public response over their proposal in Rivington and Essex County Council declined a proposal after protests. A Go Ape ropes course proposal in the United States was declined after a large neighbourhood outcry in

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Go Ape WebsiteGo Ape USA Website
Travel and holiday companies of the United Kingdom Tourist attractions in England Tourist attractions in Scotland Tourist attractions in the United States