Go Ape Zipline and Adventure Park — Attraction in Strongsville

I went with my boyfriend, his roommate, and a former roommate of mine to celebrate my boyfriend’s 32nd birthday. It was 2 men, 2 women all in our early 30’s with varying levels of fitness. It was a lot of fun, a great workout, and I would go back maybe once a year.

My best tips: -wear gloves (weightlifting gloves are probably best but any leather gloves should do), -bring a phone case (a waterproof case you would take to the beach) and have one person in your party wear it -bring an extra pair of clothes, you will get dirty if you land on your back after the zip line -wear long shorts, capris, or pants and a t-shirt or 3/4 sleeve shirt. Some of the obstacles have ropes that came up to my armpits and were starting to hurt toward the end -wear clothes with zippered pockets if possible, if not- you can wear a lanyard around your neck but I would recommend tucking it into your sports bra for women or at least under your shirt -take your time, there were quite a few points where I just needed to breathe before continuing (part of this because I’m not super fit, partly because I don’t love heights) -bring an extra change of clothes, water bottles, and snacks in your car -wear sunscreen and bug spray! I didn’t need sunglasses in the trees, but I got about 10 mosquito bites.

I do not recommend this for people afraid of heights. However, I did feel safe the whole time. You’re hooked up to the zip line equipment the whole way, and they make it really easy to remember how to hook yourself up. If you fall, you would just hang there or slide across. I don’t love heights, and I felt it was easier to cross the obstacles where you don’t have to look down because it’s a straight cable across. If there were platforms I had to look at, it took me some time to psyche myself up.

All the trainers are amazing! Our trainer was Becky, and she was really great making sure everyone knew what they were doing and felt safe. She even gave my boyfriend a full body harness when she saw the waist harness was too short for his torso.

It should be noted that there are 5 courses including the first super easy course. You don’t have to do them all, but you can. Course #2 had a Tarzan swing you cannot bypass, and that was the most difficult obstacle in my opinion. Most courses have two options for crossing - moderate or difficult. Some people in the original training group did the courses out of order, I’m not sure if that is typical or we were just with seasoned climbers.

I recommend wearing old clothing that you wouldn’t mind throwing away if it got torn. My clothes didn’t get torn, but they caught on wood or ropes a few times. You will get sweaty and slightly dirty so bring a change of clothes in your car. We changed afterward, had some snacks and drank water, then went to the nearby Brew Garden for dinner.

The entire experience took about 3.5 hours. We were supposed to get started at 3pm, but it was delayed a bit so it actually started at 3:30 and we finished around 7pm. I wouldn’t make reservations afterward just to be sure you have plenty of time to change and drink some water.

Covid protocols- we had to wear face coverings during the training session because you’re shoulder to shoulder. Once we were on the course, you could take your mask down or off. I never felt too close to another party. They had hand sanitizer and water at each course starting point. The bathrooms were really clean. The harness looked really clean too.

I would definitely come back and try the axe...

Here are the guidelines...We DON'T recommend bringing a bag with you into the trees because they are bulky, but if you must bring a bag, it should fit closely to your body and must not interfere with the harness or related Go Ape gear. A small backpack with tight fitting straps usually works fine. Fanny packs aren't great because they sit right where your harness will be. --- So I did have a bag. Not recommend but also doesn't state it is banned. The fanny pack could be worn multiple ways and backpack style is included. Had a secured clasp to stay tight to my body as stated. I was told that I was forbidden from taking it with me. However, another rule was no long loose hair. There were 3 girls in the group with long hair. One came past her shoulders to mid back and it was loose. That hair was more likely to fly up if the wind blows hard and get caught in a wire or carabiner more than my secured bag would be. However, not a word was said to her to put it up in a bun or tighter ponytail. So I'll say I felt discriminated against when it came to what rules they chose to enforce and what RULES they turned a blind eye to. All of this happening prior to even starting the course so it started my experience off negatively and pretty much set the tone for the rest of the excursion. Our guide was only there for part 1 and I understand it's somewhat a self guided tour but you pretty much learn the rules and then sent off on your own as those you're an expert after 30 minutes. Meanwhile, he's not even looking up at what we're doing because him and 4 other staff members are down below laughing and goofing off while laying down mulch. Later in the course there was another guide who wasn't even assigned to my group but was actually paying attention to me and provided very helpful advice which I appreciated. He was on his game... the others, ...

Horrible group experience. Our group made a reservation in advance for 2:30-5:30p for a group of 30 teenagers with a few adults. We showed up and as we were checking in the woman at the desk was already complaining that the person (on their end) that did the booking did it wrong. They then took back our first group of kids (9). The rest of us waited. Then they took a second group to start. Then around 4:15 someone came over and told us that there was no way that our last group of girls (11 teenage girls) could do the course before they closed at 5:30. Remember that we made this reservation in advance and did not just show up with a large group. When we checked in they did not tell us that this might be an issue. Some of our teenagers had driven 2 hours one way to do this course and now they're being told too bad. They refunded us the cost of those who couldn't participate but offered no additional compensation for time wasted. Also, our second group of teenagers didn't even get to finish the entire course before being told it was time to end. So we paid full price for them and they didn't even get the full experience. Had they told us at check in that there was no way to accommodate us we might have sent some of the girls home and told them we would bring them next spring. But to have us wait 2 hours (we showed up early per your recommendation) and then tell us to go home is infuriating. We had a group of very disappointed teenagers who wasted their Saturday afternoon. Will tell others about...