eXplore Brown County — Hotel in Columbus

My family & I had a blast. The staff is friendly, and explain the instructions very well. I actually found a discount on Groupon for the paintball also. But a few suggestions for anyone that is doing the paintball. The paintball ‘balls’ sting when they connect with you. I had a shirt,sweatshirt, and coveralls on & I could still feel it. It left marks on my skin in some places. I recommend you wearing Several layers of clothing. They have coveralls you can rent for $4 a piece. But buyer beware! These coveralls were damp & in a bin outside. They smelled and most of them were ripped to shreds. You also couldn’t tell what ones were used & dirty vs the clean ones. BUT with that being said, the extra layer of clothing did help. Another thing that I recommend is doing a little research. They do not tell you that it’s going to be an additional $25 per person for your paintballs and air. Which are not included. Then we also noticed a $7 charge on my credit card which they emailed the receipt to, for a paintball “TAX”. I feel like they should have told me about that one. I would’ve been fine with it, but I really Didnt care to seeing a surprise charge on my credit card. There is also a waiver that each person must sign. You can do it via website or do it when u get there. Also you must be very able to tromp through woods, leaves, sticks, and debris to do this activity btw. They don’t clean up the areas very well. Just let nature do its course, and if you happen to trip over a large limb or fall in the small stream, well, You did sign the waiver.... lol. Inside the buildings, you can tell that everything is covered in a layer of filth. Even the small store where you pay for everything and you can purchase T-shirts & such was covered in a layer of dust and who knows what else. Some of the outside facilities look like a hoarders dream!You’ll understand more when you see it. The guns do jam up from time-to-time but you just pull that little lever & all is well. I will also advise you to call ahead & make reservations ahead of time. They have to call a referee in to the facility. They don’t keep guys there at all times. So they have to schedule a referee for your paintball game. I would also highly recommend taking cash with you to tip your referees. Nowhere anywhere online does it say to tip your referee. But everywhere at the location, has signs up that say “don’t forget to tip your referee.” But overall, the activity was fun and the instructor was nice. There is also random tetherball’s placed around the facility to where you can play while you are waiting for your games to start. Got a good work out in the three hours...

I wanted to surprise my boyfriend who has never ziplined before a special excursion for just us 2. I chose the night flight expedition tour with an added leap of faith to end the adventure.

When we arrived, we walked up to the office to find what appeared to be teenagers to early 20 something year olds 'hanging out.' After watching them scramble to get gear and figure out their plan, it was as if they hadnt known we were coming.

The person in the office was Kyle. He asked for my name and checked to see if my balance had been paid. Then proceeded to try to take my weight but he couldn't connect his scale to weigh me. He never once went over the zip plan or what I paid for. For my own understanding I would have liked to confirm what I had purchased via online. But the atmosphere was sooo laid back that there just wasn't any professionalism.

Our tour guides were Sarah and Tanner. O boy. Where do I start? Its very obvious these two have not demonstrated enough tours and their instruction was terrible. We weren't allowed to have our bright helmet lights on to see because it was blinding the tour guides. But they had their bright lights on almost the entire time blinding us as we came in for breaking. Breaking. O man. Both guides breaked my boyfriend and I too early which left us dangling on the line for several minutes as they attempted to "rescue" us. Those harnesses are extremely uncomfortable when you're dangling at 80 feet. Or is it 90? Hell my tour guide couldn't tell ya either. Simple questions like "how many miles is the tour total?" His response 👉👉👉👉 "I have no idea, actually. That's a good question." I do not recommend having these two as your guides.

The course itself is absolutely amazing. The property is HUGE and scenery is stunning. It's a shame they have teenagers running the show with little experience...

I used to live in Brown County for about 8 years. I absolutely love the Valley branch retreat. Nashville is one of the closest places to go to enjoy the outdoors and shopping. But I do caution you. As a former local of Brown County, I can tell you that during the spring and fall, Nashville draws quite the amount of tourism. Many of these individuals come from the city and as bad as I hate to say it, SOME city folks don't get the gist of what it means to keep the grounds clean. So yes, many people will come to the valley branch in torrents of people, playing music, being loud, leaving trash,etc. However, this is not how it is all of the time and the staff at the retreat do an excellent job in having to juggle keeping the cabins clean, roads clean, trails clean, pond/lake clean, cutting firewood, checking in campers, and this doesn't include taking the groups to the miles of zip lines they offer throughout the park and the paintball field they maintain. The staff stay very busy and I commend them for all the hard work they do in trying to keep the place up and going despite the mess that many people leave behind. Valley branch offers many campgrounds to put a tent, and from experience we requested different camping sites so we could have a wooded atmosphere or out in the open, or cabin. They gladly obliged. There are many hiking and biking trails, paintball, fishing, canoeing. All in all, valley branch is an excellent place to go. Just call in advance to your trip to make sure there are no large (frat) parties scheduled, just because Nashville is the place to go for things like this. Drinking and being outdoors goes together. The staff is wonderful and I love everything they have to offer. Keep up the good...