Ready to fly, Philadelphia? The city’s new aerial adventure park is primed for a spring launch. Pro tip: if you’re afraid of heights, you may want to sit this one out.
Treetop Quest Philly, which was announced last summer, is nestled into the greenery of West Fairmount Park. Located at 51 Chamounix Dr., it’s right behind Belmont Plateau, so a day of riding zip lines and rope obstacles will be just a 15-minute drive or 30-minute bike ride from Center City.
According to operations manager Scott Ireland, the attraction will open for business on Saturday, May 12 — not a moment too soon, considering the building interest.
“We get a lot of people stopping by the park asking about the opening date,” Ireland said, “and we’re glad to finally have one to tell them.”
This will be the first Northeast U.S. outpost for Atlanta-based Treetop Quest, which also runs courses in Georgia and Mississippi. And it’s a big one. The Philly set-up will include 65 treetop ropes courses and 17 zip lines, all up to 60 feet above the forest floor.
Ireland said the ropes courses will offer family-friendly options — different courses will accommodate kids as young as 4 years old, while some are set up to challenge adults ages 18 and older.
Individual tickets run anywhere from $17 to $51, depending on your age and whether you register in person or online. If you’re really into it, you can snag a season pass ($230 for adults).
There will also be packages available for group events: Treetop Quest Philly can host birthday parties, field trips and corporate events — after all, there’s nothing like the fear of falling six stories to foster close workplace relationships.
Part of the revenue from the attraction will benefit the city. The course was launched in partnership with the Department of Parks and Recreation, with Treetop Quest committing $500,000 to build the new site. Of that, $20,000 goes directly to city coffers, bolstered by four percent of the adventure’s annual revenue for the next 10 years.
Prime treetop-ropes-course season, apparently, starts at the beginning of May, runs through the summer, and ends with scattered weekends open in the fall.
Note: if this has you wanting to spend every day there: Treetop Quest Philly is hiring. The course needs an assistant operations manager, a front desk clerk and obstacle operators — all before the opening date. If you’re interested, Ireland recommends you apply online.
In addition to staffing up, there’s still some construction work to be done before the grand opening. Though the treetop-level ropes and lines are all strung, the ground-level stuff is still under construction. But Quest folks are pushing hard to make their target May 12 date.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Ireland said, “and I know the city is really excited.”
