Suddenly, Mom and Dad are cool again.
One of our favorite perks of being in this adventurous business is watching the ways people are drawn together because of the Navitat experience. This is especially true of families. Because folks must weigh at least 90 pounds to participate in our tour, most of the adventure-seekers we welcome are at least 10 years old; the bulk of youngsters are teenagers accompanied by their parents.
It’s a fun scene to watch unfold:
In walks a family, whether on vacation or locals on a day-trip adventure. The parents might be nervously stepping outside of the box with this experience, or maybe they are pro-adventurers… either way, many kids tend to have the same expression pre-tour. The expression says something like, “We’re going ziplining. Sure, it’ll be fun, but I’m not going to act too excited. After all, I’m stuck chillin’ with Mom and Dad.”
But then they meet their Canopy Guides. And get geared-up. And then they head up the mountainside in an all-terrain vehicle. “Maybe this is gonna be fun…”
By the time they’re zipping across the first few ziplines, something awesome happens… they’re smiling. Real smiles. (Yes, teenagers smiling!) Mom and Dad are laughing. Everyone’s learning something new. And it is fun. And suddenly, Mom and Dad are cool again. At least a little.
Navitat Canopy Adventures exists to to provide immersive, engaging and educational nature experiences. We get the pleasure of providing this experience in a thrilling and fun way. While crossing 10 ziplines, 2 bridges, rappelling and hiking, groups experience the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Southern Appalachia’s forests in an entirely new way. And for families, it’s a brand new way to get away for a few hours, reconnect, and cheer each other on. The result is truly (honestly!) life-long memories. You can’t beat that.
For more information, including how to book your Navitat adventure, click here.
As our first season comes to a close, reviewing the media attention we’ve had is an amazing treat! Of course, we all love Navitat, and most of our guests have come to love it as well. But when respected members of the national media highlighted us (over and over again) in their publications and websites, it was an incredibly thrilling feeling! We’ve met some wonderful people as a result of the media attention, and look forward to meeting more, both in the few weeks we have left in this season, and next year.
Most recently, Navitat was featured in the New York Times Sunday travel section, in the article “36 Hours in Asheville,” where we were pegged as one of the city’s must-do activities. This national exposure, coupled with the buzz we received a few weeks ago from USA Today’s coverage, has exploded our customer base! We’re now getting calls from across the country as people plan to include Navitat in their upcoming travels.
If you’ve learned about us through some of this national press, or even through the exciting coverage we’ve had locally, don’t hesitate to call and book your adventure! There are still a few more weeks to participate in a Navitat tour before we close for the season!
As we built Navitat, we tried very hard to be intentional about everything we did. We thought long and hard about any change we made to the natural environment. And now that we’ve lived with our decisions for a season, it’s easier to reflect back on the choices we made. The Welcome Center is a great example of what we were trying to do, and it has been a big success.
One of the things we loved about the property was that there was already a large, empty meadow, which allowed us to build the Welcome Center and parking lot without plowing down any trees. (Though we did have to relocate a cranky, old horse to a new home.) The only thing on the site was an old barn, and we used that as our inspiration for the new Welcome Center. We built in its footprint, and even used quite a bit of the wood that was salvaged from the barn during our construction.
We worked with a LEED accredited architect from right here in Asheville, Mark Allison, to design a building that would use as little material as possible. The Welcome Center features an open plan that allows for maximum air flow and light circulation, which is very important since we chose not to use climate control or much artificial lighting, except in a few back office rooms. The result is a center that fits in seamlessly with the environment, just like the rest of our course.
Meet Sarah Marcinko, Navitat’s Environmental Programming Leader. We’re pleased to announce the recent addition of Sarah Marcinko to the Navitat team. As Environmental Programming Leader, Sarah will lead Navitat in further developing interpretative educational programming for Navitat guests, and providing environmental resource analysis and management of our home, Moody Cove.
Sarah is a great addition to our team. She brings expertise in conservation, environmental management and education, which is a perfect complement to our commitment to provide an authentic tree canopy tour experience with as little impact on the natural landscape as possible.
Prior to joining Navitat, Sarah was a plant ecologist and project manager with Equinox Environmental Consultation and Design in Asheville. She holds a master’s of science in ecology from UNC-Chapel Hill, a bachelor’s of science in biology from James Madison University and a diploma of horticulture from Haywood Community College. She lives in Asheville with her husband, Rob and dog, Luna.
Navitat recently invited folks from the local hospitality industry to visit us and experience our tour for the first time. It was so fun to see local Bed and Breakfast owners, hotel managers, and their staff get together for an adventure in the trees. We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from these folks. Here, just a few of the highlights:
“You guys have done a wonderful job setting up the course. Lots of thought and nice touches. The guides were also first rate (as well as the rest of the staff) and I could see that the rest of my group was also having a great time.”
“I just wanted to thank you for an amazing and exhilarating experience for all of us. Who would have thought that a lady who is normally running around in heels would love it…I was STOKED! I want to commend your staff for their professionalism. We all had a sense of the safety-first factor they were constantly aware of and using. I felt safe and in good hands at all times. We will not hesitate to recommend Navitat to all our guests, family and friends.”
“We’re deeply impressed with the safety and quality of the experience, and especially thought the guides were knowledgeable, professional and calm (that’s a nice quality when your own heart is pumping a zillion beats a minute!).”
As we head into Fall, all area authorities have announced that this year, it’s shaping up to be an amazing, colorful fall season. The weather and other conditions have come together just right to ensure a brightly colored haven of crisp autumn leaves, and since this is Navitat’s first fall, the excitement in the air is palpable. Most people consider leaf season to run from October through the second week of November, although it can run longer or shorter. To all the zipline enthusiasts looking forward to taking advantage of the leaf season tours, that means it’s time to make your plans!
With the recent national exposure and positive reviews we’ve been receiving, Navitat has definitely seen an increase in reservations. While we still have room for many more new visitors, certain days and times have filled up, so it is best to plan upcoming fall visits soon. After all, once the leaves drop, there won’t be another leaf season for 12 months – and there will never be another “first” leaf season at Navitat.
If leaf season does seem like it may pass you by, however, there are still lots of great reasons to experience the Navitat adventure during November, our final month of the 2010 season. Some people plan to time their visit for just after leaf season, when all the leaves have dropped to the ground to crinkle underfoot. With the empty treetops, visitors will have a sensation of being even higher up than normal, and a chance to experience a unique view of the forest and surrounding areas.
Whether your goal is to view the colorful leaf season, experience the biggest thrills, or simply to check out a treetop adventure for the first time, this fall is great time to do it! We’re looking forward to seeing you at Navitat!
As we began the building and planning process here at Navitat, one of the first steps was bringing a certified arborist out to inventory the trees. They completed their inventory, and let us know which ones are sustainable, strong and healthy enough for our activities. During that process, each tree is labeled with a letter and number. Tree K-8 became one of our favorites, and is now known as Kate.
Kate is the site of one of our most unique platforms, and actually boasts a double platform. As a 130-foot tall Tulip Poplar, Kate is certainly large enough to house two platforms! We built a log staircase in the trunk that takes guests from one platform to the next, and it’s become a favorite of most guests. Several have remarked that Kate feels very Swiss Family Robinson, and we’re satisfied with that comparison. However she’s described, there’s no doubt that Kate is part of what sets Navitat apart from other canopy and zip line tours, and we’re thrilled to have her!
In the outdoor adventure industry, canopy tour is still a very loosely defined term that can be used to describe all sorts of courses. At Navitat, we consider ourselves a true canopy tour because guests aren’t just ziplining high above the ground, they’re doing it in a way that is truly canopy based. We haven’t just built towers and platforms in a parking lot, and erected telephone poles to hold our cables. In fact, that couldn’t be further from the Navitat experience. Instead, Navitat’s guests are treated to a well thought out course that’s seamlessly intertwined in its remote wilderness setting. Comparatively speaking, we’re unique in that we’re an excursion into an area of untouched wilderness. Your zipline views won’t include office buildings; instead, they’ll include the lush flora and fauna that Western North Carolina is known for.
The length and depth of the Navitat course also set us apart from other canopy tours. It takes a solid half day to complete our tour, during which time you’ll travel over 5,700 feet of cable. Our platforms are built into existing trees, and you often can’t see from one platform to the next, which means you’re not exactly sure where you’re headed as you zip off over the trees. That aura of possibility and mystery adds to the excitement of the tour, and is one of the things we love about our course. Because it was designed using the natural corridors of the forest, you can truly experience the vast area of Moody Cove the way it was meant to be seen.
Below, Abby Burt tells you more about canopy tours vs. zip lines, and some Navitat specifics!
Navitat was recently heralded as one of the ten best zipline tours in the country by USA Today, and we couldn’t be more excited about the recognition. To be put on the map in such a public way during our first year is amazing.
What’s really interesting is that four of the ten tours the USA Today article mentioned were actually built by Bonsai Design Inc, the zipline and canopy tour design company owned by Navitat owner John Walker. John’s tours speak for themselves, so it wasn’t a surprise to us that so many ended up on the Ten Best list, but having Navitat on the list as well was the cherry on top. Navitat is John’s flagship location, and the only tour that he owns and operates. Navitat is where John Walker really put his heart and soul, and his family, into his work.
Feedback from our guests has been really positive since the article came out, with many of them saying they aren’t surprised! We’ve had lots of phone calls and interested people asking questions and setting up reservations, as well, which is always good. Several new guests came out to see us and experience the tour immediately. One zipline enthusiast is actually planning to travel to all ten tours listed in the article, and he made sure to hit Navitat as his second stop.
Being included on a Ten Best list in a national publication this early is so exciting. We’re looking forward to sharing the Navitat experience with any of the new guests who may have read about us there!
There are some obvious things that people love about the Navitat experience. The speed, the views, the awesome adrenaline rush, the trees. We, of course, love that Navitat delivers all of these “big” things to our guests, but we also find a great deal of joy in the small surprises guests may not expect.
The “little” things of Moody Cove are awe-inspiring, too. Southern Appalachia is one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world. As such, the variety of plant, animal, and insect life is incredible.
We find that the little things in our forest home (insects, birds, tiny plants) are often the most complex and exciting discoveries. And typically, the most over-looked.
While it’s always great to see a bear or deer while on tour, or maybe watch a Barred Owl perch in a tree nearby, we hope that folks also keep eyes open for the tiniest forest dwellers that call our mountain cove home. Pretty awesome, indeed.
One of our favorite finds, the Hickory Horned Devil
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