Treetop Quest, Greenville’s First Aerial Park Opens at Westside Park

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If your family enjoys active, outdoor fun, Treetop Quest, an aerial adventure park just opened in Greenville at Westside Park. This park includes over four obstacle and zip-line courses for families, including a special course for ages 4-6 and a zip-line course.

Our family was hosted at Treetop Quest in order to provide this review.

Before You Head to the Park

Before starting your adventures at Treetop Quest, you will want to head online and reserve your climbing time to ensure your spot. Booking online is also cheaper than the prices at the door.

Be sure to dress appropriately for your adventure:

  • Wear tennis shoes or closed-toed shoes.
  • Dress in comfortable clothes that will work for a harness, allow you to move easily, and won’t snag on the trees.
  • If you have long hair, wear a hair tie.
  • Gloves are required (gardening gloves work great). You can purchase gloves for $3/pair if you do not have gloves. Children’s sizes were available.
  • Lockers are not currently available so either plan on leaving your valuables in your car or wearing them in a zipper fanny-pack style pouch.
  • Face masks/coverings are required on the ground in the check-in, harnessing, and briefing areas. You may take your mask off when distancing from others on the course. It is hot, so you may want to choose a mask that is designed for warmer weather and outdoor sports.

Other Important Things You Should Know:

  • It was very hot. Fortunately, Treetop Quest sells water and snacks. Families may want to pack a water bottle, to have ready in the car when you are done.
  • There are benches inside the course areas, but wear your comfy shoes even if not climbing because you may be walking to keep up with your kids.
  • The weight limit is 250 lbs.

Beginning Your Adventure at Treetop Quest

Arrive 20 minutes before your scheduled time. That allows plenty of time to sign your waivers, check-in, and get ready to climb.

Currently the restrooms are under construction. There are port-a-potties on site, but you can also walk or drive over to the Westside Aquatic Center.

You will be harnessed by a staff member. Once your harness is secure, you will be taken to the briefing area. Here you will be given a quick lesson on how to hook yourself correctly to the equipment, how to zip-line correctly, and how to maneuver through the obstacles. The briefing area has simple obstacles that are low to the ground that you can practice until you are comfortable with the equipment and procedures.

The Treetop Quest Courses

Your visit at Treetop Quest allows you 2.5 hours in the park. During your time you can climb as many courses as you choose. 2.5 hours sounds like a long time, but it will go quickly once you start climbing.

If your child is 4-6, they may climb on two special “Chick Pea” courses. They will be asked to wear a helmet in addition to the harness, and a parent is required to accompany the child at all times.

Ages 7+ can choose between 3 other courses.
Level 1 is a beginning course.
Level 2 has an A & B side and is intermediate
Level 3 is all zip lines.

Ages 12+ have an additional Level 4 difficult course that they can climb.

The attraction includes 88 obstacles, 27 zip lines, and a net trampoline. The highest zipline is 40 feet from the ground.

Safety at Treetop Quest

Obviously, for an aerial adventure park one of the biggest questions parents will have is what are the safety protocols. Right now COVID policies are also something that many families are wondering about.

Covid Policies at Treetop Quest

Treetop Quest requires masks of all guests and staff on the ground when they are not social distancing. Once you’ve started the course, you can remove your mask. Staff are required to wear masks and face shields when harnessing guests. Only one person (or family) is allowed on each obstacle or platform. Harnesses are disinfected between use.

During our visit, these COVID policies were not observed. We were harnessed by a staff member not wearing a mask and observed another staff member only partially wearing a masks. We did not observe enforcement of mask wearing or of social distancing (such as limiting participants on obstacles) in the park. We have been assured that Treetop Quest is addressing these issues and will be following their COVID policies in the future.

Safety Policies at Treetop Quest

Treetop Quest uses a continuous belay system, so once you are hooked onto a course you cannot physically unhook yourself from the rope. A staff member does adjust and check each person’s harness, a briefing explaining the equipment is required, and there is a small area where climbers can practice before going on the ropes. The briefing is not one-on-one and there is no requirement to demonstrate your ability to use the equipment before entering the park.

Be aware that Treetop is a self-guided aerial park experience. You will not have a guide with your group or even necessarily in eye sight. There are pros and cons to this sort of set-up. For those that want to move fast or slow, it allows for a lot of freedom in exploring the course at your own pace.

On the other hand, this setup does mean that as a parent you need to be aware that your family’s experience will be largely on your own without any staff supervision or interaction. While we were there, we observed that often no staff were in the main course area and when staff were present they often appeared to be busy and focused on tasks. If you or your child needs help, you will have to yell out “blue shirt!” for someone to come assist. In our experience even then the staff were busy and only offered a minimum of assistance before moving on.

My children are younger so I would only allow them to visit Treetop Quest in a situation where I knew that an adult would be personally watching them and preferably climbing with them. I would probably volunteer to chaperone if my kids went on a field trip there. Even then, I would have felt more comfortable if I had seen a staff member watching the courses while we were climbing.

The equipment was well constructed and we did feel comfortable and safe using it. The belay system does prevent guests from unclipping once they have clipped on. Treetop Quest is also a member of the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) and conducts ongoing inspections and training. It’s parent company has 20 years of experience in the adventure park industry.

Our Experience at Treetop Quest

Our kids were nervous about heights but ended up pushing through and having a great time. Both children said it was on the best local fun that they have had and are already begging us to go again. We are so excited to have this fun, new attraction in Greenville!

Treetop Quest Information

Address: 16 Alma St, Greenville, SC 29617
Website: TreetopQuest.com
Pricing: $20-50/person depending on age, season passes are available

About the Author
Bethany Winston is the owner and editor-in-chief of Kidding Around Greenville & Kidding Around Spartanburg. She enjoys exploring parks, discovering local events, and meeting the people who make Greenville an amazing place to live. You can contact her directly at bethany@kiddingaroundgreenville.com.

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