Experience the Upstate’s newest zipline course at Keowee-Toxaway State Park

SUNSET, S.C. – If you’re looking for a unique way to explore the outdoors, Upstate Zipline is the way to do it! South Carolina’s newest zipline course opened in mid-March at Keowee-Toxaway State Park.
“This is by volume, or by land coverage and length of the course, the biggest zipline in the United States. [It is] almost 2 miles of ziplining and 300 acres of coverage,” Upstate Zipline Owner Robert Nickell explained. “Most ziplines just zigzag back and forth on a small piece of property. This one uses the entire state park all the way down to the lake.”
During the two-hour zipline tour, you will cross one suspended bridge and ride 10 lines, reaching as high as 120′ above the forest floor and spanning up to 2000′ in length. The tour is $89 per person, and groups of 10 people or more will receive a 10% discount.
Robert and his family have been in the zipline industry for more 15 years.
“Back in early 2000s, we built the first zipline in the United States,” Nickell explained. “The special thing about this zipline, and every zipline that we build worldwide, is we start at ages 3-years-old and up. Most of our cables are gravity brakes, so you don’t have to break. We have a break. If you do have to break redundantly, you can use this brake. But most of them, you coast right to a stop at the end. Therefore, most of the cables, children 3-years-old and up can do them by their self.”
Upstate Zipline strives to accommodate everyone, including wheelchair users.
“We’re open to everybody,” Nickell explained. “If you have a special need that we need to know about, call us and say, ‘Hey, can we do this? My child or my adult has this special need. Can you accommodate us?’ And we’re going to do everything we can to accommodate everyone.”
Nickell said he loves how ziplining can bring people together.
“What I’ve seen in the industry over the years is that families come out and connect. Your teenagers, who normally don’t want to do anything with the family, they get here, and they’re a little disgruntled acting. But when they’re leaving, they’re smiling this big, and they had a ball. It connects the family with nature. You get to see the forest at a view and an angle that you just don’t get to see from hiking,” he explained.
Upstate Zipline is located at 138 Museum Circle in Sunset, South Carolina. It is open daily from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and closed on Wednesdays.
For more information and to book your visit, call (864) 868-4767 or visit upstatezipline.com. You can also follow along on Facebook and Instagram.