Adaptive Tree Climb
Almost anyone can experience the thrill of climbing giant old-growth trees—at the push of a button. Whether you're a wheelchair user, 98 years old, or have an injury or missing limb, our battery-powered ascenders make tree climbing accessible to a very wide range of abilities. Rise 100–300 feet into the canopy and take in the breathtaking beauty of the ancient forest from a whole new perspective.
Adaptive Tree Climb
Price
$225 per person, + tax & fees
Duration
~4 hrs
Meeting Time/End Time
9am or 1pm Start
Ends at 1pm or 5pm
How does it Work
Participants will use a battery ascending device to ascend and explore the tree canopy. The device goes up or down with buttons, a throttle or a remote controlled by a guide. Battery ascenders are included in the Adaptive Climb. Battery ascenders can be added for use to any of our experiences for $75 extra in the add-on section.
Who is eligible for an Adaptive Climb?
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Those who are unable to climb manually, or choose not to engage in physical exertion.
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Wheelchair users
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Individuals with limited or no mobility in arms, legs or both.
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Seniors
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Individuals classified as overweight or obese.
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Individuals below 400lbs
Not advised for
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Individuals experiencing, acute pressure-related or turning-related pain in the back, neck, spine, or waist.
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Individuals above 400lbs
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Individuals with the possibility of acute cardiac conditions caused by spikes in blood pressure due to excitement or restriction in blood flow.
Wheel Chair users
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We have one ADA accessible old-growth tree about 50ft from a paved road. From the paved road is a well maintained dirt path.
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Depending on the wheelchair participant and the wheelchair, the user will be harnessed and can stay in the wheelchair. Set-up to be determined on site.
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Extra-Large Accessible Porta-Potty on site for restroom.
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Our sunset climb is not currently available for wheelchair users since our tree used for that experience requires a 1.7 mile hike and bushwhacking.
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Tree Camping experiences are possible for some wheelchair users.
Meeting/End Location
Tree Climbing at Silver Falls Silver Falls State Park 20024, Silver Falls Hwy SE, Sublimity, OR 97385
Apple Maps is not reliable to our location, do not use.
Min/Max Group Size
Two Person minimum and 40 person max.
Age & Requirements
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7+
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No experience necessary
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Reservations required
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Less than 400lbs
What’s Included in the adaptive Climb
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All climbing equipment
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Guided 100% of time
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Battery Ascender
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Smaller guide to participant ratio for specific adaptive needs.
Highlights
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Climb some of the tallest trees in the world 100-300ft/60-90meters high. Actual height depends on the adaptive climber.
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Adaptive battery power ascenders make it so many individuals who thought they could never explore the upper canopy of giant old-growth trees can!
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The adaptive climb is the same great experience as our half-day experience.
What’s Not Included
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Gratuities for your guide
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Food and Water
What to Bring
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Appropriate layers of clothes for the forecasted weather.
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Snacks, Water, Food, Camera and Video Equipment.
Weather Issues
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Tours run rain or shine.
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Experiences are cancelled in the event of high winds (20mph), lightning, or supper heavy rain.
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Our team will contact you if cancellation is necessary for weather reasons.
Optional Add-on's for adaptive climbs
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Private Group $200: Get your own private guide and block out the other public spaces.
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Normal Photography $75: Photography by phones and/or DSL cameras. Photos will be provide after the experience. Unless there are technical difficulties.
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Drone Video and Photos $125: We will fly drones and capture video and photos. This is the best way to capture the experience.
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$149 per person extra for people who do not need the adaptive experience.
Tickets
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Instant Confirmation
Important
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Reservations are required, no walk up appointments
Video & Photography
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You can bring any photography or video equipment you want.
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We are not liable if you break your equipment, or if a guide offers to take a picture for you and drops your phone accidentally.
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We offer photography packages: $75 for standard and $125 for drone video and photos.
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Our photography and videos packages give you peace of mind so you don't have to worry about breaking your phone or camera during the climb and you can just focus on enjoying the experience. Our guides are also trained to give you the best angels and shots.
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Park regulations do not allow you to use your own drone unfortunately.
Cancellation Policy
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Free Cancellations with five days of advance notice.
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If we need to cancel for weather and safety, %100 refunds will be provided or free rescheduling.
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No Refunds within five day, only rescheduling.
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If rescheduling within five days, a $50 rescheduling fee will be applied.
Overview -Adaptive Climbs
Experience the magic of climbing and exploring towering old-growth trees. Our adaptive tree climbing program uses battery-powered ascenders, allowing individuals with almost any ability to explore the forest canopy.
Individuals who sign up for an adaptive climb will use our battery ascenders to ascend up the tree and rappel back down. Participants will control the battery ascender themselves if possible. You push a button to go up or down and use a throttle to control speed. If a participant cannot control the device, we can remote control it for them.
Participants that do not need an adaptive climb, can climb at the same time with an adaptive climber. You can add additional non-adaptive participants in the add-on section when booking.
This experience is 100% guided and a tour guide will be ascending the tree with the participants.
Whether you use a wheelchair, have limited mobility, or face other physical challenges, our technology ensures you can most likely ascend into the treetops, reaching heights of 100–300 feet.
This experience is designed to be inclusive and empowering, proving that everyone can climb—no prior experience necessary. Our trained guides provide full support, during your journey into the trees.
Come discover a whole new perspective of the forest, where adventure truly has no limits!
A Whole New World
From a 100-300ft (60-90 meters) high tree, the world looks very different, like an alien planet. The perspective from some of the largest trees in the world, will open your eyes to see the forest and wildlife in new powerful ways. This is your chance to experience something that almost nobody else has done before, less than .00001% of the population will have experienced this.
A Forest Opportunity Like Nothing Else
There are few experiences more connected to nature than climbing an old-growth tree. You and the gigantic ancient living tree will be connected together . You will get to feel its subtle movements, and experience a day of what it's like to be a tree. It will hold your life, and it feels like being held by 400 year old mother-nature and getting rocked by her gentle embrace as the tree sways in the wind. Getting to spend time in a unique place allows a certain level of mindfulness in nurture and forest bathing that you cannot experience anywhere else.
Ecotour of the Ecology of Ancient Old-Growth Forest
In the continental United States most of our original forests are gone. It is estimated that we only have 5% or less of our old-growth forests, maybe even as little as 1%. While we are up in the canopy, we are excited to share with you the unique ecology of old-growth trees, plants, and wildlife that depend on this kind of environment. Old-growth forests play a critical role in Earth’s ecology that make it necessary to protect and promote the growth of new old-growth forests for future generations.
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What happens if I need to use the bathroom while in the tree?If you are part of a half-day or sunset experience, its best to just use the bathroom before the experience or wait to go back down to use the bathroom. If you are tree camping, we have specialized equipment for men and women that we bring up the tree with us. Before the climb we will teach you how it works. We also practice preventative techniques so hopefully it becomes not necessary to use the bathroom while up in the tree over one night. Most people do not need to go #2 while up in the tree. Basically you are pooping into special bags and peeing into bottles. It works basically the same way in rock climbing, here is a video that does a good job covering it with some humor, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73aMK1dTCjY We carry everything out in something called poop tubes, and properly dispose of it after the experience.
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I do not have any climbing or rappelling experience, can i still join the tour?Yes, no experience is required. The tour is designed to be beginner friendly and there is a very safe training practice session before the main experience that is about 1.5 hours long.
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I am afraid of heights, can I still do this?Yes you can, we have techniques and exercises to help people overcome their fear of heights, a type of exposure therapy. We also suggest you do the intro half-day experience first before tree camping if you have a fear of heights that might prohibit your tree camping experience. You can also select your camping spot at any height in the tree. You don’t have to camp at the very top, you can sleep only 20 feet / 7 meters off the ground if you want to. Completely customizable to what is comfortable for you. Please let us know ahead of time, if you are afraid of heights and want to have a camp set up lower.
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What happens if it rains?Will be watching the weather for you. If it rains we have rain equipment for both our portaledges and hammocks. If you also give us three days notice you are allowed to reschedule free of charge.
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How do we sleep in the tree?You have two options. You can sleep in a two person portaledge, which is like a flat tent, or single person hammocks. Hammocks are included in the normal price and the portaledge is $199 extra.
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What is the most comfortable sleeping option?It depends on the person. If you want more personal space the hammock is the best option. But the portaledge will provide the most traditional flat sleeping experience that can be enjoyed comfortably with another person. Both are great options.
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Won't I be able to fall while sleeping at night?No, the portaledge and hammocks are made so it would be extremely difficult to accidentally fall out. But even if you did, people still wear a small comfy harness that is tied to a separate main safety rope. So there is no chance you would fall while sleeping.
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What happens if it is too difficult for me or I can’t climb up to the top of the tree?Some people cannot do our tree climbing experiences for various reasons. When that happens we a pretty generous and like to give pro-rated refunds based on the labor time we did not spend with the client. For tree camping with the help of your guide, you can set the sleeping equipment at almost any height in the tree, you don't have to climb to the very top or even that far if you don't want to or can't, we are happy to set a hammock only 20ft high. Please let us know ahead of time if you think that might be the case.
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Can I bring things up the tree with me?Yes, your guide can help you bring stuff up the tree. You can also climb with a small bag. Camera equipment, food, water, birthday cakes, presents, extra layers are all great things to bring.
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Can I bring my own food?Yes you can bring your own food instead of purchasing our food upgrade package, $30 a person. But you cannot bring your own cooking equipment unfortunately, for safety reasons.
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Where do we meet?Tree Climbing at Silver Falls Silver Falls State Park 20024, Silver Falls Hwy SE, Sublimity, OR 97385 The meeting location is inside Silver Falls State Park, about 30m from Salem and 1.5 hrs from Portland.
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How much hiking is there for the tree climbing experience?For the half-day climb, there is about 5-10 minutes of walking depending on the tree your group climbs. We even have a wheel chair accessible tree for the half-day experience. For the sunset climb and tree camping, there is about a two mile hike uphill to get to our giant secluded trees. The way back is all downhill, and round trip it is about 3.5 miles.
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Directions to the meeting location?Directions to the meeting location will be included in your confirmation email :) We will meet in the parking lot of the Howard Creek Trail Head inside Silver Falls State Park. If you are using Google Maps you will need to put the name Tree Climbing at Silver Falls into Google Maps. Howard Creek Trail Head does not come up on Google maps, but inside the park, the signs will say Howard Creek Trail head. If you see a small tree with ropes in it behind the trail head sign, you know you are in the correct place. We will be practicing on that tiny tree for training.
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How early do we need to arrive?Your guide will arrive right on time at the designated start time. Please arrive at the designated meeting time too. Early arrival is not necessary.
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How difficult is this activity?This activity can be challenging or impossible for some. Most people find this activity a workout. Most kids and adults at normal weights will be able to do this activity great. Typically people who are classified as overweight or obese will have the most difficulty or be unable to do the activity without the assistance of a battery ascender. Even the use of a battery ascender does not guarantee being able to do the acitivity, some people have blood circulation issues and cannot sit in a harness comfortably. However, the oldest person to do this on their own without any assistance was 89 years old, 98 while using the battery ascender. Anyone who feels they cannot do this activity on their own can add the battery power ascender for an extra $75 per person. You only need to push a button to go up the tree and sit in your harness to use the battery ascender. Making this activity very accessible to most people.
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If I am overweight or obese, can I do this activity?Yes some people who are considered obese and overweight can do this activity, and some won't be able to do it. It depends a lot on your personal circumstances and fitness. Some people also have issues sitting in the harnesses because of blood circulation issues when they are overweight. People in these circumstances might want to consider using our battery power ascender. A device that lets you ascend the trees with only a push of a butoon. We will do our best to personal the equipment for you to succeed. You can definitely try the manual climbing technique first, then add-on the battery power ascender if you need it and if it is available. But we only have two battery ascenders, so it is better to reserve it to make sure we have it available. If you do not end up needing it, we will refund you for the battery ascender.
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What kind of clothes should I wear?Please wear athletic clothes and shoes. Bring extra layers in case you get cold. Long athletic stretchy pants are best. Do not wear non-flexible pants like jeans. Although you can wear shorts if you want, pants will be more comfortable. Long socks are most comfortable for this activity. Its best to wear clothes you do not mind getting dirty, sappy, scratched, or torn.
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Can I bring my own camera equipment or binoculars?Yes you can bring any camera equipment if you want, including GoPros. However we are not liable if you drop or break your equipment during our experience. You cannot bring your own drone unfortunately. If you are worried about getting the right photos/videos or breaking your equipment, let us do it for you. We have a normal photography package for $75 extra or Drone photography/video for $125 extra.
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Is there good bird watching at the top of the tree/canopy? Can I bring binoculars?Yes there is great bird watching, you should definitely bring binoculars if you are into bird watching. Especially for tree camping experience. You will have an amazing vantage point to see and watch birds.
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Is recreational tree climbing safe?Tree climbing has intrinsic risk factors, like any recreational activity, but it also offers great opportunity. Our track record for more than 10 years speaks for itself. Statistically, recreational tree climbing with a professional organization like Tree Climbing at Silver Falls, is safer than almost any other recreational sport or activities, like biking or driving a car. As far as we know, there have been no fatalities in the recreational tree climbing industry, while under the supervision of a professional organization like us.
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Does this activity hurt the trees?No it does not, all of our equipment is non-invasive. We do not use any equipment that goes inside the tree. All of our anchor systems are just webbing wrapped around the trunk. So they are flexible and do not dig into the tree. We have been climbing some of our trees for more than ten years, without endangering the health of any tree. We care very deeply about our trees, wildlife, and work hard to protect them.
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What exercises can I do to prepare for this activity?Going to a rock climbing gym and having fun climbing is a great way to practice for yourt tree climbing experience. It will imitate climbing on branches and work similar muscles. You can also do full body ankle touching squats, which imitates standing up in our leg straps to move the ascenders up the rope. Some other good exercises are pull-ups, toe squats, eastern squats, sissy squats, and pistol squats.
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Will there be a guide with us the whole time, even while sleeping?Yes, your guide will be with you the whole time. The guide will also sleep up in the tree nearby in case you need any help. This is a 100% guided experiences.
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Do you provide food during the camps?No, we do not provide food or snacks during the day camp. Kids will need to bring their own snacks and lunch. If you want food to be provided, you can either add that option on, or upgrade to the overnight camp.
