Our Scenic Caves Adventure – Zip Lines, Caves, Bridges – Oh My!

08/17/2014

We just finished an amazing 2 week summer holiday, part of which was spent exploring the Blue Mountain Area. While I’m content to just sit on the beach and build castles all day, my active 4 year old needs a lot more stimulation. So we headed out to Scenic Caves Nature Adventures for a day and the entire family had a blast.  We’re lucky enough to live on a ravine, so we love to go exploring on adventurous hikes. Located just outside Blue Mountain Village, it has a labyrinth of caves and crevices, a 420 foot suspension bridge, and Canada’s longest twin zip line!

As we explored the self-guided walking trails through caves and caverns carved millions of years ago by glacial ice, I felt like we had been transported to a mystical world (not unlike the movie sets from Lord Of The Rings!) I was very happy that the website FAQ advised us to wear running shoes for the hour long hike.   There was plenty of climbing and navigating uneven surfaces, which my son loved. I almost fainted when I passed a mom wearing her baby in a carrier…while wearing Jelly Shoes from the 1980’s!! I have a feeling that she kept more to the well-marked paths, than going “off-roading” like our family 😉

The 420 foot suspension bridge gives you amazing panoramic views, and can be easily crossed by kids of all ages. I recommend taking the pretty 5-10 minute walk down to the bridge and then take advantage of their tractor ride back up the hill if you have little legs that tire quickly.

The highlight for me was the Thunderbird Twin Zip Line – Canada’s longest twin zipline (over half a mile!). It was 30 seconds of pure adrenaline. I was glad to have kept it at full speed for the thrill, but the view was so stunning part of me wished I braked a bit to soak it all in. If we had more time I would have taken advantage of the offer to do a second run for only $10.

Even with all of those thrills and chills, when I asked my little guy what his favourite part of the day was he said it was the gemstone mining. He is a huge fan of mini grab bag type toys where you unwrap a surprise each time. (like Lego mini figures) That’s exactly what the gemstone mining was. You get a bag filled with sand and you mill though it via the their panning tray just like the gold miners did years ago. He was thrilled to discover gold, arrow heads and other various treasures.

Some Additional Tips:

• Pack a lunch. You can easily access your car to take a snack break and there are plenty of picnic spots.
• Bring some quarters to feed the fish in the trout pond.
• If you hung on to your fanny pack from the 1980’s, now is the time to dust it off. It’s more fun to explore when you have your hands free, but you’ll want to be able to quickly access your camera. Small backpacks work as well.
• They suggest you plan on 2 hours if you’re exploring the caves and bridge, but we ended up staying 5 hours and still ran out of time to try the mini golf.
• For the younger kids, there is a cute train ride and amazing playground to explore.
• There are outhouse facilities located throughout the park – familiarize yourself with them. When we heard a “Mommy I Have To Go!” cry after we reached the top of the mountain I panicked, but luckily there is a porta potty right by the zipline at the top of the mountain!

Enjoy your own Scenic Caves adventures!