ALL IN A
Day’s Trip Get Outside & Explore
Fayetteville
Story by Andy Cockrell Photos Contributed
North Carolinians are well versed in traveling to find outdoor adventure and recreation.
housed soldiers for every war since World War I. Now the vast base is known as the home of the 82nd Airborne Division and multiple
After all, the state offers both mountains and coast, and many families still plan annual vacations to spend a week in one of those locations. In between, there are a multitude of lakes and rivers, forests, green spaces and parks for convenient daily enjoyment.
special operations commands.
However, Fayetteville, and its surrounding region, is much
more than an Army town. This sandhills city on the Cape Fear River
For most folks in North Carolina, when a person think’s of
offers an abundance of outdoor adventure, opportunities that are
the city of Fayetteville the initial association is “military.” For over
well worth the drive to spend a day exploring new territory and
a century now, Fort Bragg (originally Camp Bragg) has trained and
even trying new things.
see Fayetteville in the distance!
JUMP FROM AN AIRPLANE
FLY THROUGH THE TREES
The most difficult part of this opportunity
If jumping out of a perfectly good airplane
is simply having the courage to do it. The
is a bit (or a lot!) too radical, Fayetteville
jumper goes through a brief instructional
offers another fantastic opportunity to get
class (20-30 minutes) to walk through the
an adrenaline rush.
entire process and go over basic freefall and
Zipquest Waterfall & Treetop Adventure is
canopy skills. After that, its just get in the
a true gem in Fayetteville’s fun mine. Located
plane and trust the professional instructor
at 533 Carver Falls Road, the location feels
who will be attached to you.
much more like a mountain forest than a city.
It only takes a minute or so to freefall
Slick websites and selective photographs
8,000 feet, then the instructor deploys the
can create expectations that lead to
parachute at an altitude of 5,500 feet. From
disappointment when it comes to ziplining,
there, the canopy descent will take five to
but that is absolutely not the case with
The number one bucket list item for
seven minutes. If one can convince some
Zipquest. The course covers a large area,
so many thrill seekers is skydiving. The
brave (or crazy!) friends to join in, there is a
and the lines are both high and long going
Fayetteville area offers the chance to check
discount for groups of three to nine people
through and over incredible scenes.
that item off the list at Skydive Paraclete XP.
and an additional discount for groups of 10
This business is actually located just a few
or more.
My family has shown up to other courses to find that the entire course was visible from
miles down the road, in Raeford, but from
More information is available online at
the parking lot. Hardly any of the Zipquest
13,500 feet in the air (that’s over 2.5 miles
skydiveparacletexp.com, or by calling 910-
course is visible from the office base, and it’s
above the ground, that’s high!) one can easily
904-0000.
so spread out that you feel like your group is
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