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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Zip lines take riders through treetops near Lake Coeur d’Alene

David Cole Coeur d’Alene Press

For $95, almost anyone can zip through the trees in the steep hills overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Beauty Bay.

Timberline Adventures, of Coeur d’Alene, is finishing up a “tree canopy” style zip line course there where customers can travel from platforms built high in towering ponderosa pine trees, Douglas fir and tamarack. Tours will be available Mondays through Saturdays during the season.

A soft opening is scheduled for the end of this month, when four of the seven planned lines will be opened. All seven lines are expected to be completed and opened in early June. The business will employ between 15 and 20 people.

The course will spread across 117 acres with lines ranging in length from 500 to 1,500 feet. Riders will reach top speeds of about 35 mph.

“We looked at the Yellowstone (National Park) area, the Glacier (National Park) area, even in Leavenworth, Washington,” said Jared Forsythe, manager of Timberline Adventures. “We looked at those destination areas, and this is the best property we found in terms of the trees and the view and how close it is to downtown.”

Paul and Ashley Buttars, of Dalton Gardens, own the property and Timberline Adventures. They are originally from northern Utah, but moved to North Idaho from Hawaii.

“The first time we came out and looked at this property was in August of 2012,” Paul Buttars said Thursday. “So we’re just shy of three years of thinking about it and trying to plan (this project).”

The tour will last two and a half hours and includes traveling the seven lines and crossing a couple of bridges. It all starts with a 1-mile ride up a steep dirt road in a utility task vehicle to reach the first platform.

The highest platform will be built 80 feet up, in a 250-year-old ponderosa pine. The lowest platform is 5 feet high.

“Seems like when you’re growing up, everyone is obsessed with treehouses,” Buttars said. “This is kind of an adult way to enjoy the trees.”

The tour involves minimal walking, with one three-minute walk through the woods from one platform to another.

“Other than that, it’s all in the trees – tree to tree,” Buttars said. “We do have a couple suspension bridges connecting trees.”

Riders must be at least 7 years old and weigh less than 270 pounds.

Jason Lindsey, who has designed courses in Hawaii, Montana and other states, designed the Coeur d’Alene course. His specialty is canopy courses.

“Jason has built a lot of (courses),” Forsythe said. “He kind of said this course right here is going toward the top of his resume just because of the wow factor in the trees we’re using.”

The course is located off Highway 97 near milepost 93.