Downtown Spokane zip line could launch as soon as late July

There’s been talk since 2018 of a downtown zip line that could take tourists and locals alike zooming along the Spokane River. After so long, it may have started to seem to some like a pipe dream.

Barring any further hiccups, however, the zip line could start zipping as soon as the end of July.

“That being said, there have been a lot of hiccups along the road,” said Drew Stewart, part of the family behind Mica Moon Zip Tours, the vendor selected in 2023 to operate the zip line. “We’re hoping for sometime this summer or early next spring.”

The company will learn within the next week or so whether its final permit has been approved, and will soon seek the OK from the Spokane Park Board on June 12 and the Spokane City Council on June 16 before construction of the project begins, Stewart said.

The project seems likely to sail through at least the council’s approval process, with Councilmen Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart debating Monday who had dibs to take the first ride down the new line.

The line would run from the plaza directly behind the downtown Spokane public library, next to City Hall, and down along the river’s southern bank under the Monroe Street Bridge to land in Redband Park in Peaceful Valley. The company, operating as “Spokane Skylines,” would also run an electric shuttle to ferry customers back up the hill, and there are ongoing discussions about a further, small-scale shuttle service inside Riverfront Park for those with limited mobility.

“The actual logistics are still up in the air, but the hope is to be able to provide shuttle service with small electric vehicles within the park or potentially surrounding areas in downtown Spokane,” Stewart said.

Mica Moon Zip Tours has operated just outside of Liberty Lake since 2014, first with a zip line tour near Mica Peak and in 2018 adding an aerial adventure rope park.

“Our overall hope is to promote growth and tourism and enlighten people to the culture and history of downtown Spokane while we’re doing it,” Stewart said. “We want to increase the foot traffic of people using Riverfront Park and the surrounding areas, and the city of Spokane hopes there will be positive activation at both the takeoff … and landing platform to bring people into the Riverfront Park ecosystem and potentially discourage the use of the space by the unhoused.”

In a Monday presentation to the city council, John Moog, director of Riverfront Park, said the city had worked to make sure any eventual downtown zip line was ADA accessible, included free rides for charitable organizations and underserved youth, and minimized the impact of traffic on the Peaceful Valley neighborhood, among other considerations.

The city will not provide funds for launching the service, Moog noted.