Take a sky-high adventure this summer

June 19, 2012 - PRLog -- Imagine walking 40 feet high in the trees, harnessed and clipped to swinging bridges spanning 150 feet. What would you see and hear? How would it feel to trek through the trees, then speed to the forest floor on a zipline?

The EcoTarium’s Tree Canopy Walkway, the only one in New England, is a unique and exciting opportunity to explore life in the treetops.  On a series of platforms and rope bridges suspended high above the ground in a grove of oak and hickory trees, kids and adults make their way from tree to tree just as scientists do in tropical and temperate forests around the world. Then, strapped in a secure chair harness, they end their adventure with a zipline ride to the ground.

The Tree Canopy Walkway will be open for the summer daily from June 26 through August 19.  Guided tree canopy walkway sessions start on the half hour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturday, and from 12:30 to 4 p.m. on Sundays. (The EcoTarium is closed on Mondays.) The activity is open to children aged 5-12 with an adult, ages 12 and older without a chaperone.  The cost is $10 per person (plus museum admission), $8 for members.  A full schedule and information on preparing for the experience can be found at http://www.ecotarium.org.

About Treetop Exploration

During the past 2 decades, scientists have begun to document the tremendous diversity of life high in the tree canopy. Researchers have estimated that millions of undiscovered species -- many of which are insects -- are hidden high above our heads in the leaf line of the trees. Scientists have developed ingenious techniques for accessing the canopy layer of the forest, including climbing ropes or ladders, inflatable "rafts" and "sleds" dropped from hot-air balloons, and tree canopy walkways.  

The EcoTarium’s walkway, opened in July 1999, was the first in the country created for public use. Modeled after those built for scientific research, the series of rope bridges and platforms was designed and constructed by Canopy Construction Associates, based in Amherst, Massachusetts. The company, all experienced canopy researchers and builders, have also installed walkways in Belize, Ecuador, Borneo and the Peruvian Amazon.

About the EcoTarium

The EcoTarium is New England's leading science and nature center, an indoor-outdoor venue dedicated to inspiring a passion for science and nature in visitors of all ages. The center offers a museum building with three floors of interactive exhibits, live indoor and outdoor animal habitats, interpretive nature trails through forest and meadow, the Alden Digital Planetarium, a tree canopy walkway (seasonal), and a narrow-gauge railroad.

The EcoTarium, located at 222 Harrington Way in Worcester, Mass., is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays 12 to 5 p.m. Admission is $14 for adults, $8 for children 2-18, $10 for seniors 65+ and students with ID.  Parking is free. For more information, visit http://www.ecotarium.org.