A Locally Owned Family Business Story

Wildwater, the original professional adventure outfitter in the Southeast, opened in 1971. It was founded by the Greiner family who remain the owners and operators of the company today. Three generations of the Greiner’s now lead and train the best adventure professionals in the industry.

Today Wildwater continues to offer whitewater rafting adventures at 3 top river destinations in the Blue Ridge and Smokies but also leads the way in the southeast in offering tree-based adventures such as zipline canopy tours. Second generation family members and respected industry partners developed the first zipline canopy tour in the Nantahala Gorge area of Western NC and then continued to grow.

In 2011, Jeff Greiner, opened the Adventure Center of Asheville as a sister company to Wildwater on 240 acres behind the Crowne Plaza Hotel, just 5 minutes from Downtown Asheville.

ACA started as an Asheville Zipline Canopy Tour. Then in 2012, the Asheville Treetops Adventure Park and Kolo Bike Park were added with industry partners. KidZip then followed in 2015 as one of the first zipline parks for kids in the country.

In 2017, Jeff and his wife Sheena consolidated all of the activities into one company as sole owners and became a year-round adventure destination adding:

Summer Day Camps
Kolo Bike Park youth programs; expansion of trails, skills area, and pump tracks; and bike rental program
Group options include facilitated team-building programs and experiential education programs.
Birthday Party options
Zipping for Autism event to honor their son.
TreeQuest tree climbing
Host to the Haunted Trail and Winter Wonder Walk holiday festivals
Twilight in the Treetops Night Climbs
And in 2025 KidCycle Club at Kolo Bike Park

While hosting over 25,000 people a year, the same dedication to the Guest experience and quality service ethic that defined Wildwater has carried over to the Adventure Center of Asheville.

As a family, with families, serving families the Greiners and their dedicated team of Zipline, KidZip, and, Treetops Park Guides, Bike Experts, and Summer Camp & Welcome Center Staff all seek to assure every Guest’s experience is designed to provide “The Best Day Ever!”