FOR SCHOOL FIELD TRIP BOOKINGS:
Sarah L. Dickson,
Group Sales Coordinator
828.450.3400
The Best Adventures for School Field Trips
The Adventure Center is the best outdoor experiential adventure for activities that cultivate leadership skills, team building, character development, and immersive learning!
With literally decades of experience and education in outdoor education, team building programs, environmental science, outdoor recreation, and experiential learning, our leadership team offers field trips that surpass every expectation. From our adventure activities to our environmental education programs to our facilitated team building, we create custom-made activity-driven immersive learning in our 100-acre outdoor classroom like no other company.
We create exciting and competitive experiences designed to instill confidence, cooperation, communication, and connection between group members.
Our adventures are not just for students, we also host teachers and administrators for a fun day of team-bonding adventures outdoors at ACA!
Choose one activity or group multiple programs together for a full day of adventure.
School Field Trip Adventures
Experiential Learning Programs: STEM/Wilderness Skills
Our adventure activities pair perfectly with our outdoor environmental education programs! We have designed outdoor hands-on programs with North Carolina and South Carolina state standards and outdoor survival skills in mind, but they can be tailored to cover your school’s goals and standards. Our program staff has decades of education and experience in experiential education with Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in the field. So we are excited to create an immersive learning experience for your students that encourages curiosity, teamwork, and fun!
Program options include:
Zipline-palooza! Do you think you can guess whether a heavier or lighter object will move faster on a zipline? Can you guess the angle of the zipline for an object to have a safe landing? Experiment with gravity, weight, friction, and how these and other forces affect the motion of zipliners by building a small-scale model. Working in small groups, students will create their own design and then compete with other groups to see who can create the fastest zipline while keeping safety in mind. Longer programs include a study on simple machines and how they are used in our Treetops Adventure Park. Add this to our Treetops Park or Ziplines so that students can experiment with and experience physics in action! NC & SC standards: NC 5.P.1, 7.P.1, 7.P.2, Psc.1.1, Phy.1.1, Phy.1.2; SC 4.S.1, 5.P.5, 6.P.3, 8.P.2, 8.P.3, H.P.2, H.P.3
Fire Building Skills Have you lost your electricity at home and needed to light a candle or a fire? Have you been camping in the woods and lost your matches? The simple skill of starting a fire and following safety procedures to keep it lit and safe can be an important life skill. Learn how to build & start a fire using primitive materials with fire safety procedures, then practice in small groups to build a small fire. Longer programs include learning about “Leave No Trace” principles, where students will learn and practice essential outdoor ethics.
Outdoor Survival Skills What if a fun day hiking leads to getting lost in the wilderness? What if your car breaks down on a family road trip in the woods? What life skills are essential to have in a survival situation? Students will work in groups to sort through items they would prioritize for a camping trip, then practice building shelters using minimal materials. Longer programs include foraging for materials and wild edibles, and learning how to create knot-tying tarp shelters.
Forest Ecology Take an inside look at plants, and how they interact with other living and nonliving things in their environment. This ecology-based class offers hands-on learning for students to get to know trees up close and personal through tree identification, decomposition exploration, and hiking on our 100 acres of property.
Wildlife Ecology Animals are everywhere! This program will take a moment to look around our area for evidence of animals and their habitats, and think about how they interact with their environment. Students will also discover how animal adaptations affect their chances of survival using experiential, hands-on activities. NC & SC state standards: NC 4.L.1.2, 5.L.2.2, 8.L.3.1, 8.L.3.2 SC 2-2.2, 5-2.5, 5.L.4B, 6.L.4B, 7.EC.5B
Town Hall Meeting Students will roleplay different interest groups in a debate about the ecological, social, and economic advantages and disadvantages of building a theme park attraction in their fictional community. This activity teaches students the importance of and how to have a civil and ethical debate with their peers, and will leave them empowered to enact change in their local community!
Our activities instill personal development and self-confidence, encourage cooperation with others, enrich problem-solving skills, and offer fun with a challenge. While expanding your comfort zone, each person is supporting and planning with others in the team, developing positive relationships, building trust and inspiring positive changes.
Nowhere in Asheville are there so many different outdoor activities in one place that offer personal growth and discovery. Guests are encouraged to expand their personal comfort zones, increase their self-confidence, and support others challenged to do the same. We offer opportunities to move from good to great friends, team members, or leaders as guests literally climb to new heights!
Meet our awesome Leadership and Education Programs team!
Contact group sales today to create your custom school field trip adventure! 828.225.2921
At the Adventure Center we focus on the optimal guest experience in every activity we offer.
“Our field trip was awesome. The kids were really positive and encouraging while we were there which was great since they’re often kind of discouraging and poke fun at each other a lot as middle schoolers tend to. We’ll be back next year!”
“The staff at the Adventure Center of Asheville go the extra mile in making sure that the experience for school groups is both enjoyable and educational. Everything is well planned, laid out and prepared upon arrival. Our students really enjoyed the teambuilding activities as well as the Tree Tops ropes course. The rangers working at the ropes course are vigilant, well-trained, and make sure that all climbers are well attended to and looked after. I highly recommend this experience to any group interested in teambuilding activities and adventure.”
“I can’t begin to tell you how much fun we all had! It was AWESOME! I think those kids (who am I kidding…. the adults too) will be talking about this trip for a while!! I am actually posting pictures as we speak on our club’s facebook page. Everything exceeded our expectations! Our club will continue to visit the Adventure Park, and if I can talk my personal family members into it, I will be returning on a personal visit soon! Thank you again for helping make memories of a lifetime for so many of our children! They loved the experience and the adults did as well.”
“Tree Tops well exceeded my expectations! This was the most care-free school event I have ever chaperoned. I knew each student was safe and having fun, and I was glad for the chance to join in with them. I especially loved that everyone was active the entire time so we could maximize our experience. I saw some students make great strides in conquering some fears and other students jumped at the opportunity to provide encouragement and support for one another.
The day was filled with shouts and screams of excitement and discovery. Phrases like, “Miss Hilterman, watch this!” and “I can’t believe I did that!” were heard throughout our time there. Being an outdoor guide myself, I was impressed with the staff (especially Amanda Wheelock!) and the set up even before we got to the gate. Each staff member did a great job testing each student’s helmet, getting us into our harnesses, explaining the clip system, letting us practice, and helping us through any roadblocks during the course.
I loved it so much that I’m bringing my family there next week!
Thank you for a great experience!”
“Thank you! The students really did have a wonderful day. I’ve attached some photos of students during teambuilding, which was a great favorite among them. Several of them still talk about it. The challenges on the ropes courses were also a novelty for many of them, particularly the floating kayak on the red course. Several had done ropes courses before, but were pleasantly surprised by many of the obstacles they found. I think they would gladly come back at any opportunity. “
“We had a great day, thanks so much for having us. I cant believe how long we have been coming and how each year it just gets better and better. You are all doing a top notch job there and I mean that. I heard a kid say when he came into the treetops area, “It feels like christmas morning.” So cute….. Thanks for giving our kids a great experience.”
“I took 65 middle school students to the Adventure Park as a team-building exercise for our Student Council. We had a FANTASTIC time. The folks at ATAP obviously put a lot of thought and planning into the team-building exercises we did on the ground and the climbing was just fantastic. Our students were excited, engaged, encouraging, and encouraged. It was all around excellent and we are already planning to return next year.”
“We had a fantastic experience! Our group of 16 high schoolers was handled with extreme care, attention, and efficiency. The kids had a great time. There is a great range of courses from beginner to advanced. We had several kids afraid of heights that had no problem. The greatest part was the safety aspect. Being the guardian of 16 high schoolers is a little nerve-racking, but the smart locking (it was called something like that) system was unbelievable. There was virtually no way to fall off the course. It was an absolutely brilliant safety system. Besides that, we had ample training and more than enough support from the staff while we were on the course. We were extremely satisfied in every way!”
“I thought this year the program was stronger than it’s ever been. Our students had such a fantastic time and learned team building strategies that will carry them throughout the year (and life). The leaders were patient and had the right level of excitement and caring that middle schoolers need.”
OPEN: 7 DAYS/WEEK | Office 9AM-6PM | Kolo 10AM-6PM
Fun adventures for the full family, Ages 4+
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The Adventure Center of Asheville is located adjacent to the Crowne Plaza Resort at 85 Expo Drive in Asheville.
Take Exit 3A off of I-240 | Off Patton Ave behind Regent Park