Published Friday 9 June 2023 at 14:36
Go Ape is set to open its brand new high ropes experience in Blackburn’s flagship park this summer.
The firm has confirmed that its new location in Witton Park will open in July.
It’ll be the 36th location in the Go Ape family tree with this being their first standalone experience in the UK for adventurers under the age of 10 years old.
It’s part of £550,000 of planned new investment for the park with Blackburn with Darwen Council undertaking significant upgrades to the two main playgrounds too.
Go Ape Managing Director, Nick Hall, said:
Go Ape is incredibly excited to be launching its tree top high-ropes activities at the beautiful and historic 480-acre Witton Country Park.
We look forward to delivering amazing experiences to a new audience of adventurers.
Now families and children from Blackburn and the surrounding areas, as well as school groups and corporates, can take on a new challenge in the great outdoors.
We will be working closely with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and other partners on the Witton Country Park estate over the coming months and years to ensure we have a positive local and community impact.
Go Ape is an enriching outdoor activity offering with physical and mental health benefits, plus a new site will facilitate up to 15 full and part-time jobs within our Employee-Owned business.
Announcing the summer opening, Go Ape describe the new course as the ideal first step up into the forest canopy for ‘little daredevils’ over 1m tall, so that they can get a feel for heights.
They add that they can test their skills and balance on a circuit of wobbly crossings and obstacles before speeding back to the ground on a zipline.
The second experience, ‘Treetop Adventure Plus’ will be an extension of the Treetop Adventure course, with an additional loop filled with trickier crossings and an extra-long solo zip line for participants over six years and 1.2m tall.
Councillor Damian Talbot, Executive Member for Health & Wellbeing on Blackburn with Darwen Council, added:
As a Council, we’re working really hard to bring new investment into the borough to benefit residents.
Aside from being a fantastic visitor attraction, the creation of jobs through Go Ape Blackburn is welcome news.
I’m really pleased that work on Go Ape is starting soon, meaning local families can look forward to some high-ropes fun over the summer holidays.
The arrival of Go Ape is part of a wider £550,000 transformation to play facilities in Witton Park, one of our borough’s biggest and most popular parks.
Witton Park is an idyllic spot for days out with pretty picnic spots, walks, nature trails, an arena, children’s bike track, cycle centre, café and more.
It also hosts some of the borough’s biggest events of the year too, including Restricted Rocks and Restricted Forest.
Sign-up to hear the latest on Go Ape Blackburn including when bookings go live by clicking here.