First bungee jumping off a bridge high above the Crooked River Gorge, now zipping through the tree tops near Crater Lake — more adventure has come to public lands in Oregon.

Crater Lake Zipline opened a week ago off state Highway 140, about a half hour’s drive from Klamath Falls or Crater Lake National Park. Covering an old ski bowl, the zip line course operates on land managed by the Fremont-Winema National Forest. The national forest last fall approved the plan, submitted by Darren and Jenifer “Jen” Roe, who have a cabin a couple of miles from the course.

Dan Smith, acting ranger for the Klamath Ranger District, said he was recently at Crater Lake Zipline for testing.

“They put together a good package, and they went through a pretty stringent inspection with forest engineers and their own engineers …” said Smith, who normally works out of Bend and heads up law enforcement on the Deschutes, Ochoco and Fremont-Winema national forests.

Zip lines feature a cable suspended over an incline. Riders latch onto the cable with a pulley and harness. Suspended from the cable, riders glide along a course.

The Roes’ zip line course covers 1½ miles over the old Tomahawk Ski Bowl, which Jen Roe said closed in the mid-1980s due to poor snow conditions, on the east side of Upper Klamath Lake. Inspiration for the zip line came from a family trip five years ago to Belize, where the couple first tried zip lining themselves.

Since then, they’ve wanted to run a zip line of their own. The Roes are not strangers to adventure. They own Roe Outfitters, a Klamath Falls company that leads whitewater rafting, moonlight kayaking and other trips.

“This was a natural fit for us,” Jen Roe said.

A mother of two boys — ages 11 and 13 — Roe said she loves how zip lining is something a family can do together. Zippers must be at least 10 years old and weigh between 70 and 250 pounds. She said there is no upper age limit.

“The oldest person we’ve had on the course so far was 74, and we just had a gal call who was in her 80s,” Roe said.

Cost is $95 per rider Monday through Friday and $105 Saturday and Sunday. The tour takes 2½-4 hours. Crater Lake Zipline plans to offer tours year-round, although some days will not be conducive to zip lining.

“I’m excited to look down on that forest in the snow,” Roe said.

On Friday, 26 people zipped around the zip lines, including Sophia Homfeldt, 46, of Klamath Falls. She said she liked how the course stayed in the canopy of the trees and offered views.

“It was so fun,” she said.

Roe said the views include the caldera of Crater Lake. In planning the zip line course, she and her husband considered other names but decided on something she said would be easily recognized by people from around the world. The Roes worked with the U.S. Forest Service for 3½ years on the project.

“I think they recognize that sometimes there is a good recreational fit for something like this, where you can offer a different type of experience for people to get out on public land,” Roe said.

Crater Lake Zipline, located about 140 miles from Bend, is not the first in Oregon. Most parts of the state now have a zip line, said Judiaann Woo, director of communications for Travel Oregon.

“It is a safe thrill,” she said. “It doesn’t require any technical skill.”

While Central Oregon currently does not have a zip line, one could eventually be coming to Mt. Bachelor. Plans for a zip line course were part of the ski area’s 10-year master plan approved by the Deschutes National Forest in spring 2013, said Drew Jackson, Mt. Bachelor spokesman.

Part of summertime operations, the zip line course would be accessed from the Pine Marten chairlift and run from Pine Marten Lodge down the mountain about 1,400 vertical feet in several segments.

“It would zigzag its way in those three or four stages down toward the West Village Lodge area,” Jackson said.

While Mt. Bachelor has approval from the Forest Service for the zip line, it awaits the go-ahead from its parent company, Powdr Corp. Jackson said adding a zip line course remains among the top three priorities for the ski area, along with building a new ski lift and erecting a summertime climbing wall.

A different kind of adventure than zip lining, bungee jumping, is already catching on in Central Oregon. Since the start of the month, Central Oregon Bungee Adventures has offered bungee jumping from the High Bridge across the Crooked River at Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint near Terrebonne.

About 200 jumpers have taken the 250-foot plunge so far, said James Scott, owner and president of Central Oregon Bungee Adventures. The bungee jumping is attracting people to the viewpoint, he said. For each jumper, about 10 spectators gather.

Scott plans to be open until the end of October and then open again at the beginning of May. The company has a one-year pilot project agreement with Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, which manages the viewpoint.

Comparing zip lining and bungee jumping, Scott said zip lines are more for all ages while bungee jumps are different.

“It’s a big jump,” he said. “It’s not for everyone.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7812, ddarling@bendbulletin.com

Crater Lake Zipline

29840 Highway 140 West, Klamath Falls

541-892-9477

http://craterlakezipline.com/