Our day at Quarry Park was hosted, all opinions are my own.

This was our second time to Quarry Park in Rocklin, California and we loved it as much as the first! Last time I took my son and his friends for his 10th birthday and I thought “this is just perfect for 10 year olds!” This time I took my older son and his friends for his 13th birthday and I thought, “this place is just perfect for 13 year olds!” Quarry Park is where fun meets adventure meets thrills. It’s an old quarry that has been turned into an adventure park. It is full of aerial obstacle courses, rocking climbing walls, zip lines, rappelling and more! You don’t have to have any experience in rock climbing to go have an awesome time. We did some different things than last time, and still left more to be explored for next time, so I’m excited to share!

Before You Go

Some things to keep in mind as you are preparing your trip to Quarry Park-

• It’s best to make a reservation, at this point it is required, Use code ALIA15 for a discount when booking.
• Know the age and weight of each of the participants. For example you have to be 70lbs to go on the zipline. If you have a mixed group of some over 70lbs and some under it’s good to be aware of this and have an idea of how you will handle it.
• Athletic type clothing and comfortable sneakers are important!
• They have gloves and water there on site for you so no need to pack those along.
• Keep in mind that the first 20 minutes or so is a safety orientation and learning the clip in clip out system. So leave yourself plenty of time to explore when you choose your tickets.
  • We had the Gold Adventure ticket which is 4 hours of fun! (and they went hard for 4 hours!)
• We have yet to explore the kids kove, but if you are going with littles it looks like an awesome place to explore!

Safety Orientation

When you first arrive they’ll help you gear up (including a harness, helmet and your smartsnap clip system) and take you through some instruction and practice.

Once you have your gear on and have watched the video they’ll take you down the steps to actually practice using your smartsnap system. You can practice, with the help of an instructor, until you feel comfortable with the clip system.

Free Fall

The very first thing the kids wanted to do once we got there was the free fall. “Don’t you want to warm up with some rock climbing?” I suggested. But off they went! The free fall is a 40 foot drop, but you only have a true “drop” for the first few feet before being lowered down slowly the rest of the way. Still, it takes some gusto to take that first step off the edge! And some of our brave teenagers had to summon their courage. To see the free fall in action you’ll have to check out my Instagram reel!

Zipline

The best way to travel from one end of the park to the other is definitely by zipline! The zipline takes you across the entire Quarry and ends at the platforms where the aerial adventures begin. So why walk all the way over there when you can zipline? Again, to see it in action check out the instagram reel.

Aerial Obstacle Courses

There is a easy, medium and hard obstacle course to choose from. Guess which one they chose? Yup. The hard one. I made it about half way before deciding to turn back. Last time I went I completed the easy and medium courses with the boys, but the hard one is… hard! They all made it though. I was so impressed!

Imagine different obstacles separated by platforms hanging 20-40 feet in the air. Once you complete one obstacle you unclip from the obstacle, clip on to the platform, and then clip to your next obstacle. You can see in the photo above the first obstacle was to walk across these logs.

This obstacle in the photo above is the one that had me turning around. Sticking your feet through the loops while pulling yourself along was really hard! I gave it a go but decided to turn back. Next time I’m going to conquer it! At the end of each course you have another “free fall” experience where you jump down off the platform to be lowered to the ground.

Via Ferrata

Next up, of course they chose the Via Ferrata! The Via Ferrata is a series of obstacles along the perimeter wall all around the quarry. It takes most people over an hour to complete the entire thing. But there are several points where you can get down rather than continuing on. They ended up doing a good chunk of it. And what do you know, I followed along. It didn’t look so bad from below. But it was a challenge!

I thought the hardest part of the Via Ferrata was trying to clip from one cable to the next while balancing in awkward positions. I was so impressed these kids all did great! I was just trying to keep up!

There are some deviations on the Via Ferrata and you can pick whether you want to go higher or stay lower. I stuck with them on the top for awhile and eventually went down to the lower section.

Rock Climbing Walls

Once they had their fill on the Via Ferrata it was time for some rock climbing! They have several courses on the rock climbing wall ranging from easiest (on the right) to hardest on the left. I made it to the top of one and my forearms were exhausted! I don’t know how those die hard rock climbers that do it all day do it!

The rock wall also gives them a chance to practice their rappelling. Every time they get to the top of one of the courses you get to rappel to come back down. It took them a few tries to get the hang of how to get back down.

Rappelling

Which brings us to our last activity! Rappelling! When I went last time I went rappelling with the boys, but this time I just watched from below. You start up above the quarry and get to rappel 60 feet to the quarry floor. Most of them said this was their favorite thing!

When we finished rappelling there was a little time left so they ran up to complete the medium aerial obstacle course. Then there was no more sunlight and it was time to for the nice Quarry Park employees to go home! I asked the kids as we were walking out, “so what would you rate that on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being like the best thing ever.” Without hesitation they started ranking it 9! Then later amended it to 9.5. Thank you so much Quarry Park, we can’t wait to come back! I think it would be so fun to do as a group date night.

If you’re still looking for more information on Quarry Park check out my other post about taking a younger group. And be sure to check out their website for all the latest and greatest!