Residents of the western suburbs will have a new way to soak up the outdoors this summer: Flying through the air, courtesy of their regional parks system.
Hoping to boost interest in its attractions, the Three Rivers Park District is investing in a portable zipline and inflatable planetarium to wow residents at community events outside the park district this summer.
District leaders say it's part of a strategy to connect with communities closer to the urban core and raise awareness about Three Rivers' 27,000 acres of park facilities scattered from urban Robbinsdale to rural Rockford.
Three Rivers already owns a portable climbing wall, and Superintendent Boe Carlson said the zipline takes that type of programming to the next level.
"It's an exciting thing that's pretty dramatic," Carlson said. "It's going to get a lot of attention and we hope to turn people on to Three Rivers Park District and what we do."
Twin Cities residents have been hearing a lot about ziplines this winter, following the "Bold North" zipline over the Mississippi River during the Super Bowl. Three Rivers' mobile zipline, looking like a giant staircase on wheels, will be more modest than the 10-story structures that carried the zipline over the river.
"I don't think we want to risk stringing this over a water body," Carlson said. "But it's certainly that type of experience."
The inflatable planetarium, usable day and night, will hold 30 children. "You can run through a pretty detailed program and really guide whatever kind of nighttime education you want to do in a 15-minute program, up to an hour," Carlson said.
![With the skyline for a view people made their way across the Mississippi River via zip line, Friday, January 26, 2018 in Minneapolis, MN. ] ELIZABETH FLORES ï liz.flores@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/TDLKI4QXVKB4V2ZJWMUQJJR54Y.jpg?&w=1080)
