Mostly known for water activities, Deer Creek State Park now offers ziplines


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HEBER — Utah is full of places that make you stop and stare. Deer Creek State Park near Heber is one of them.

The mountains, the water, the overall scenery, it’s enough for a postcard photographer to retire here. However, unless you’re into water activities, like boating and fishing, you might just drive on by.

"There are people in Utah who have absolutely no idea that Deer Creek State Park is even here,” said Devan Chavez, a spokesman for Utah State Parks.

It seems like more people are going to other places. Visitation to Deer Creek has decreased the past few years. According to state park numbers, visitation topped 300,000 in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

However, from 2013 through 2015, those numbers haven’t been the same, with 225,873 in 2013 and 187,186 in 2014. And last year, 228,630 people visited Deer Creek.

However, in 2016, park managers think visitation numbers are going to soar again.

Literally.

This past Memorial Day, Zipline Utah opened a zipline park at Rainbow Bay.

There are five courses with 12 ziplines overall, including what’s being called the longest zipline over water in America.

"Ziplining is something that's out of the norm and it gets people excited,” Chavez said. “We're hoping that the excitement built around ziplining will encourage people to come up to Deer Creek."

It’s an effort to make Deer Creek more appealing to people who might not have ever considered coming to the park.

It’s also just plain fun.

“We want people to have fun. We set this entire course up so people can come and do something maybe they’ve never tried before, or for those who love to zipline, come back and do it all again,” said Jon Johnson, the owner of Zipline Utah.

Johnson has been building ziplines his whole life. He approached Deer Creek State Park managers about a year ago, telling them his idea. He was surprised how quickly they went for it.

"I feel we've been a really good partner with them and they're really excited about the prospects of what it's going to help the park do,” said Johnson.

Even still, safety is always on his mind.

"I spent a lot of sleepless nights trying to figure out how to make this as safe as possible,” Johnson said.

He understands the concern, especially after two people in Utah have been killed at other zipline parks in the past year.

Johnson found a company that makes a sort of carabiner system where you're always hooked in, even when going between lines.

Many parks have a system where zipliners have two carabiners, where one has to always be clipped to the guide cable.

With Johnson’s setup, zipliners have to guide their carabiner through a maze-type system in order to go up stairs or get to the next zipline.

“Everything we have done is double and triple checked. We also know people are scared of heights. We tell them these clips are rated to carry 5,000 pounds and we haven’t met someone that heavy,” Johnson said. “We want them to relax and have fun.”

For Deer Creek State Park, they’re looking forward to visitation numbers and hoping they’re offering something different to attract new people to see the park and discover its beauty.

"What better way to come check it out than to come do some great ziplines and then spend a day on the lake,” Chavez said.

Contributing: Steve Landeen

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