Harnesses being checked, helmets being secured and ecstatic screaming are all common sights and sounds at The Canyons Zip Line and Adventure Park in Ocala, Florida.
From zip lining to kayaking to horseback riding, The Canyons offers a range of activities that appeal to visitors of all ages. Kayaking offers a serene paddle on the aquifer, while horseback riding provides an extensive tour of the property’s rugged woodland area. Finally, 12 zip lines totaling 6,650 feet allow for plenty of time soaring above the canyons. And no two zip lines have the same view.
“I couldn’t imagine it being used for anything else,” Kenny Custen, The Canyons’ 43-year-old human resources and operations manager, said. “With my time here, seeing how amazing it works out as a zip line park while still keeping it really natural and really beautiful out there — and not changing it too much — it’s a phenomenal idea.”
But long before it became a zip line course, the 94-acre property served a much different purpose.
In the 1910s and 20s, it operated as a bustling limestone quarry where minerals were extracted for construction. Limestone is the primary raw ingredient used to make cement, making the site a flourishing mine when industrial expansion spread across Florida.
Custen, who has worked at The Canyons since 2023, said limestone and phosphate were mined from the property in the early 1900s using pickaxes and TNT dynamite. The old-fashioned equipment used to dig the land created unique geological features, including caves and rugged limestone cliffs.
In addition, the non-modernized tools used to mine the property resulted in the landscape looking much more natural than that of many of its successors, Custen said.
“The neighboring property, you can see the difference on the cliff walls because that was done in the ‘70s and ‘80s,” he said. “It’s a smoother cliff wall over there using excavators and whatnot, as opposed to over here, where it looks a lot more natural and rough and rugged.”
The quarry was last mined in 1929, leaving the steep, man-made site to be reclaimed by nature for decades. Now, visitors can find a slew of animals from coyotes to black bears to wild turkeys at The Canyons. Old fossils have also been found throughout the property, Custen said.
During mining, the Floridan Aquifer was never struck, but decades later, a project was launched to drill into the aquifer and fill the empty quarry with crystal-blue water. Since the property was no longer used for mining and was essentially an empty hole in the ground, the water added another layer of depth and beauty to the property.
The aquifer allows kayaking at The Canyons, providing visitors with unforgettable views of the limestone cliffs while floating anywhere from 30 to 60 feet below the rim of the former quarry.
About 15 years ago, the property was purchased by the Walker family, who still own and operate the park today.
Construction of The Canyons began in 2011, and the adventure park officially opened for business in November 2011. The new owner’s main goal, Custen said, was to leave the property intact as much as possible from a natural standpoint.
“The whole beauty of it is that it’s a part of Florida that you wouldn’t expect to be there,” he said.
The Canyons treat preservation and safety as a top priority. The park refrains from attaching zip lines to the limestone to mitigate damage to the soft, flaky walls. Instead, The Cayons secures its zip lines to sturdy trees and strategically sunken poles. Additionally, the park regularly schedules visits with arborists to evaluate the health of its trees and ensure zip lines are always anchored safely.
The property consists of 94 acres of sprawling land, including multiple lakes that make up about 10 of those acres. Now, nearly 15 years since its opening, The Canyons is a draw for both locals and tourists looking to enjoy the outdoor recreation Central Florida has to offer.
People have even traveled internationally to visit The Canyons, Custen said.
“Making sure that folks get their money’s worth and have a great time and frankly aren’t even thinking about the money at the end of the day because they had such an amazing time, is important to us,” he said. “We want to treat people the right way, we want to give them a great experience, but we also understand that stuff like this isn’t cheap.”
Dennis Walls, 72, is a Kentucky resident who owns a home in Ocala. He visited The Canyons for the first time on Tuesday to give his grandson a zip line experience. Walls has been to all 50 states and said the property doesn’t conform to the typically flat landscape of Florida.
“I would’ve never thought of it being here until I bought the house and could start taking up hanging around here,” Walls said. “I would’ve never thought that Florida was like this. You always think of Florida, you think flat, you think of land and sand.”
He said its unique landscape makes The Canyons a worthwhile destination and reminds him of home in Kentucky.
“I’m from coal miners’ country,” Walls said. “We’ve got a lot of stripped pits around our place. It’s like this, so it makes me feel at home.”
Though it was his first time visiting The Canyons, Walls said he will be back — next time with his friends — to surprise them with the unique landscape and thrill of zipping over the once-active quarry.
“When you’ve got a house in Florida, all your friends want to come and visit you, and they’re always wanting to do something,” Walls said. “This is worth coming back.”
Christina Tryzbiak, 46, and her daughter, Sydney, 18, also visited the Canyons for the first time recently. Looking to try new things in Florida, the pair was surprised by the park’s unusual geography.
“I thought it looked actually beautiful,” Sydney said. “As a Florida resident, I always get surprised when I see hills in Florida.”
The tourism influx The Canyons brings allows the park to put greater effort into preservation, Sydney said, as revenue from recreation is reinvested into protecting the property’s natural features.
“Being able to turn this into something recreational, it brings people in, allows people to see the area and allows funds to be raised to continue the preservation,” she said. “We come here for this beautiful landscape; it’s part of the reason why people are interested in attractions like this.”
This wasn’t the family’s first zip line excursion.
The Tryzbiaks visited a zip line in Blue Ridge, Georgia, in the summer of 2025. However, the zip line was very manufactured, they said, and didn’t offer the same natural beauty and serenity as The Canyons.
“[The Canyons] was nice because you feel like you’re outside,” Christina said. “A lot of Florida is theme parks and just made up, but this is actually just you seeing the outdoors.”
From an active limestone quarry to a riveting adventure park, The Canyons has transformed a man-made landscape into a unique, thrilling destination that blends adventure with preservation.