Redwood Kings Create New Attraction At Margarita Adventures
SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. – For nearly four years, thrill seekers have been soaring over the Central Coast at Margarita Adventures. The zipline tour, which takes visitors over the historic Santa Margarita Ranch, has become a popular tourist attraction for San Luis Obispo County.
“It’s bringing a lot of guests out here, to share this property. This part of California that they rarely see,” said owner Karl Wittstrom.
Wittstrom and his wife decided to create the zipline tour after riding through the jungle canopy of Costa Rica, while on vacation a few years ago in the Central American country.
Opened in October 2011, Margarita Adventure offers much more than a zipline attraction. Visitors also receive a guided tour to the ranch, where they learn about the area’s rich history, its diverse wildlife and habitat, as well as its working cattle ranch and vineyard.
“What we’re constantly trying to do is emphasize this beautiful place and give the guests a memorable experience,” said Wittstrom.
Once firmly attached to the zipline’s five separate lines, visitors are treated to a spectacular tour.
“Each one of the lines is a different feature in terms of the experience, some of them are faster, some of them are shorter,” said Wittstrom.
All of the ziplines, which total nearly a mile in length, offers a breathtaking view, with some rising over 100 feet in the air.
“Once you get on the zipline and you’re going through the canyon and looking at the vineyard and seeing the trees, it’s pretty surreal and peaceful and you just end up having an awesome experience,” said Justine Bosio of Santa Barbara.
Most of the visitors are first-time zipline riders. Many of which are instantly hooked from the moment they jump off the first platform.
“It’s so pretty up here and was a really good experience,” said Lindsay Bosio of Santa Barbara. “Little scary at first, but a good time. It’s a big adrenaline rush, especially on this last one.”
The final zipline, dubbed “The Pinot Express,” is the longest ride in the tour, covering 1,800 feet. Riders zoom over a Pinot Noir vineyard before finishing in a replica gold mining camp.
“This is sort of the bang at the end of the ride,” said creator John Daniels. “This is the finale when you come zipping down this line, it looks as though you’re going to slam into a building, you go zipping right through it and come to a halt right before the mine.”
Daniels, who co-stars with his twin brother Ron in the Animal Planet reality show Redwood Kings, helped create the 1800’s-era camp.
“We sort of brought local legend and ideas from the area and came up with mining type thing and it looks like it’s been on the ranch for a hundred years,” said Daniels.
The camp is named the Patrick W. Murphy Mining Company. Before owning the ranch, Murphy was a gold miner in Sutter County. After earning his fortune selling goods to miners during the Gold Rush era, Murphy moved to Santa Margarita, where he was instrumental in bringing Southern Pacific Railroad to the small town.
The creation of the gold mining camp was recently filmed for an episode of Redwood Kings. The show follows the pursuits of the Daniels brothers, and their Paso Robles-based business, Daniels Wood Land, which creates high end tree houses and other themed attractions out of redwood. The episode that features the Margarita Adventures mining camp will air on Animal Planet on Friday, Aug. 14.
Margarita Adventures will soon add a sixth zipline, which will be its longest, measuring 3000 feet. It also plans to add a suspension 400-foot bridge, adding to the tour’s growing attractions.
For more information on Margarita Adventures, visit: www.margarita-adventures.com
