My husband, adult son, and I, spent the day at Banning Mills in July 2026. Wow, what a day! First…read moreof all, we highly recommend this place. The staff is amazing, and the activities are challenging, fun, and reasonably priced. We started off with the swincars. We had so much fun driving along the smooth and rugged trails, over a wooden bridge, and even a swing bridge. We saw deer, and were even up close and personal with them. They were beautiful! Our staff companions were James and Brenda. They were personable and very knowledgeable.
After swincars, we took a long, leisurely lunch break. We had ordered sack lunches that morning before swincars, so they were ready. The sandwiches were delicious and huge! The lunch also came with a bag of chips, apple, and a water bottle. It was nice to just sit in the air conditioned dining area, talk and laugh while we ate.
Last, but definitely NOT least, we did the zipline. Oh my. What they don't tell you is that the very first (beginner's zipline) starts with crossing a rugged looking swing bridge once you've climbed up the stairs to begin the whole zipping process. My husband and son were fine with it, but not me. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. The boards are placed 1 - 2 ft apart, and me being an older, chunky woman, that was not easy. I literally froze on the bridge. I don't think this is common, so if you're going to do zipline and walk across the swing bridge, I'm sure you'll be fine. I finally managed to get across with lots of encouragement from our instructors, Keaton and Josh.
The zipline was challenging, but fun, and I will admit that there was one point I was ready to give up. Keaton encouraged me to continue, and I'm so glad I did. I was so proud of myself for making it through the entire activity. Poor, Keaton. I definitely kept him on his toes, and I'm sure he was bruised and exhausted afterwards. He had to lend a helping hand to me on numerous occasions and I also slammed into him more than once. He was a trooper and amazing.
As you can see, I highly recommend Historic Banning Mills. It's for the young, middle aged, and old like me. I achieved some of the things I never thought possible, and it was all with the help from this great staff.