Tucked away in the foothills of the Western Cascade Mountains, Camp Dakota flouts offers high-flying adventures that may test participants' skills, stamina, and propensity to scream at high altitudes. Suspended steel ziplines whiz above the forest canopy as squirrels wave from nearby branches and passing meadowlarks pause for fist bumps. Teamwork trumps individual heroics on the high-ropes course, whose elevated, threaded obstacles sway precariously above the distant ground.

Instructors supply safety harnesses and words of encouragement before leading the way to a vertical rock-climbing wall.