Morton, IL Outdoor Activities

Dropzoners give Skydive Chicago a perfect five-star average. Yelpers an average of 4.5 stars.

Chris and Pam Schmick had spent six months cleaning out the scrap metal from their abandoned silos and just finished drilling thousands of holes in its walls. With little time to spare, they prepared for their climbing gym's grand opening on September 2, 1995—a date on which they had already agreed to hold a regional JCCA competition. The effort they've expended in the nearly 20 intervening years shows: today, climbers scramble on top ropes, lead ropes, and more than 20,000 square feet of lava-free climbing surface.

Instructors prepare visitors to surmount the gym's features in a range of classes, such as Rock Gym 101, which is an introduction to top-rope climbing that covers climbing safety, basic technique, and equipment. Once climbers are equipped with gear from the pro-shop, staff shows them around a multi-level bouldering cave, a main climbing area with 30-foot walls shaped by arêtes, cracks, and waves, and the building's five original silos. Elsewhere inside the gym, six auto-belays safely cradle visitors who wish to climb without taking a class.

Wind whistles and engines roar as custom go-karts zip around Jet Karting's outdoor race track at speeds of up to 45 miles per hour. Rented – along with all necessary safety equipment – to guests of all experience levels, the low-riding vehicles cruise the course in 15-minute bouts, during which up to 15 riders race each other. Speed School classes tailored to three different age groups prep more experienced racers to take laps in powerful spec racers and Rotax karts. The staff recommends guests bring long pants, close-toed shoes, and a desire to move quickly while basically in the fetal position.

Located high above the wilderness of the Illinois River Valley, the cables, suspension bridges, and treetop platforms at Zip Chicago are fully designed and licensed by the EBL (Experience Based Learning Inc.)—a leading authority in ziplining adventures. Six half-inch cables ranging between 225 feet and 1,000 feet in length snake through the hardwood forest, providing bird's-eye views of the Illinois River Valley from up to 90 feet above the ground. Throughout the tours, fully trained guides ensure every detail results in a safe, exciting adventure, from clipping into the harnesses properly to converting cell phones into grappling-hook mode.