Seilpark Zürich – Ropes Climbing Park

This is one of our summer favorites! This ropes course is so close to Zürich city, but in a quiet forest, so you feel far away from the busy streets.

It has a wide variety of courses, most suitable for kids aged 8+, also with smaller courses for kids aged 4 to 7. The obstacles are creative, challenging, and sometimes scary!

We also love that the ropes course is next door to a fun outdoor pool, with water slides, diving platforms and other amusements. I hope you like it!

Getting There

Seilpark Zürich is located in a small forest next to a sports complex in Kloten near the Zurich airport. You can reach it by car or public transportation.

By car:

Drive to Schluefweg 10 8302 Kloten. There are three parking areas around the pool complex. If you are going to the ropes course, best to drive past the pool, following signs to the ropes course and park in the metered lot on the south side of the pool. This is closest to the ropes course entrance.

Parking here costs about CHF 3 for 6 hours, which is about enough for both the ropes course and pool. Bring coins for the meter. There is covered parking, but I think it’s more expensive. FYI: the parking closest to the pool entrance is much more expensive, CHF 9 for 6 hours.

By public transport: 

You can take a train to Zürich, Flughafen, then bus 731 to Kloten, Schluefweg. Check SBB.ch for the best connection from your starting point.

Where to check in

You check in for the ropes course on the south side of the pool, not the main pool entrance. There is parking next to the ropes course entrance. If you parked near the pool entrance, you can easily walk on a path outside the pool to reach the ropes course.

You pay and get your equipment at the ropes course entrance/office. Then you walk outside the pool fences into the forest to reach the ropes courses, a short walk of about 150m. The mini courses are inside the pool complex, next to the pool.

Tickets & Opening times

It’s best to book ahead for a specific time slot on their website. Ticket prices vary widely based on age and height, which determines which courses you can do. Below are the prices for 2021. See current prices.

Unlike most other courses, they require you to purchase gloves for CHF 5 if you don’t bring your own.

Parkour Courses

There are 15 courses, color coded by difficulty, all well explained in a brochure on site (part shown below), and clearly marked on the trees. The staff is happy to explain this in English.

For those 8 and over with a minimum grip height of 155cm, there are four “easy” courses, each about 20-25 minutes long, and 3 “moderate” courses, each about 30-45 mins long. These courses are interesting and challenging for both children and adults.

Children aged 8-11 must be accompanied by an adult climbing on the courses. Children aged 12-15 must be monitored by an adult on the ground.

For children 6 and over with a minimum grip height of 135cm, there are three “kids” courses, which are 3-5 meters above the ground, each about 20-25 mins long. A parent must monitor climbing children from the ground next to the course.

For children aged 4-5 with a minimum grip height of 115cm, there are two “mini” courses that are 1 meter above the ground, each about 15 mins long. A parent must actively assist climbing children from the ground next to the course.

In all cases, an adult can supervise a maximum of 4 children. But be aware that only three people can stand on any given platform. So if the kids need help, you need to be positioned in the middle f of the four children, not behind or in front of them, so it’s possible for you to stand on the platform with each child if necessary for assistance.

Courses we liked

The first time I came here, my son was eight and he really enjoyed the green and blue courses. The green courses are more about fun, with a little boat and big bouncy feet to walk on. The Blue courses are more about interesting obstacles, but not too difficult. We tried one red course, but it was too difficult and scary and we quit after only one obstacles.

Now that he has just turned 11, the red courses are perfect for him and still challenging me as an adult. We really liked the red “Courage” course, which includes a free-fall, which was scary but safe.

We also liked the red “Acrobatica” course, which had many creative, challenging and fun obstacles. The kids really liked riding a skateboard and snowboard between trees and found the spinning barrel the most difficult. I thought the tightrope with a horizontal balance bar practically impossible.

Sorry I don’t have more pictures of the course! I was busy climbing with the kids and couldn’t take my phone with me on the course. There are lots of helpful pictures and videos on their website.

Planning your day

Your fee includes 3 hours (2 hours for the kids and mini courses), starting with the instruction. No one will tell you to get off the course, you need to track your own time (perhaps wear a watch).

We had just enough time to do three big courses. We were a little over on time, but the staff didn’t mention it when we checked in.  If your children really want to do a particular course, make sure you leave enough time to do it. Each course has an estimated time but that will vary depending on your speed and if you have to wait for others.

What to wear

You should wear sport clothes that are comfortable and flexible. I prefer leggings because some obstacles can rub against your legs. My kids always wear shorts.

Best to wear comfortable, flexible sport shoes that will work for climbing ladders and balancing on small wood pieces. No flip flops or sandals.

What to bring/not bring on the course

They provide lockers for your valuables and will hold your key behind the desk so you don’t have to take it on the course. You can simply leave your swimming equipment on the grass near the pool.

For climbing safety, they ask you not to bring anything on your person, including phones, cameras, sunglasses or hats. I really wanted to bring my phone for pictures, but after doing the course I agree with their policy. You really need to focus your mind and hands on the course and your kids.

I do recommend bringing water bottles and snacks in a little bag and leaving it at the central point in the forest where all the courses start. My kids got really thirsty and hungry after awhile and I was glad I didn’t have to trek back to the pool to get my water bottle.

Grip Height

When you check in for the ropes course, the staff will check the height of your children to determine which courses they can do. They are focused on how high your child can reach so they can safely and successfully navigate the courses. A minimum 155cm grip height means you can grab something 155cm tall.

It can be a big problem if the child cannot reach certain parts of the obstacles, for example, to hook on their safety lines or to grab ropes or objects that are part of the course.

The staff didn’t measure any of the kids, just eyeballed their height. The kids with me were all over 145cm tall and there were still several obstacles where I had to help them because they couldn’t reach.

Instruction

You must do a short safety and instruction lecture before going on the ropes courses. Ours was conducted in Swiss German but all the staff we meet spoke English and will happily do the instruction in English for you. The instructor will observe you and the children on a mini course to make sure you know how to safely work the equipment.

We had to wait 15 mins for the instruction course to start. I don’t know if they have a set schedule. They seem to do it in intervals to group people together. I was worried about it being too crowded at the start, since our instruction included about 20 people. But everyone spread out pretty quickly and it wasn’t a problem.

Safety Equipment: FYI

Just fyi, the safety equipment at this ropes course is not as idiot proof as other ropes courses I’ve done.

When using a ropes course, you typically have two safety lines connecting your harness to the cables on the course. As you move along the course, you unhook one line, rehook it to the next part of the course, then unhook the second line, and rehook it, and so on. This means you are always connected with at least one safety line.

On other ropes courses I’ve done in Switzerland, there is a safety mechanism that prevents you from unhooking both safety lines at the same time.

However, on this course, it is possible, but prohibited, to unhook both carabiners while on the course. Of course, you are instructed to only unhook/rehook one safety line at a time. You are also instructed to hook the carabiners in opposite directions to prevent you from accidentally unlocking both at the same time. The instructor observes you doing this a few times to make sure you are doing it correctly.

However, it’s easy to forget in the excitement, especially with kids. At the beginning, my kids wanted to move fast and would grab a carabiner in each hand so they could unlock/relock faster. A couple times they would briefly have both unlocked!

So I monitored the kids very carefully at the beginning, coaching them to only use one hand to unlock the carabiners. After a couple scoldings, they got in the habit of only unlocking one at time and it was ok. But I was very nervous and I would definitely watch younger kids very closely to ensure this!

Weather

This is still a good choice on hot days because the forest shields you from the sun. Plus you can cool off afterwards at the pool.

The ropes course may close due to rain, possibly in the middle of your climbing session. However, we were there during light rain and thunder and everyone stayed on the course.

The pool

After climbing, we suggest spending the rest of the day at the pool. My kids love this pool and ask to go even if we aren’t doing the ropes course. The pool has lots of amusements including water slides, diving platforms, kiddie splash pool, playground, grill pits, sand volleyball courts, ping pong tables, etc.

One thing I don’t often see at the other pools is the grill pits, where you can cook food over an open fire (but not during the fire ban of summer 2018). We saw lots of families doing this. There are picnic tables next to the pits making it quite civilized.

The cafe serves standard pool fare (fries, sausage and nuggets). But they also usually have freshly made salads and sandwiches. My kids love that they have slush puppies and a wide range of inexpensive candy.

I also love that there are free lounge chairs and umbrellas, just deposit a CHF 2 coin to check it out and get your money back when you return it. They go fast but people come and go and we’ve always managed to get one at some point during our visit.

I hope you enjoy it!

Check out other Ropes Courses in Switzerland.