Highline Adventures, off Highway 246, offers attendees the chance to get outside, get active
Jeff Hartman opened the Highline Adventures outdoor adventure park near Buellton in 2023 to give people more opportunities to get outside and active.
Now, Hartman is looking to expand his customer base to families and younger kids, and in the process, he jokingly says, make “Skynet” known more than just being the name of the fictional computer system that threatened mankind in the “Terminator” movie franchise.
This “Skynet” refers to the park’s new Skynet Playground, a first-of-its-kind colorful, elevated netted zone featuring 10 enclosed adventure spaces designed for safe climbing, bouncing, and motor skill development, all while parents can relax or join in the fun. This expansion, which opened at the end of May, complements Highline Adventures’ existing adventure park, which features a variety of thrilling courses and challenges for teens and adults, according to Hartman.
“The Skynet’s been great for us because we can get the whole family out here and give them something to do,” Hartman said of the playspace, which is made for children as young as 2, as well as adults and older kids. “The zipline and adventure course I limit to ages 10 and up and between 75 and 275 pounds, and I was missing out on that younger kid demographic, which I can see clearly now, being the father of a 2-year-old and 6-year-old. I thought to myself we were missing out on whole families who have nothing to do out here.”
The Skynet is an elevated structure nestled between the adventure courses at the park, which is located just outside the Buellton city limits off Highway 246. Participants can ran back-and-forth between the “zones,” play games like basketball and volleyball (with added elevation), and even just jump up and down on the bottom like a trampoline.
“This netting is the same kind they’ve started to use in what they call ‘netparks’ in Europe, but are finally coming to the U.S.,” Hartman said. “The technology for the nets came from fishing netting, and it’s very strong and very bouncy, like a trampoline.”
Hartman also looks at the Skynet as more of a free-form activity, for the park attendees.
“With the zipline and adventure courses, we need to go through a little training and orientation, and have to supervise the whole process,” he said. “With the Skynet, I can just get the group and let them loose in there.”
The playground is the latest addition to the park, whose main feature is the zipline, which takes harnessed riders 1,000 feet above ground, giving them what Hartman calls “the best views in Santa Ynez Valley.”
Hartman is a “sixth-generation” Santa Barbara County native who graduated from Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara, and then went to the University of Colorado.
“I started a couple of action sports companies in Colorado before I moved back to Santa Barbara County in 2016,” he said. “I was some ag business for awhile but decided I wanted to do something else. My dad and his partner had the idea for zip course, and I added the adventure course and we submitted it to the county in 2020 and got approval in 2022.”
Hartman said his park is a response to those who wish for more activities to do in the Valley when they speak out at City Council meetings or events like the recent economic summit.
“Our mission is getting people outside and active, since we live in such a digital age and let them have fun things to do in a curated and safe environment,” he said. “They want something to do other that just drink alcohol — I mean, how much wine can you drink in a day. We say that you come to our park and be active and then do your wine tasting or have a Danish and do the Solvang experience after.”
In additions to folks just coming in to enjoy the park, Highland Adventures also is available for events, like birthday parties and corporate retreats.
“We have a clubhouse and lawn where people can gather and hang out between activities,” he said. “We’ve hosted parties and brought food trucks, and provided lawn games, seatings and other things.”
Hartman, who lives on the property with his wife Hannah, and daughters Pearl, 6, and June, 2, (with a baby boy on the way soon) said he is open to further new additions to the park, which he said is further encouraged by the ag enterprise ordinance passed the county last December.
“We’re looking at what we can do,” he said. “That ordinance was a great thing for ag zone parcels.”
But for the time being, Hartman’s happy providing a local destination to enjoy some neat outdoor experiences.
“We just encourage people to get out and active in a fun environment,” he said. “Our tagline is ‘Explore Through the Trees.’ You can come out as a family and activities for ages 2 years old to 100 years old, and have fun.”
Highline Adventures is located at 700 E. Highway 246, with the entrance to the access road just east of Ostrich Land. To book reservations or to get more info, go to highlineadventures.com.
