More News

Derwood resident Dan D'Agostino is hoping to get county residents off their couches and swinging through the trees in a section of Rock Creek Regional Park near Lake Needwood.

D'Agostino, a Col. Zadok Magruder High School alum, has proposed to the county's Parks Department to bring Go Ape, an obstacle course that utilizes ladders, walkways, bridges and tunnels made of wood, rope and zip lines, to an approximately 6-acre section of the Derwood park.

A Parks Department official said his division likes the idea of bringing an outdoor rope-climbing course to Lake Needwood because the county has nothing like it.

"We thought it was a good idea and we thought introducing a sports adventure course to Montgomery County would be beneficial to residents," said Terry H. Brooks, division chief for the Parks Departments' special program division.

He said approximately 20 people who attended a community meeting last week on the proposal told the Parks Department they liked the idea of bringing Go Ape to Derwood and some even tossed out suggestions about how the course should look.

Geoff Tobias, a Germantown resident who attended the meeting, said he is "super excited" about the possibility of having Go Ape in the county.

"It's a great opportunity for people to get up off the couch and see the park from a whole different vantage point," he said.

D'Agostino said Go Ape has 22 courses in the United Kingdom and the outdoor experience would be the first of its kind in the United States by Go Ape.

He discovered Go Ape, which puts participants 40 to 50 feet above the ground in harnesses, while working as a project manager on building the stadium for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

"I really fell in love with the experience," the 30-year-old said. "It's great to see children and adults laughing and goofing off in the trees."

D'Agostino arranged with Go Ape's founders to take the program "across the pond." He returned to the United States in February and is now Go Ape's United States director.

"I couldn't think of any better place to bring it than Lake Needwood," D'Agostino said, adding he grew up a couple miles away from the park. "Needwood is where I'd go hiking, biking and picnicking and it just holds a really special place in my heart."

The proposal is slated to be introduced to the county Planning Board on Dec. 10, Brooks said. If approved, Go Ape would sign a lease to use the county's parkland and, in exchange, the county would get a new sports adventure facility, he said.

Complete details and any revenue the county might receive have not been worked out, D'Agostino said.

Brooks added the ropes course might also help get more teenagers into the park.

"It's something they might find exciting in the parks system and we're always looking for new ways to engage that age group," he said.

If the plan is approved, D'Agostino said he hopes to open Go Ape at Lake Needwood in 2010. He added it would cost approximately $300,000 to construct the course and that all its elements are built around trees, not through them.

It would take participants about three hours to complete the course, which includes 30 to 45 minutes of training with instructors, D'Agostino said. He estimates the charge for the course will be between $40 and $50, but 450 free tickets would be set aside each year for disadvantaged residents.