Looking for a different way to challenge yourself while having the best time? Enter, Boundless Adventures!
Located at 154 River Road West in Berlin, Boundless Adventures, which opened in June, is an eco-friendly aerial adventure park, featuring seven treetop obstacle courses that include multiple zip lines, rope challenges and bridges. This is the second park from owners Brian and Lorrie Funtleyder. They opened their first park in Purchase, N.Y.
“Boundless Adventures is about testing your own boundaries and challenging yourself,” Lorrie Funtleyder said. “We have four levels of difficulty among our courses that are appropriate for various ages, and each course has 12-14 elements. Elements are anything that gets you from one tree top to another like zip lines, ladders, rope bridges, a swing into a cargo net, etc.”
While Funtleyder and her husband love living this adventure park life, it’s not how they began their careers. “My husband and I are finance people — we have our MBAs and worked at hedge funds for 17 years,” she said. “We did this on vacation in 2012 and completely fell in love with the activity and did it with our kids. It was a confidence-building thing for my daughter and son, and we decided we wanted to do it. We spent time learning how to do it and then opened the park in New York two months ago and now here!”
In fact, Funtleyder said, they plan to open one or two parks a year! “Wherever we can find the population, trees, demographics, etc., we will open!” she said. “It’s a zoning consideration. When you’re too close to the city, it’s difficult to find zoning. We decided on Berlin because we found the landlord to be a wonderful partner and it’s a good area — not too far from Boston and near Worcester. We’ve had a good reception so far and have found there are a lot of active and outdoorsy people that live in the area who have embraced us.”
Safety is a huge focus and priority at Boundless Adventures. “First, everyone who goes through the park must go through a safety briefing and harness education process,” Funtleyder said. “They then get to practice on some courses to get used to the equipment.”
Boundless Adventures also sells snacks, drinks and ice cream. “It’s super important to stay hydrated as you go through the courses, so we have water available!” Funtleyder said.
As for what makes Boundless Adventures so special? Funtleyder says it’s a few things. “Everyone is always on their phones, and no one talks to one another anymore. Boundless Adventures is a good way to get people to talk to each other off their phones and communicate with one another,” she said. “It’s active, healthy and fun that builds self-esteem and confidence and makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something great.”
All tickets — $49 for kids (ages 7-11) and $55 for adults (ages 12+) — are good for three hours of climb time. Boundless Adventures is open daily from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. in the summer (June 16-Sept. 5). Group admissions are available any day by reservations only. For more information, visit boundlessadventures.net/ma-park.
Rachel Shuster