Alexis Wooderson takes a look up a 40-foot tower that Brownsville’s Camp RIO calls its Treehouse and begins to unpack what it can do. 

“It can seem like a puzzle,” said Wooderson, who manages the camp’s new ropes course that runs through the tower. “It looks like a daunting course, but once you’re up there, you can feel how secure it is.”

With the help of a nearly $600,000 grant, the nature-based Camp RIO campus constructed a High Ropes Adventure Course on its 85-acre grounds in north Brownsville. It is the only facility of its kind in the Rio Grande Valley and is the sort of outdoor activity found at outdoor camps nationwide. A high ropes course is an aerial adventure facility with a series of suspended obstacles like bridges and zip lines that hang suspended 25 to 50 feet off the ground.

“It’s always something we wanted to have at the camp,” said Mary Barba, the curriculum and date coordinator for Camp RIO. “It’s been on our wish list since we opened.”

A $593,000 quality-of-line grant from the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation made it possible. In September, Camp RIO celebrated the high ropes course’s grand opening with Brownsville Mayor John Cowen on hand to provide remarks. The range of up-in-the-air activities of the ropes course offers Valley youths and adults unique higher altitude challenges.

“It gives a chance for people to conquer their fears and an opportunity to work together in building stronger teams,” Barba said of what are often group activities high up on the ropes course. “They challenge themselves individually to do something they haven’t done before.”

Defying Heights

The Camp RIO site on Fish Hatchery Road is located a few miles north of Alton Gloor Boulevard.

It existed for decades as Camp Lula Sams in serving as the major Girl Scouts camp in the Valley. Private land owners in 2015 sold the property to the Idea Public Schools. Camp RIO began out of that purchase with a goal to provide a quality camp experience for Valley residents. Over the last 10 years, the camp has been operating outdoor education and day camp programs and also offers corporate and retreat programming. 

The new ropes course is a major addition to Camp RIO’s offerings. It sits just west of the main campus site. The tower rises over a caliche road on the drive from the camp’s main entrance. Wooderson says “there’s a little bit of something for everything” on the ropes course.

Tires, swaying pedestrian bridges, ropes and netting are among the elements to explore many feet up in the air. On the ground, participants go through a tutorial on how to use carabineers to safely attach themselves to wiring to make their way around and through the ropes course. A fear of heights is one challenge to face and dealing with it effectively on the ropes course can build confidence. The thrill of trying something new – and daring – and succeeding can be exhilarating. 

“Sometimes people get here and don’t think they can do it because it’s really high,” Wooderson said. “By encouraging them and allowing them to take the lead, you can see them grow and gain confidence in their abilities.”

Wooderson can relate. She recalls “starting out nervous about heights,” and now she and her staff prep and teach participants how to take on the challenges of the ropes course. 

“It’s pushing yourself past what you think you can do,” Wooderson said of mastering the ropes course. “You learn more about yourself.”

‘Biggest Grins’

Camp RIO is accredited by the American Camp Association and sits on 85 acres of native Valley habitat.

Ten of those acres are available for camp activities. The remaining 75 acres are protected in perpetuity under a conservation easement administered by the Valley Land Fund. Students from Idea schools often use the camp but is also open to visits from other area school districts. Camp RIO allows public access throughout the year via quarterly community events that often have a tie to holiday events.

In all, Barba says about 26,000 students visit Camp RIO every school year to go with the over 400 summer day campers. With the ropes course, they have a new feature and challenge to take on during their camp visits. There’s also a towering rock wall to scale and an 80-foot-long zip line to provide further adventures and thrills. Once all elements of the big Treehouse are completed, Wooderson likes to ask how it went for the participants. 

“I ask them, ‘how did it feel?’ Then I see the biggest grins on their faces,” she said.