Pump up the adrenaline: 7 activities for thrill-seekers in and around Atlanta

Extreme sports add excitement to our lives, whether on the ground or in the air. Georgia offers a variety of activities that allow you to enjoy nature and appreciate the view while flirting with adventure. If you love the rush of adrenaline, these seven activities are guaranteed to provide a good thrill.

Drive a racecar at the Porsche Experience Center

Enjoy a fuel-throttle experience of a Porsche vehicle as you navigate winding roads, maneuver obstacles, slide on a kick plate and drive on wet, low-friction sections on the 1.6-mile test track adjacent to the Porsche North American headquarters. Don’t want to drive, but are still feeling adventurous? Take a ride in the passenger seat as a professional driver takes you from 0 to 197 mph.

Location: Southeast Atlanta - One Porsche Dr; Website: porschedriving.com/atlanta; Contact: 888-204-7474

Take the leap at Skydive Atlanta

Have an off-the-fall experience descending down from 14,000 feet at 120 mph. Choose to jump tandem with an experienced skydiver, or take part in the Accelerated Freefall training program, which allows you to safely jump solo. Best of all, Skydive Atlanta has high standards: it is the only center in Georgia certified by the United States Department of Defense (DoD). So go ahead and take the plunge.

Location: Thomaston - 2333 Delray Rd; Website: skydiveatlanta.com; Contact: 706-647-9701

Soar over the city with biplane rides over Atlanta

Get a bird’s eye view of Atlanta as you fly in a biplane, a 1930′s era-style open cockpit plane. Biplane Rides of Atlanta offer sightseeing tours from dawn to dusk above the metro Atlanta area, including downtown, Stone Mountain and Lake Lanier, on historically preserved vintage aircraft. Options include flying on your own or with a friend or significant other. It’s a riveting activity, plane and simple.

Location: Chamblee - 3829 Clairmont Rd; Website: atlantabiplane.com; Contact: 702-496-8296

Wakeboard at Terminus Wakepark

Terminus Wakepark, a facility that offers cable wakeboarding, water-skiing, kneeboarding and more, will have you waking up to an adventurous day. A running cable 32 feet above ground is suspended by six towers and powered by an electric motor, allowing you to take part in water sports without the need for an actual boat. There are two available lakes: a beginner option that operates at 16 miles per hour, and a more advanced lake that operates at 20 miles per hour.

Location: Cartersville - 171 LakePoint Pkwy; Website: terminuswakepark.com; Contact: 470-315-0155

Go Whitewater Rafting with Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC)

Located 117 miles from Atlanta, the magnificent Chattooga River offers advanced whitewater rafting at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC). Keep calm and paddle on as you navigate iconic stage IV-V rapids (translation: sudden drops, strong currents, sizable boulders and substantial waves) including Seven-Foot Falls, Five Falls, Long Creek Falls and Raven’s Chute Rapid. If you’re looking for something a little closer to home, NOC also offers stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking on the Chattahoochee River in metro Atlanta.

Location: Multiple Locations; Website: noc.com

Zipline with Screaming Eagle Aerial Adventures

Explore new heights above the grandiose canopied forests across metro Atlanta and greater Georgia. Screaming Eagle Aerial Adventures offers various levels of ziplining, from the serene Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell to the breathtaking Amicalola Falls State Park near the Appalachian Trail, and to one of the largest zip lines in the world (holding a Guinness World Record) at the historic Banning Mills located 50 miles west of Atlanta. Additionally, Screaming Eagle offers a patented belay system for those who take safety seriously.

Location: Multiple Locations; Website: instagram.com/screamingeagleadventures

Try Hang Gliding and Paragliding at Lookout Mountain Flight Park

Look out to an amazing view of the Lookout Valley in between Georgia and Tennesee while “letting your spirits soar.” Start slow as you fly solo on the bunny hills, and then graduate into tandem gliding up to 3,000 feet above ground. For more serious thrillseekers, enroll in their world-renowned Flight School to take to the sky and learn all about aerodynamics, micro-climatology and thermal hunting of hang-gliding/paragliding.

Location: Rising Fawn - 7201 Scenic Hwy; Website: flylookout.com; Contact: 706-383-1292