The thrill of flying through the air suspended by a wire could do the trick to bring more visitors to one Black Hills attraction. Rushmore Cave unveiled its new attraction above ground. A 636 foot zipline.

The Soaring Eagle travels about 31 miles per hour on a wire that takes a 100-foot vertical drop. The objective is to up visitor numbers for a type of attraction that has seen some softer numbers.

Tom Hagen, the owner of Rushmore Cave, says, "It's kind of been determined that cave tours themselves have started to wane. Everything is cyclical. Cave tours were very popular through the 60's, waned a little in the 70's, very popular in the 80's and now it's started to wane a little. So it's just a way to increase the base and get more people out to see the cave."

Hagen says they chose a two-seat aluminum cart since it's safer and allows a typical 5-year old to ride the zipline. If going down forward wasn't good enough for you, the Soaring Eagle brings riders back up to the top by pulling them backwards at 16 miles per hour.

Justin Pazera