Adventures are all about facing your fears. What better way to face them then with your family? Whether you’re afraid of water, animals, heights, or enclosed spaces, there’s an adventure out there that let’s you face your demon, but is tame enough to bring the youngsters along.

A perfect adventure activity for campers and cottagers is white water rafting down the Madawaska River in Barry’s Bay, just North of Algonquin Park. My mom Sylvia (Features Editor), brother Craig, and I signed a waiver, donned life jackets and helmets, and joined several other families in two over-sized yellow dinghies. All the paddling was taken care of for us by guides Mark and Matt so the rest of us could enjoy careening down rapids with names like “The Staircase” and “The Gravel Pit”. The youngest in our crew was three years old and, according to Matt, children as young as two can enjoy the ride.

On the scariness meter, white water rafting ranks about the same as a kiddy roller coaster, unless of course you’re afraid of water. At “Claudia’s Roll” (named after Claudia Van Wijk Olympic rower and owner of canoe centre) one young rafter became squeamish invited to ride the rapid without the dinghy. Swimming the rapids I recommend but, fortunately for the squeamish, it’s optional.

You’ll want a bathing suit and sunny weather for this two-hour wet adventure. For safety reasons shoes must be kept on, so wear sandals or aqua shoes. Sneakers, says Craig, get water-logged and heavy. Also check the times before you go, when the dam closes the raging Madawaska reduces to a trickle. You may also choose the longer four-kilometer trip (includes a barbeque lunch) on the Ottawa River, both hosted by Owl Rafting (owlrafting.com).

Another family adventure we tried was horseback riding at Circle R Ranch in London, Ont. Children eight and over can ride a horse while younger children can mount a pony and be led by a parent. This seemed the perfect outing to take my nine-year-old cousin Kelly who, having never been on a horse, was very excited about it. She had a different perspective sitting on top of Peppermint. When my mom asked “How do you feel?” Kelly promptly burst into tears and whispered “Scared.”

I later learned that Kelly was worried that she hadn’t caught all of the guide’s instructions on how to tell the horse where to go. This was a worry for me as well, since it became clear after three seconds of riding my horse, JW, that he was about as likely to go where I told him to as a car is likely to stop in the middle of a trip and chew on a tasty patch of grass (something JW did quite often). My advice for first time horseback riders: trust your horse; he or she knows the trail like the back of his hoof. All you have to do is put your feet in the stirrups, hold on, and watch the butt of the horse in front of you. Kelly soon realized this too and, having conquered her fear, thoroughly enjoyed the day.

A quick word about allergies: it turns out my cousin and I share an allergy to our hoofed friends. I took an antihistamine in preparation for the trip but Kelly, who didn’t know about her allergy, had to suffer through itchy eyes, runny nose, wheezy breathing and one swollen eye from leaning in to hug the horse. Be aware that you or your youngsters may experience similar symptoms. (circlerranch.ca, 1-877-844-8738). Available in Spring and Fall only. Member of ARE-ONT

I’m not afraid of water and I’m not afraid of animals, so to me, the above adventures seemed relatively tame. My demon to conquer was the fear of heights. For this, my mother Sylvia, brother Craig and I went on a Scenic Caves Eco Adventure Tour at Blue Mountain Lodge, an opportunity to try Tree Top Walking. According to our guides, Jen and Graham, anyone who is at least 5 feet tall and 85 pounds (ages ten and up approximately) can fit into the safety harness may participate The youngest in our group was 14-year-old Haley, a fearless young lady who had previously been sky-diving.

Our tree-top walking crew consisted of 13 people, including our two guides. We all donned harnesses, helmets, and stickers with our first names on them. Attached to the harness was a water bottle and, more importantly, a rope with two clips called carabiners. I didn’t have a lot of time to make friends with my carabiners before my life depended on them.

First we followed our guides over Ontario’s longest suspension bridge. Jen and Graham were kind enough to give us some information about how it was constructed. Crossbows were used to shoot cables across the opening so as not to harm the foliage below. After the info session, we piled into a tractor and drove into the forest.

Once we’d practiced using our carabiners, we climbed an incredibly tallcas high as a tree-top, come to think of itcstaircase two at a time. We attached our carabiners to cables running above our heads. There are two cables and two carabiners so if one breaks, you won’t fall to your death. This knowledge didn’t keep my knees from wobbling. We began walking along a plank about the size of a two-by-four that was suspended by cables. Fearless Haley didn’t seem to notice the plank swaying back and forth, she rushed ahead with the rest of the group leaving me, Craig, Mom, and guide Graham far behind. Though Graham continued to reassure us that it was safe to go faster, we inched along to prevent the planks from swaying too much. Well, to be fair, it was my idea to move at a snail’s pace. When we reached a tree we had to unclip our carabiners (gasp) and reclip them (phew) to another set of cables on the other side of the tree. The tree-top plank walk took about forty-five minutes. Then, we met up with the rest of our group, who were waiting for us on a large platform.

What’s the best way to get down from a tree-top? According to me: some kind of enclosed elevator. According to Eco Tour Guides: zip glide. I watched first my mom, then my brother, descend a staircase leading into thin air, hang jolly-jumper style high above the forest floor, then zip (there’s no better word for it) along a cable to the ground, all the while screaming with glee and terror. My turn, fearless Haley and her father cheered me on. Guide Graham attached my carabiners to the zip glide. “Whenever you’re ready, just step off,” he said. I stayed on that little staircase for a long time. Nothing about the adventure was scarier than letting go, than giving up that comforting step under my feet, than trusting those carabiners to carry me to safety. Somehow, I did it. I stepped off. I zipped. The ride down was fast, fun even. I learned later that if I’d really chickened out, I could have taken a ladder down. However, according to guide Jen, the ladder is scarier than the zip glide.

After conquering my fear of heights, my fellow Tree-Top Walkers and I were given the opportunity to tour the 13 historic Scenic Caves. The caves are a good place to take youngsters to enjoy nature, learn, and perhaps conquer that bout of claustrophobia. My favourite was a cave called Fat Man’s Misery, a cold, damp, dark, space which at its narrowest was only 36 centimetres wide, just big enough for me to wriggle through while doing my best impression of a contortionist. As it turns out, fearless, sky-diving Haley had her own demon to deal with; she went around the cave instead. (sceniccaves.com, Book through Blue Mountain. Horseback riding, guided Hummer tours, and other adventures are also available. Be sure to book in advance. (bluemountain.ca, 1-800-955-6561).

Facing fears as a family can be a terrific bonding experience. So get away from that computer, Nintendo, or television, hop into the car

and set off on your own family adventure.

Jen McNicoll is a graduate of the Professional Writing Minor program at the University of Toronto and a certified wuss. She never looks down from Ferris wheels, cliff sides, or bar stools.