Belton, MO Outdoor Activities

Powell Gardens is Kansas City's botanical garden, just east of KC on Hwy 50. With two cafes, a chapel, the nation's largest edible landscape + acres and acres of gorgeous gardens, it's an outing the entire family will enjoy.

Opened in 1989, Drop Zone Paintball Park's six fields sprawl over 89 acres of land, which play host to combat during sun or rain showers. In one field, a castle scenario corrals players into elevated turrets to defend against opponents who fire from surrounding towers across a makeshift moat. Elsewhere, trees lining ravines offer safe cover so shooters can take careful aim at their foes or draw their sweetheart's initials upon the trunks. Along with space for paintball and tournament-style speedball, the park's designers designated a special zone near the castle field where nonplayers can watch the action from a safe distance.

Nestled upon a patch of land that's passed through the hands of five generations, The Lessman Farm owes much to its current paterfamilias, Ronald Lessman, who began drawing in sightseers and visitors with his catfish pond, self-built house, and otherworldly sculpture gardens. Guests walk the shores or ply the waves of the 30-acre catfish lake, casting for regularly stocked populations of bass, perch, and crappie as they take in the majestic scenery of the rustic prairie. But what draws the most attention from visitors is Truckhenge, an arrangement of half-buried torpedo trucks, mysteriously lifting their engines skywards in what appears to be an industrial-age interpretation of Stonehenge. The Lessmans' outdoor installation is folk art on a monumental scale, proudly flaunting its offbeat flavor and inspiring visitors to express themselves without hesitation or apology or to bury themselves waist-deep in the ground at a 45-degree angle. A healthy respect for individualism and the avant-garde prevails throughout the property, with other attractions drawing attention from tourists, such as the enormous quonset hut farmhouse handmade from recycled materials or the huge beer-bottle glass wall mosaic.

As speeding wakeboarders bail from their runs, plunging into the water as the tow cables snap away from their grasp, no boats will ever circle back to pick them up. They're not stranded, however, because at KC Watersports, overhead cables pull riders along the water instead, ushering them toward the rails and ramps peppering the 7.5-acre lake. Families cheer on water-skiers from the beach, grab bites at the snack shack, or fasten water-skis on hot dogs and get them to race. Beginner sessions feature slower cable speeds to acclimate newcomers to the wakes, and the camp's sets of sliders and kickers challenge veterans to pull off new, more impressive stunts than merely back-flipping over a human pyramid. Back on shore, spectators can cheer on athletes from shaded beach or grab bites at the snack shack, and an onsite pro shop stocks rental or retail gear from brands such as Liquid Force, Body Glove, Go Pro, and Master Craft.

Tally Ho Equestrian Centre, a member of the United States Equestrian Federation, educates its students on the fundamentals of horsemanship and riding form. Head instructor Amara Packwood boasts two quarter-horse world championships and more than 12 years of showing, experience that she passes on to her pupils through lessons and camps. Riders enjoy use of the center’s extensive facilities, tearing across the 140’x170’ outdoor arena and 40-acre riding pasture or practicing for the Olympic pommel horse inside the 60’x170’ indoor arena.:m]]

Founded in 1994, Hickory Creek Ranch immerses riders and horses in an idyllic natural landscape, further solidifying the bond between man and animal on the trails and pastures. During trail rides, visitors set off across more than 40 acres of grassy pasture in the early morning or early evening—the time when the sun streaks brilliant colors across the sky, fauna roam the woods, and horses won't miss their favorite mounted-police show, CLOPS. After setting out, steeds meander through regions of dense forest home to wild flowers and trees as well as blue heron, red-tailed hawks, and wild turkey. Along the route, white-tailed deer may even bound across the fields as frogs croak improvised jazz melodies at the pond.

Back at the ranch, students of all experience levels learn horsemanship or improve their skills with private and group lessons or summer camps. Collectively, the trainers and instructors at Hickory Creek have amassed more than 30 years of teaching, showing, and breeding experience—a pedigree that has spawned numerous regional and national champions from past protégés.