Bryant, AR Outdoor Activities

Though supported by a tight-knit community of members, Sparrow Flying Club opens its cockpit doors to the public for scenic flights and pilot training. Its fleet of primarily Cessna aircraft ranges from simple, two-seat sport planes to more complex aircraft; patrons can rent them out for private use, or join an instructor in the cockpit to train for either a private pilot license or a sport license, which requires fewer hours. Each of the club’s locations—one home base at Conway Airport and two satellite locations at other airports—boasts training rooms and runways amply sized for takeoffs, landings, and timed cheetah sprints.

Inside The Wonder Place’s 5,700 square-foot indoor play space, colored balls and scarves shoot through spiraling tubes. Stuffed animals await vaccinations in the vet's office, and tables covered in water and sand become interactive landscapes. The playhouse's supervising staffers encourage their visitors, generally aged 8 and younger, to explore freely as they engage in imaginative play.

Kids slip down slides and scale a rock-climbing wall at the tree house, and build towers and obstacle courses for toy balls using square blocks and ramps at Wonder Works. A child-sized stage lets them perform their own plays or reenact Hamlet with puppets using costumes and set pieces, and an art area sets them loose with a menagerie of art supplies. Infants and toddlers frolic in a designated play area, filled with smaller play structures and toys. While kids can make pretend meals using pretend produce and haggle with pretend cashiers at the River Market and Cafe, there's also a real, health-focused vending machine. An onsite gift shop peddles educational toys and puzzles from brands such as eeboo, Melissa & Doug, and Manhattan Toy.

At Cabot Miniature Golf, balls tumble down undulating greens past landscapes adorned with well-maintained shrubs and animal statues. Games unfold in all kinds of weather on the illuminated 18-hole course, where giant windmills and miniature ponds obstruct each ball’s path to a hole-in-one. On the adjoining driving range, orbs soar above more than 200 yards of real turf until 10 p.m. as a sand trap tries to swallow balls rolling across the practice putting green in an effort to feed the sand monster living inside of it.

After rounds of golf, a small playground entices kids to play, and two covered, colorfully lit pavilions shelter guests enjoying post-game snacks. Cabot Miniature Golf also includes mini storage units, which are guarded by extra-heavy bar-tube fencing and a coded entry system. This facility can also store large objects such as cars, RVs, and boats.

Stretched across a 30-acre produce farm and peach orchard, Scott Pumpkin Patch marks autumn's arrival with a seasonal slate of family-friendly activities. Every year, the family-owned operation presents visitors with wholesome, hands-on amusements, including an animal barn, a playground, and scenic tractor rides that coast leisurely around the property. Before heading home, families can stock up on keepsakes, such as photos snapped at themed displays or a perfect pumpkin picked according to its size, weight, and silky singing voice. The onsite farmers' market stocks edible souvenirs, too, ranging from fresh picked pecans and peanuts to jams and jellies.