Columbia, SC Outdoor Activities

A mother horse and her newborn colt saunter up to the wooden fence, greeting the children eager to pet the creatures' noses. The team members of Graystone Ranch thrive on seeing these types of interactions. Managing 500 acres of woods and pasturelands that serve as a preserve and rehabilitation center for both domestic and exotic animals, the ranch hands form a nonprofit team dedicated to teaching children and adults how man and animals can live in harmony.

Concurrent with such educational programs as summer camps, the grounds also host abundant recreational opportunities with two spring-fed lakes, wooded hiking and horse-riding trails, zip lines, and a petting zoo. Further diversions range from a gem-and-mineral museum to a horse-painting program, which lets kids put their colored handprints or re-creations of a favorite Monet on the sides of a white horse.

Situated on a former World War II training base, Carolina Motorsports Park continues its locale’s history of tutelage with an array of racing lessons and events. The park’s 2.3-mile road-course track gives stock cars, Formula One cars, motorcycles, and street-legal vehicles an outlet to wrap tires around 14 turns and launch speedometer needles into passengers' laps. Rentable Birel N35 Rock go-karts rev their 9-horsepower Honda engines around the 0.7-mile kart track and a 0.21-mile tri-oval track for guests 12 and older. The facility, which hosts regular racing events, also boasts 24 open-air day garages and a 200-foot skidpad where drivers hone their handling and cars practice their moonwalk.

As golfers stand over teed-up golf balls, staring down the fairway of Indian Trail Golf Course’s 370-yard 14th hole—the course signature—they may be perplexed by its ranking as the round’s most difficult hole. Though the scorecard reads “short par 4,” the hole packs a good deal of hardship into its diminutive stature. Golfers must aim for the top of the fairway hill off the tee, while steering clear of the boulder on the right side and the large pond just beyond. Players are forgiven for going the conservative route with a long iron off the tee, as opposed to risking the driver or a retrofitted t-shirt cannon. If they leave themselves a decent lie on the approach, a two-tiered green awaits just over the water, making three-putts an all-too-common occurrence.

While not every hole features boulders, uphill fairways, and the ever-present threat of boogeyman attacks, the course is characterized by the ubiquitous threat of hazards. In all, nine ponds and more than 40 bunkers haunt players along the 6,272 yards of Bermuda-covered terrain, lending an air of hostility to the otherwise pristine surroundings.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Total length of 6,272 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 69.4 from the back tees
• Course slope of 127 from the back tees
• Four sets of tees per hole