Things to Do in Dickson

Live goats scamper across a verdant vista dotted with farmhouses and open prairies at Lady-K Farm, a working dairy farm. Its owner, Karen, spends much of her days shepherding the farm's goats. She supplies bottles of their milk for local families and also uses it to create fresh-smelling bars of natural soap. In addition to wrapping bars in pristine packaging for wholesale, Karen has taught soap-making classes for 15 years to help others harness the milk's skin-softening benefits. Karen also sponsors an annual Goat Husbandry Conference to teach prospective goat owners how to care for the animals, especially when they dress in sheep’s fur in blundered searches for their own identities.

Though the staff at Honeysuckle Hill Farm cultivates livestock and crops of seasonal produce, its other chief resource is outdoor adventure. Through their seasonal tours, farm staffers teach adults and children about farm operations, the basics of agriculture, and which fabrics scarecrows find itchy. They also give visitors a chance to work their way through labyrinthine corn mazes. At birthday parties, younger visitors can pet the resident animals, pan for gemstones at an artificial stream, and race each other in pedal-powered carts. Away from the fields, Association for Challenge Course Technology–certified guides and their guests soar down a one-mile zipline course designed and built to ACCT standards. The guides lead tours through the course’s three elevated towers, three canopy-level bridges stretched across Battle Creek, and eight ziplines, which they maintain daily to chase away loitering vigilantes. Along the way, guides showcase their knowledge of the creek’s history while pointing out local flora and fauna.

Laughter fills the air as kids zip down slides and caper about a jungle of wall-to-wall inflatables and obstacle courses within Monkey Joe’s play center. Kids 12 and under romp throughout the air-conditioned playscape’s obstacles, and tykes 3 and under stretch their imaginations on the softer and smaller attractions in the toddler play area. An orchestra of electronic beeps fills the arcade, and the scents of savory pizza waft from a concessions stand. Colorful balloons and cakes pack party rooms, where birthday boys and girls unwrap presents and brand-new imaginary friends.

Safety is paramount to Monkey Joe’s. The play areas are always supervised by the trained staff, and as little ones frolic, a child security system tracks visitors through identity bracelets and video monitoring. These safety measures—combined with the use of FDA-certified cleaning solutions—put parents at ease as they relax in the adult lounge, where they can catch their favorite shows on flat-screen TVs or browse the Internet for ways to pimp their minivans.

Tractor tires, spools, high wooden walls, and giant pipes sit between trees in the wooded fields of Red Leg Action Sports. To an uninformed passerby, the arrangement may look like a city built by Peter Pan’s lost boys. But to paintball players, the structures provide a network of protection and cover essential to strategy and dodging colorful projectiles. In addition to the facility’s collection of tree-studded fortresses, Red Leg Action Sports also hosts a field with a series of inflatable bunkers ideal for speedball games, capture the flag, and to help players wearing arm floaties blend into their surroundings better.

With a design inspired by the firing-range map found in Activision's popular video game Call of Duty: Black Ops, Springfield Airsoft Field's outdoor arena challenges BB gunners with game scenarios including capture the flag, king of the hill, and free for all. Equipped with eye protection and replica firearms that launch nonmetallic pellets, combatants find cover around buildings, towers, high fences, tunnels, and 8-foot tire walls.

During high-paced skirmishes, experienced players often utilize modern military tactics and practices, such as clearing rooms to exchange wallet-size photos of their newborn puppies. Though Springfield Airsoft Field is only available for tournaments and special events on weekdays, the field is open to the general public on Saturdays and Sundays.

The whinnies of quarter horses ring out across Barnfly Stables, where a trainer with more than 15 years of experience coaches steeds to take their riders' lead. The teacher breaks animals through groundwork and exercises in accordance with a training curriculum molded around ranch-riding and ranch-trail techniques, as well as reversing horses' rebellious behavior or sarcastic retorts. In addition to priming horses for riding or shows, staffers also breed affection for four-legged friends during lessons. Pupils of all ages master safety, grooming, and proper trotting techniques during sessions built on effective communication between the rider the ridden. They also season competitors for battle by honing techniques, such as barrel jumps, atop horses gussied up with stylish tack from Barnfly Stables' online shop.