Dover, DE Outdoor Activities

A traditional layout of kempt bent-grass fairways and greens, Wedgwood Country Club's gently rolling 18-hole course wends through a dense thicket of trees, bunkers, and ponds. Measuring 7,100 yards from the farthest tees, the par-72 course eases clubbers into the round with a relatively open front nine before testing their accuracy and squirrel diplomacy on a tight, tree-lined back nine. With four sets of tees, the course presents a par-hunting test to all players, from beginners to those who can wallop a drive more than 300 yards.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-72 course

• Total length of 7,100 yards from the back tees

• Course rating of 74.4 from the back tees

• Slope rating of 133 from the back tees

• Bent-grass fairways and greens

• Four sets of tees per hole

• Scorecard

Earth Treks' Climbing Centers are state-of-the-art indoor climbing gyms located in Columbia, Timonium and Rockville, MD. We pride ourselves on offering the best rock climbing in the greater Washington DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland region. Each gym is among the largest in the country with climbing for every skill level.

Pasadena Golf Center lets visitors create the satisfying thwack of a club hitting a golf ball in one of two locations. They can make out the sound on the 18-hole mini-golf course—where ears will also pick up the sound of trickling waterfalls and the gurgling of landscaped streams and ponds—or at the driving range. Golfers can manipulate a variety of clubs there since targets are set up at different lengths, and 20 of the range’s 34 hitting stations are covered to provide shade during warm months and heat during cold ones. In addition, a full setup of lights let them swing away into the evening or when Apollo's chariot of fire is in the shop. To assist in swing mechanics and proper alignment, the center organizes lessons led by Golf Academy of America–certified instructor, Brett Francisco.

Pasadena Golf Center is also equipped with a nine-station batting cage that challenges visitors with baseball pitches of varying speeds as well as slow- and fast-pitch softball. A 1,600-square-foot patio nearby can facilitate birthday parties or other special events.

The backstories of most famous pirates are filled with ruthless deeds and dangerous raids. Inspired by their own kids' love for all things pirate-related, two mothers founded Urban Pirates. The swashbuckling crew whisks families on one-hour voyages around the Baltimore Inner Harbor in the 52-foot ship Fearless, regaling them with maritime songs, games, and activities. But the passengers aren't mere spectators—they become real members of the crew, donning pirate costumes complete with drawn tattoos and facial hair and manning water cannons to help protect the ship when it's stormed by rival pirates.

The charismatic buccaneers can also personalize their charters, whether by distributing eye patches and other goodies to birthday-party guests, hosting on-the-water weddings, or guiding corporate groups through team-building exercises, such as teaching a parrot to say "profits are up!" On evening adult cruises, they even encourage patrons to bring their own grog from home. And, though the Fearless stays moored for the winter, the crew hardly abandons their mission to spark young imaginations. Rather than take to the sea, they visit Baltimore libraries and put on free pirate-themed story events that also incorporate games and songs.

While waiting for a group of tour participants aboard his kayak on Cape Island Creek, Bob Lubberman made a new acquaintance when a 4-foot great blue heron landed on the nose of his boat. It's not an entirely new experience for the owner of Miss Chris Kayak Rentals and Tours, as opportunities to commune with nature came often as he crabbed and fished as a child from his grandmother's dock. Now he's able to connect visitors to this ecosystem as they independently paddle rented sit-on-top kayaks or as they participate in guided kayak or boat tours.

Paddlers on kayak tours often catch close-ups of ospreys, terns, and other birds, and see diamondback terrapin turtles sunning themselves on the shore or trying to hold their own ice-cream cones. Day and sunset tours let guests explore the wildlife-rich salt marshes, and night tours led during high tide let them paddle over grassy terrain to otherwise inaccessible areas. Guests explore similar territory on tours aboard the Osprey as they watch migrating shore birds or look out on the harbor's historic buildings. Kayak tour guides include an associate naturalist and a Cape May Bird Observatory field associate, and land-based staffers maintain a touch tank on the Miss Chris mooring dock, which they temporarily fill with conches, eels, and other sea life pulled up using open-sided conservation traps.

Rolling hills, wooded terrain, and shimmering waterways serve as the canvas upon which Beckett Golf Club’s 27-hole, 9,577-yard golf complex shines. The swath of verdant playing grounds forms three distinct nines that golfers mix and match to create varied 18-hole rounds. The longest layout, the blue course, confronts players with bends and jumps in the form of dogleg fairways and water hazards on three holes. A fast-starting swing is a must for golfers starting on the red course, where the first hole—a 498-yard par 5—is also the layout’s most difficult, bending sharply to the left with a lush patch of trees that prevents shortcuts and golf-cart drag races. The shortest of the three nines, the white course puts water in play on two holes and revels in the rolling fairways and medium-size greens that characterize the entire 27-hole layout.