Enchanted Hills, NM Outdoor Activities

Let the children pad their stats instead of their pants at SportsMix, where a friendly lineup of instructors and referees turn hesitant halfbacks into blossoming fullbacks. The flag foraging begins with three weeks of practice, giving youngsters of all experience levels a shot at stardom and summer exercise. The remaining weeks fuel your child's football IQ by pairing comprehensive training with in-game action. Throughout the season, the players focus on between-the-huddle skills such as sportsmanship, teamwork, and the pure enjoyment of the game instead of pounding protein shakes blindfolded or throwing perfect spirals at birds.

With a dramatic backdrop of the Sandia Mountains, Romero's Thunder Inc. treats its customers to sweeping views as they saunter along winding trails or gallop around the well-kept ring during lessons. Whether educating students on the history of horseback riding or teaching visitors how to connect with equine partners, the staff cultivates a laid-back, familial atmosphere, holding seasonal events such as Easter-egg hunts complete with art projects for participants and horses with opposable thumbs.:

Long bluegrass fairways give way to large seaside bent greens at Chamisa Hills Golf and Country Club. The semiprivate golf and country club in Rio Rancho originally consisted of an east and west nine, designed by Gene Sarazen and Desmond Muirhead in 1969. Dotted with an abundance of ponds, the classic-style 18-hole course thrived until 1988, when the original Sarazen-Muirhead layout underwent a modernizing expansion. Legendary golfer Lee Trevino came on the scene to design a third set of nine holes, along with an eco-friendly recharging station for turbine-powered caddies. Trevino's north nine compliments the east- and west-nine layouts, while also slightly favoring the kind of precise shot-making that's characteristic of the PGA legend's audacious playing style. Today's members and guests play 27 championship-level holes strewn with imposing deciduous trees known to make players readjust their strategies.

The newly remodeled clubhouse, backdropped by the same sweeping Sandia Mountain–views of the course, greets members with a host of amenities for before and after play and for special events. The facility houses expansive banquet rooms ideal for weddings along with a dance-ready ballroom and an adjoining outdoor covered patio. For summertime recreation, families and golfing buddies can perfect synchronized-swimming routines in the outdoor pool before toweling off to enjoy a poolside meal beneath the shade of a cabana.

Rapture Air Paragliding School has basic and advanced USHPA training for students of all experience levels. Instructors lead programs that range from basic introductory lessons to full certification, allowing students to learn the history of the sport and master techniques such as launching, landing, kiting, and flying. Rapture Air also sells paragliding equipment and accessories such as wings and harnesses from trusted brands including Airwave, UP International, and Windtech.

Marker-toting teams duck behind stacks of discarded tires as they evade their opponents on 007 Paintball's three varied paintball fields. On the 180'x100' hyperball and speedball courses, posses attempt to eliminate their opponents one by one as they juke around gray and black inflatable obstacles at breakneck speeds. The woodsball-scenario field spans 2 acres, populated by large wooden spools, plastic barrels, and discarded road signs, and hosts four action-packed games, including team elimination and center flag, in which players engage in rounds of ring around the rosy about the flag's pole.

Roger Alink has never owned a television. As a kid, he was too busy with the pigs and cattle that roamed his 160-acre home, and this love of animals and the outdoors only grew over time. In the early '90s, Alink decided to share this love with others, so he and a team of volunteers spent 30,000 hours establishing Wildlife West Nature Park.

In addition to the wild creatures, migratory birds, and GPS-lacking manatees who settle at the park, representatives of the region's indigenous animals and plants live and grow on its 122 scenic acres, much of which hasn’t been altered since the park's inception. Elsewhere, 30 wildlife exhibits mimic the natural habitats of the black bears, wolverines, deer, pronghorn antelopes, and birds of prey that inhabit them. Two miles of trail connect each habitat, and each enclosure is specially designed for the particular needs of its residents. The same custom care goes into feeding the animals: to keep the beasts psychologically spry, staff members provide challenges that echo the animals' instinctual eating habits, placing meals up in treetops, burying snacks that need to be sniffed out, and arranging candlelit dinners for mountain lions who forgot their wives’ birthdays.

Sustainable practices such as recycling, organic farming, and water harvesting turn the park into an educational example of eco-friendliness. Facilities such as the amphitheater and the heated, enclosed Bean Barn also welcome special events ranging from music festivals and bird-handling workshops to the kite-spangled Wind Festival and the ursine Bear Fair.