Fort Knox, KY Outdoor Activities

Baseball in Louisville dates back to 1876 when the Louisville Grays began playing as part of the National League. Soon after the turn of the 20th century, minor league baseball arrived in Derby City and for 70 years, the Louisville Colonels commanded it. Their departure in 1972, however, led to a period of inactivity, as well as a period of unemployed umpires roaming the city shouting "SAFE!" at landing birds. Ten years later, baseball returned with the arrival of the Louisville Redbirds, who eventually became the RiverBats in 1998, and simply the Bats in 2002. Over the years this franchise has spent time as the affiliate of three big league teams: the St. Louis Cardinals, the Milwaukee Brewers, and its current affiliate, the Cincinnati Reds.

At Farnsley Golf Course, you can sharpen your long and short game at a nine-hole, par-3 course or on multiple practice fields. In 2011, five of the course’s greens got a makeover and all caddies were required to dispose of their shoulder pads and acid-wash jeans. Off the course, golfers can perfect their swing at a driving range lined with 300 yards of bermuda grass, or focus on chipping in a short-game practice area. If you’re looking for more in-depth tweaks to your technique, feel free to enlist the help of a teaching professional with personalized lessons.

Golf Shores Fun Center's mini metropolis of family fun welcomes guests of all ages with two mini-golf courses, an arcade, and ample space for groups of frolicking tykes. Sapphire waters trickle down stone walls and spring from rocky outcrops alongside the outdoor mini-golf course, where subtly sloping greens can complicate even the shortest of gimmies. At Golf Shores' indoor course, players traverse a darkened wonderland illuminated by black lights and neon décor, where both jungle- and underwater-themed decorations convince phosphorescent golf balls that they are amphibious.

Alongside the putters' park, joystick jockeys can warp into the Center's video arcade and take aim at pixilated game in Extreme Hunting or contemplate the nutritional value of blue ghosts while playing Ms. Pac-Man. The Center also encompasses a cozy coffee shop with free wireless Internet.

Discovered by brothers Squire and Daniel Boone in the late 1700s, Squire Boone Caverns is a vast network of underground caverns filled with stalactites, stalagmites, and flowstone, all formed by the gritty sands of time. Rushing rivers and waterfalls carry more than a million gallons of water through the caverns each day, often accompanied by disoriented surfers and bewildered penguins. A trained tour guide leads visitors through the nearby woods and into a man-made entrance to the caverns, where lighted walkways take visitors through the same enchanted labyrinth discovered by the brothers Boone, winding past natural formations, the coffin of Squire Boone, and a goblin king played by David Bowie.

Crossing the Ohio River on the north side of Louisville, it’s impossible not to notice the glassy façade of the KFC Yum! Center right on the river, a gleaming, $238 million cathedral to the University of Louisville’s flagship sport: basketball. Perennial powerhouses in both the men’s and women’s competition, Louisville showcases its fast-paced brand of basketball to one of the most loyal fanbases and student bodies in the country. While hoops may be king—the men’s basketball squad has won the school its two only NCAA Championships—the Cardinals take pride in a host of distinguished sports, including a football team that won both the Big East Conference and the Orange Bowl in 2006, leading the basketball team to briefly experiment with wearing helmets and cleats.

Designed by renowned architect David Pfaff, the 27-hole championship golf course at Quail Chase Golf Club splits into three par-36 courses that wind through the area's lush scotch pine, maple, oak, and dogwood trees. Limber up stiff clubs at the course’s practice facilities, which prep ungainly irons for an 18-hole run with bermuda-grass tees, a USGA practice putting green, and a reserved area for rehearsing pre-shot ritual baths. Golfers can strike through two of the club's three 9-hole courses, manipulating orbs past the angular detours of dogleg holes and around four water hazards during approximately 4.5 hours of play. Concealed cart paths obscure scenery-marring vehicles and help to keep play flowing by restricting fairway victory laps to every other shot.