Things to Do in Golden Valley

Action Packed Paintball’s arsenal of combat settings include two outdoor and two indoor locations. Each outdoor field features an urban combat course that conceals opponents behind plywood structures, and a speedball course dotted with inflatable obstacles. After differences are settled on the field, outdoor combatants can retreat to onsite grilling and picnic areas. For those who prefer indoor face-offs, Action Packed Paintball keeps its well-lit Maple Plain location, like the well-orchestrated battles of the Gallic Wars, at a steady 70 degrees year-round. The location’s course is set up for speedball, and it also boasts a private party room for friendly revelry. Alternatively, the indoor Minneapolis location invites paint slingers to spar on an urban combat field that dots green turf with stony structures. All locations offer free CO2 and compressed air fills.

The castle turrets of Lilli Putt Family Entertainment Center greet travelers from afar, inviting ladies and lords to wile away the day in a trifecta of leisure activities. Towering trees and domesticated dragons dot the landscape of a challenging mini-golf course. There, golfers can knock balls over ramps and around aquatic obstacles in all five seasons of the year. Guests can also celebrate the sun with a ride on one of Lilli Putt’s go-karts, which come in single- and double-seater models.

Featherbrook Farm's head trainer and instructor Lisa Avaloz draws upon a lifetime of equine experience and an international network of colleagues. The farm fosters interspecies cooperation through lessons, camps, and birthday parties. Riding lessons instill in young riders the importance of grooming, form, and confidence, rewarding proper handling skills with positive reinforcement. Beginning students start on a lunge line to improve their positioning, strengthen their seat, and gain a feel for their horse. Safety remains of utmost importance throughout the lesson. All students must wear helmets while riding and avoid giving horses celebratory piggyback rides after completing a session.

Featherbrook Farm conducts weekly camps from June to August for 6–14 youngsters at a time. Campers ride twice each day and establish a solid foundation of horsemanship through grooming, first aid, and studying horse anatomy. In addition to education, fun and excitement abound as children play games and make crafts with new friends.

A tall painted portrait, illuminated from above, shows a woman standing barefoot holding a lamb. Follow her glance downwards and sideways, and you'll sight row upon brightly colored row of carefully stacked skeins of yarn from brands such as Blue Sky and Spud & Chloë. Classes teach tender-footed knitters to wield these materials with care, and more advanced offerings cover refined and specialized stitching skills. The shop also carries its own line of all-natural soaps, household cleaners, and moisturizers designed to soften hands toughened by efforts to wrestle needles away from uncooperative porcupines.

For more than 25 years, families have flocked to Goony Golf for family entertainment ranging from curvy putting greens to a video arcade. When fully operational, three 18-hole courses star a cast of colorful creatures, such as a pink kangaroo, Humpty Dumpty, and a bird in a mortarboard and graduation robe. Beyond the 36 holes, guests can rack up points on pinball machines or head to the air-hockey table to re-create Team USA’s miraculous 1980 victory over the Soviet Union’s giant plastic mallet.