Holland, MI Outdoor Activities

At Segway Tours of Grand Rapids, guides perch customers atop gyroscopic locomotors and teach them to tame the machines during fun tours. After giving a brief safety training, the experts lead the way along sidewalks amid the downtown shops and dining venues, pausing at local attractions such as the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Calder sculpture, and the Sixth Street dam. Guides cap sessions at eight riders, ensuring personal instruction, information, and even routes for parties who know the city. Tours set off throughout the week, barring deterrent external conditions such as lighting storms or the rebellion of local crossing guards.

As the sun rises each morning, the smell of dew summons golfers to Orchard Hills Golf Course, a scenic, 27-hole complex with one 18-hole course and a separate, 9-hole track. Cleaved through 6,026 yards of tree-lined terrain, the 18-hole monolith requires precise play and whispered Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes to conquer its topographical challenges. The par 72 layout showcases multiple memorable shots, including forced carries onto water-protected greens on both the second and fourth holes.

Slightly shorter than the other two nines, the East course blankets the countryside with a straightforward layout that begins with a tricky, 425-yard right dogleg. A staff of golf pros presides over Orchard Hills’ pro shop, where guests can upgrade their equipment, schedule a lesson to hone swings, or learn to read greens written in their doctor’s handwriting.

18-Hole Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Length of 6,026 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 68.0 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 116 from the farthest tees
• Three tee options

In 1910, Frederick Nelis sent his 17-year-old son Harry from the Netherlands to America in search of land so that the family of 14 could later join him across the pond. After a tough couple of years, the clan discovered a settlement in Holland, Michigan, whose rich soils proved ideal for growing tulips.

Over the course of the next eight decades, the Nelis’ 80-acre tulip farm blossomed into the theme park it is today. Still family operated and brought to life by the Netherlands’ signature blooms, the park is now home to myriad attractions for all ages. Traditional Dutch dancers don wooden shoes and lead lessons for visitors, and artisans hand carve candles into intricate masterpieces or slightly smaller candles. As guests stroll to the Dutch swing, petting zoo, or carousel, the notes from an Amsterdam street organ float through winding canals and over the looming windmills that, at a glance, may momentarily transport guests to the Netherlands as Harry Nelis last saw it in 1910.

Sculpted into the landscape a half-century ago, Arrowhead Golf Course enhances the native scenery with dense tree lines that frame every hole and creeks and ponds that bisect lush fairways. The front nine features more straight-on layouts with undulating greens, and the back nine can test any bag of trick sticks with numerous ponds and sweeping doglegs on the final two holes. On the par 4 18th hole, the course’s hardest rated hole, a dogleg left is guarded by an oak tree at the bend that swats shots trying to cut the corner and a fairway-splitting stream that lures thirsty golf balls.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course

• 6,188 yards from the farthest set of tees

• Three tee options

• See details on each hole

Marksmen with CO2-powered guns volley paintballs back and forth at T.C. Paintball’s four Michigan locations. Indoor and outdoor battlefields beckon players with a number of obstacles to duck under, dive between, or readjust for ultimate feng shui. Referees patrol the color-strewn grounds, where guests celebrate birthdays and special events with games of capture the flag and el presidente. The experienced staff at each of T.C. Paintball's well-stocked pro shops offer sharpshooting tips gleaned from years of chromatic combat, and can replenish paintball supplies that run low.