Huntsville Outdoor Activities

Richland Golf Center summons clubbers of all stripes with its sprawling, multifaceted swing-honing facility and a staff of ace instructors. Revolving around a central pond, the nine-hole executive course helps players master their approaches with seven par 3s and two par 4s that ensure drivers won't start questioning their self-worth. Clients can groom their game in pressure-free sessions at the 40 all-grass hitting stalls of the driving range, at the 2-acre short-game area, or by enrolling in one many golf lesson options.

The center also encompasses an 18-hole mini-golf course, which eschews gimmicky clowns and windmills in favor of a calming layout with misting fountains and obstacles such as water hazards, bunkers, and out-of-bounds areas. Clients can pair renovated swings with brand-new clubs in the pro shop, which peddles gear from brands such as TaylorMade, Srixon, Cleveland, or enlist the center's experts to regrip their current clubs or replace driver shafts snapped during sand-trap pole-vaulting competitions.

Sunset Landing Golf Course blankets the countryside with a 6,803-yard, par 72 course that incorporates the landscape's natural challenges into its design. Throughout the round, bentgrass greens await at the end of each hole, where golfers arrive after successfully steering their shots through Bermuda-grass fairways and avoid waking predatory sprinklers. With a course rating of 71.9 from the tips and 66.9 from the closest tees, the course caters to players across the handicap spectrum. Golfers can warm up for their round by hitting practice shots and dead lifting golf carts at Sunset Landing’s driving range.

Six water hazards supply the bulk of difficulty at Cedar Ridge Golf Course, where golfers hunt pars across a relatively flat, 18-hole layout. Golfers must evade the course’s waterways on 11 holes, giving advantage to those who trust their swings or designed tiny life vests for their golf balls. Dense trees lines loom on the edge of fairways on the back nine, and undulating greens challenge putters throughout the course. Cedar Ridge keeps its par-hunters energized for the round with an onsite snack bar.

Helmed by an by ex-military parachute-regiment veteran who holds three World Skydiving Championship medals, the United States Parachute Association-certified instructors at Skydive Alabama fly customers up to heights of 14,000 feet for solo and tandem dives. The skydiving center supplies oxygen for these jumps, and conducts both ground schools and eagle-impersonation classes to get first-timers and experienced divers ready for their aerial plunges. Instructors take up to 18 participants to the height of the drop zone in a Grand Caravan turboprop plane, from which they free fall for more than one minute, either by themselves or securely fastened to an instructor. A professional videographer can also join visitors on each jump to capture the aerial experience.

In accelerated free-fall programs, instructors lead students through a ground school, up to seven flights with instructors, and several solo jumps, allowing them to earn their USPA diving license without having to compete a multiple-choice test inside a wind tunnel. While every dive takes place in the designated drop zone, ground-school classes are held inside the airport's dedicated hangar. The airport complex also boasts four cabins for overnight stays, a spectator area, and a restaurant where chefs serve up Southern comfort fare.

The expert staff at Phoenix Paintball Division oversees multiple fields sprawling across 30 acres of paintball action. A woods field cloaks artistic assassins with trees and bunkers, and a tire-and-hay field conceals teams as they rally together toward victory. As in marital disputes between pro athletes, trained referees strictly enforce all rules, making safety the top priority at Phoenix. The pro shop rents and sells all necessary equipment, accessories, and apparel, as well as food and drinks to keep players fueled during friendly outings, group events, or special occasions, such as birthday parties.