Kinnelon, NJ Outdoor Activities

Spring Valley Equestrian Center has been family owned for four decades. Current owners Marie Cotton and Chuck McWhirter spearhead instruction in both English and Western horseback-riding techniques on the scenic ranch, which abuts the Appalachian Trail Ridge. A large indoor arena complements the center's three riding rings, allowing horses to gallop comfortably throughout the year and eliminating the need for them to fly south for the winter. Spring Valley’s saddle shop allows equines to suit up onsite. In addition to group and private lessons, the center hosts summer horsemanship camps that include a week of lessons and conclude with a student horse show.

Nestled upon 21 rustic acres of land in the Hudson Valley, My Saddle Brook Farm houses horses amid fluffy grass paddocks, spacious indoor and outdoor arenas, and miles of idyllic trails. Boarding steeds enjoy 26 windowed stalls and 24-hour security that maintains safety and ensures that they don’t stay up telling headless-horseman stories past lights-out. Trainers with more than 40 years of collective experience instruct adults and kids in the finer points of English and Western riding or lead parties on breathtaking journeys through the estate.

A lifelong rider, instructor Patricia Hohmann spent years competing in high school and college and brings that experience to her students when teaching English- and Western-style riding lessons. She specializes in working with beginner adults and children and helps them get confident in the saddle while having fun and staying safe. This means pairing riders with horses that are friendly, sane, and thereby incapable of plotting world domination. Saddle captains as young as age 3 learn during Pony Pals lessons, which give them a private introduction to horseback riding while the horse remains safely under Patricia’s control via a lead line.

At The Grid Code, an 8,000-square-foot arena lays the field for bouts of recreational trigger pulling. The indoor NERF arena shelters players from the elements as they duck behind tires, wooden structures, and poles to elevate these Hasbro instruments, which expel soft foam ammo, to a truly competitive degree. Alternately, the indoor and outdoor Airsoft fields proffer space for Airsoft play, during which combatants wield replica firearms that shoot plastic pellets to win games, replicate military training, or hit targets. The Grid Code rents out all necessary safety gear, masks, and supernatural force fields, and can organize spaces to accommodate parties and corporate teambuilding.

The Great Divide Campground lures campers out of their tents and cabins with diversions such as fishing in an onsite private lake, swimming in a heated long-course pool, and dethawing marshmallows over crackling fires. Each of the 270 campsites adds to the natural greenery of its surroundings with a fire ring and picnic table. The campground staff peddles ice and firewood and delivers it for free, unlike pack mules that always demand tips. A private lake hosts boating and paddleboating. Other amenities include everything from a basketball court and horseshoe pits to a laundry facility, restrooms with flush toilets, and free showers.