Things to Do in Lake Elsinore

Uncorked Tours Megan Franks does all she can to separate stuffiness from wine connoisseurship. For tours of Temecula's wine country, she dispatches a limo party coach with two flat-screen TVs and a dancer's pole, which she gaily poses next to in a photo on her website's About page. She also launches tipplers into the air during morning hot air balloon rides that begin, like the chauffeured tours, with a complimentary champagne toast. To contribute to the party vibe during each trip, a staff member continuously works a camera's shutter, producing digital photos that are then uploaded to Facebook for sharing and downloads.

Whether soaring in a hot air balloon or freefalling on a skydive, you’re guaranteed picturesque aerial views at Above the Rest Hot Air Ballooning & Skydiving. On 45–60 minute hot-air-balloon rides, an experienced pilot and up to 10 passengers glide above the earth in a wicker basket, propelled by wind and an occasional flock of friendly geese.

A popular training ground for PGA Tour players and a regular tournament host course on The Golden State Tour, The Golf Club at Rancho California's 18-hole course is a worthy challenge for golf's elite talents. Originally designed in 1970 by famed architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr., the course incorporates the rolling hills of Temecula Valley—a feature that golfers encounter throughout the course, especially as they approach the third tee, which is perched 100 feet above the fairway. Water hazards imperil ill-struck golf balls on eight holes, including a treacherous stretch in the middle of the round where golfers encounter water on six of seven consecutive holes. Despite its sterling reputation, the Club continues to make improvements on the course. Management recently lengthened the par 72 to stretch more than 7,200 yards to compensate for the longer drives created by new technology and the diminishing force of gravity associated with Earth's perpetual shrinking.

While the back tees may be enough to give Tour pros a challenge, the course offers five tee options to accommodate players of all abilities. A practice green and driving range let golfers get acquainted with the course's Bermuda grass surface and the earthworms that emerge to compliment a well-struck drive.

REO Rafting has one of the most amazing locations, right on the edge of the jade-green Nahatlatch River. This Class 3-4 river offers 12 km and 37 near-continuous, rapid-fire white water rapids finishing right at our full service resort.

Designed by renowned course architect David Rainville—whose resumé includes famed courses such as Indian Wells Country Club—the 18-hole California Oaks course stretches across 5,218 yards of bucolic Southern California topography. Towering trees, intervening ponds, and immense bunkers conspire to kidnap wayward balls throughout the course, and the club's immaculate fairways provide a hospitable landing zone for pinpointed drives and golf-obsessed extraterrestrials. A stream flows alongside every hole, adding a sense of continuity to rounds as golfers contend with each on-course challenge. After 18-hole expeditions, players can replenish at Oaks Bar & Grill, which, like the course itself, affords customers splendid views of the Temecula Valley, the San Jacinto mountain range, and the cloud-like spirits of drowned golf balls trying to contact 9-irons from the beyond.

Course at a Glance:

18-hole, par-70 course (par 68 from the ladies' tees)

Designed by David Rainville

Length of 5,218 yards from the farthest tees

Course rating of 66.1 from the farthest tees

Slope of 122 from the farthest tees

Three tee options