Lakeland, TN Outdoor Activities

At Showcase Equestrian Center, instructors work to build solid and long-lasting relationships between students and horses through lessons, camps, and therapeutic riding sessions. Maintaining a focus on both events and safety, they help lead students to victory at championship competitions while also working with beginner through intermediate riders during private lessons that focus on riding and proper horse care. Lessons take place either on Showcase Equestrian Center's outdoor grounds or in its indoor ring, which features custom GGT textile footing—the same surface used during Olympic events such as dressage, jumping, and horse shot put.

Tucked northwest of Sardis Lake just above John W. Kyle State Park, Mallard Pointe Golf Course showcases undulating bermuda-grass fairways that offer sweeping views of the area's towering trees. Designed by Bob Cupp, the course’s layout challenges players with back-to-back par 5s on the lengthy 6th and 7th holes, as well as on the 10th and 16th holes, requiring players to break at least once for s’mores while trekking from tee to green. Before hitting the fairways, swingers can take advantage of an extensive practice area consisting of a 350-yard driving range with six target greens and 100 hitting stations, a 10-acre grass-tee area, and a practice fairway bunker.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-72 course
• Length of 7,004 yards
• Course rating of 73.8
• Slope rating of 131
• Four tee options
• Scorecard

During spring at Jones Orchard, families gather to bound through the territory’s rows of fruit, peeling back leaves to get at the ripest morsels hidden deep within the thicket. Since growing their first peaches more than seven decades ago, the Jones family continues to ripen juicy varieties of peaches, strawberries, and other fruit on their 600-acre farm, eschewing long-distance produce shipping for local distribution, mostly available at farmer’s markets and during the orchard’s pick-your-own fruit season. Inviting families to pick fruit together is one of many ways the Jones family lures visitors to their orchard seasonally—come autumn, the farmers transform the fields into a vast corn maze. Visitors not content to wander the idyllic grounds can enjoy the orchard’s bounty at the Country Café, where matriarch Juanita Jones flavors her fresh pies and preserves with fresh-plucked fruits.

Mid-South Ice House sparks heated competition amid icy environs by hosting hockey, curling, and broomball teams. The center also caters to figure skaters with regular freestyle sessions. In addition to athletic endeavors, it supports family-friendly revelry with regular open skates, lessons for ages 2 to adult, and a private party room. Cosmic Skate sessions every Saturday night capture the dazzle of the northern lights, sending a multihued glow over glinting ice.

Hanging rows of brightly painted decks from its walls decorated with colorful graffiti art, MG Boards Skate Shop outfits the local skating community with a variety of boards and apparel. Shoes from Emerica and Etnies keep feet firmly on the grip tape, and longboards facilitate quick urban transportation without the hassle of heavy rush-hour rollerblading. Dedicated to increasing awareness of skating's health benefits, the staff at MG Boards extend their passion to the entire Memphis community, from sponsoring the Down South Longboarding Group to participating in half-marathon races to benefit Habitat for Hope.

The LuvMud Benefit Event sends costumed sprinters charging and trudging along a 5K course riddled with mud, obstacles, and more mud in order to raise funds for Habitat for Hope, a nonprofit organization supporting the families of seriously ill children. Having grown each year since its inception in 2010, the annual race challenges individuals and teams to conquer tough terrain designed with varying levels of difficulty so as to accommodate participants of all fitness levels. Along the route, spectators gather to scout the action, and volunteers stand by to provide directions and tips, such as reminding racers not to eat any mud without sprinkling on a few blades of grass first.

After making it through the final, massive, 50-foot mud pit and crossing the finish line, finishers recharge their bionic legs with fruit, water, and snacks. Meanwhile, an all-day festival celebrates the occasion with live music and food vendors, and showering equipment supplied by the Memphis Fire Department cleans off any caked-on mud and sweat from the race. LuvMud also holds special races that allow participants’ dogs to join in the fun, as well as all-night camping events that include nighttime racing and live music.