Marietta, OH Outdoor Activities

Use the riding lesson at Caustelot Farms for an introduction or refresher aboard the second-oldest form of transport, the first being logs with saddles. Those opting for the private session receive 30 minutes of one-on-one attention, while the longer small-group session puts cowpersons atop temporary animal companions for an hour of dusty trail hitting and hoof trotting. The small class sizes allow both beginners and experienced horse masters alike to receive the personalized attention necessary to truly learn the secrets of horse whispering.

Amid gurgling fountains and pouring waterfalls, Red Carpet Golf and Recreation Center’s course challenge putting visitors with individual obstacles. The course winds beneath wooden bridges and up stone tiers, the breadth of the greens completely visible from their highest vistas. The golf center also fields a spacious driving range surrounded by verdant trees, allowing golfers to practice driving for distance on the distance markers or for accuracy by gently landing the ball in a bird’s nest. Red Carpet Miniature Golf also entertains patrons post-putt with a deck available for party rental and a banquet hall that accommodates up to 70 people.

When the morning fog clears, a bridge fashioned out of five rustic corncribs appears to pay homage to EagleSticks Golf Club's roots. Originally used to feed the horses that grazed on the erstwhile farm, the wood from the corncribs now arches over a creek that splits the fairway on the 11th hole—a 591-yard par 5 dubbed the course's signature attraction for its bending fairway, elevated tee box, and visible ties to a bucolic past. Designed by renowned Ohio architect Dr. Michael Hurdzan, the 6,508-yard course challenges golfers with constant elevation changes—some of which exceed 100 feet—that demand accuracy, sound course management, and the ability to activate the cart's hang-gliding wings. Throughout the round, bentgrass fairways and greens present a much more hospitable landing place than the course's thick, bluegrass rough. At various hillcrests and elevated tees, players can take in a full view of the course's scenery, which includes several waterfalls and woodlands populated by oak, maple, ash, locust, and cherry trees ripe for the hugging.

After a day on the links, golfers can gather at Mac's Sports Bar to quiet rumbling bellies with a menu of classic American food such as burgers, sandwiches, and pizza. Guests can unwind in Mac's dining room—which features eight televisions, an open-beam ceiling, and other contemporary touches—or at the adjoining patio, which attracts summertime breezes and ghostly golf balls trying to reconnect with their long-lost owner.

Course at a Glance:

• Designed by Dr. Michael Hurdzan

• 18-hole, par 70 course

• Length of 6,508 yards from the farthest tees

• Bentgrass fairways and greens, bluegrass rough

• Scorecard

A still figure stands silently behind a few thin trees. When he sees someone emerging from a long, metal tube several yards away, he takes aim with his marker, squeezes the trigger, and watches a blot of brightly colored paint materialize on his friend's shoulder. Such friend-turned-foe scenarios play out daily at Urban Assault, a paintball facility whose outdoor battlefields in Cecil and indoor arenas in McDonald attract players from all around the area. In the outdoor arenas, the surrounding wooded landscape adds variety of terrain and barricade possibilities, letting staffers add touches such as metal crawl tubes and other strategic bits of architecture that paintballers have come to depend on for cover. The competitors engage in open play on five such outdoor fields—each with unique features—as well as in the company's two indoor spaces that total some 30,000 square feet. Indoors, paintball contests go from sparsely adorned to almost disco-like as players stalk their enemies while traipsing across catwalks and navigating a demanding maze of fog machines, black lights, and adrenaline-boosting music inside one of the fields. The brains behind Urban Assault also offer special rates to large groups, military veterans, and members of the CIA's finger-painting brigade.

'AA' Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins

Draped over the verdant Washington County countryside, Fort Cherry Golf Club's 18-hole course spans 6,205 yards of rolling, player-friendly terrain. The course's relatively open layout invites players to blast tee shots with their drivers or T-shirt cannons at nearly every non-par 3, as sparse tree lines offer little impediment to shots that find the rough, and the course's multiple sand bunkers loom by the greens—not the fairways. An adjacent driving range loosens up swings to perfection, and a practice green sharpens up putting strokes and helps players get a feel for how to read the course's subtle slopes and metaphorical flagsticks. With its own motel and a gourmet bar and restaurant, the club hosts all-day and overnight golf-outing packages for a restful pin-hunting vacation.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 70 course
• Length of 6,205 yards from farthest tees
• Course rating of 69.6 from farthest tees
• Slope rating of 122 from farthest tees
• Four tee options