Medina, OH Outdoor Activities

Your hands wrap around the grip of a Tippmann marker. Multicolored spheres fly past you, spattering the trees and cutting air inches from your mask. Through the foliage, you can see half a plane buried nose-first in a clearing, one of many obstacles concealing potential foes. At SplatterPark, this good-natured combat sprawls across the adrenaline-soaked turf of 12 outdoor fields and 40 wooded and open acres adjacent to a lake. Warriors battle through capture-the-flag, base-defense, and other scenarios in themed arenas with adventurous names including Fort Buckeye, Snake Pit, and Dark Forest. Each field is suited to at least three types of play, but only the regular type of physics, and shouts of camaraderie echo off paint-flecked cover such as a broken-down school bus and a wooden-slat fort. In preparing for battle, combatants strap on rental or purchased gear under covered staging shelters, happy in the knowledge that their biodegradable paint ammunition will be harmlessly washed away by the elements or bears doing community service.

The arena's surreal terrain was featured in the intense combat of Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball, a video game from Activision, but the real park caters to players of all abilities and ages. At an onsite café, hot dogs and burgers refuel warriors and allow them to tell if their nemeses are actually target dummies with no appetite, and the pro shop's staff bustles among markers, accessories, and spare parts.

More than 120,000 species of trees, wildflowers, and native plants take root across The Holden Arboretum’s 3,600 acres of themed gardens and natural terrain. As birds chirp overhead and butterflies binge on nectar plants, visitors make their way across 12 gardens on guided tours or leisurely strolls. The most intrepid wanderers can spend a full day attempting to navigate more than 20 miles of trails that wind through a rhododendron garden, a mature beech-maple forest, and a waterfowl observation blind. Guides facilitate a more focused experience during forest explorations and home landscaping sessions, the latter of which demonstrate how to add a lifelike smile to topiary sculptures of the mailman. The arboretum also hosts numerous lecture series, youth programs, and special events such as Fridays in the Garden, where light refreshments accompany presentations or walks with horticultural experts.

In the woods of Geauga County sits Ma & Pa’s, a dismantled and resurrected log cabin originally built in the 1820s. There, customers will find a menagerie of seasonal delights, such as maple syrup, maple coffee, jewelry, and clothing. In March, the cabin hosts maple tours, as horses whisk guests through the woods for collection and sampling of maple treats. During winter, soft snows welcome the treads of horse-drawn sleigh-rides, followed by cozy fires and hot drinks.

Surrounded by a semicircle of hills, the main lodge at Clear Fork Resort serves as the access point to miles of alpine and cross-country skiing, ATVing, and snow-tubing trails that populate the surrounding countryside. The downhill skiing trail map contains terrain suitable for every level of skier or snowboarder, with a beginner's area and numerous difficult runs serviced by triple and quad chairlifts. When Old Man Winter hits the snooze button, a fleet of Snow Guns stands ready to bombard the slopes with artificial snow and passive-aggressive taunts skyward. Resort visitors can always check current weather conditions, which are constantly monitored by the resort's snow report.