Mineral Wells, TX Outdoor Activities

Drag Racing every Friday and Saturday. Fantastic food concessions. Fun for the whole family. Kids 12 and under get in free.

At Rockwood Gokart Track, drivers 4'8" and taller buckle up and burn rubber around the outdoor course's tight twists and serpentine turns. There's 12 colorful, single-seat go-karts to choose from, and parents can ferry their little ones (3'4" or taller) alongside them in one of four double-seat mini speed machines. Serious go-karters can also purchase parts or whole new go-karts at Rockwood Gokart Track, or get their current one running again with repairs and promises of oil sandwiches.

Originally a TWA aircraft, the Southern Cross Douglas C-47 was adopted by the Army Air Corps to shuttle troops to the front. The twin-propeller plane survived World War II and in the ensuing years underwent a series of makeovers. Its career includes years spent as a reliable set of wings for Delta Air Lines, a troupe of skydiving enthusiasts, and at least one head of state. The C-47 is now meticulously restored to its original WWII-era condition and in the dutiful care of Greatest Generation Aircraft, a nonprofit organization that introduces 21st-century crowds to the C-47 during rides and aerial shows. Flying out of Fort Worth's Meacham International Airport, the C-47 also shares a hangar with a B-25 bomber and other veteran planes.

Total Driving Experience's skilled instructors teach teenagers essential accident-avoidance techniques through simulated real-life driving scenarios. During Day 1 of the Skills Teen Driving School, novice drivers with a valid learner's permit and up spend six hours behind the wheel, practicing challenging maneuvers on a dry obstacle course, skid pad, and rush-hour-themed bouncy castle. Instructors ride with students to offer tips on dealing with tailgaters, handling skidding, and harnessing the stopping power of cars' ABS systems. Each 20- to 30-student session includes a scrumptious lunch and awards participants a certificate of completion that may be used toward discounts with some car-insurance providers or as a makeshift screensaver for a computer monitor.

Within Leapin' Lizards' 20,000-square-foot funscape, kids release pent-up energy as they trample across three rooms of inflatable slides, houses, and boxing rings, as well as an arcade and a rock-climbing wall. Rambunctious, sock-clad tykes crawl through tunnels in a four-story playscape, zip down an 18-foot dual slide, or conquer an obstacle course. In a girls-only room, the staff treat guests like princesses, beautifying hair, nails, and faces amidst dancing, singing, and modeling for photo ops. Elsewhere, younger kids play in a toddler room, and birthday kids call celebrations together in themed party rooms (North Richland Hills location only), bedecked with an enchanted landscape or castle imagery to make the guest of honor feel like a monarch, demanding that each partygoer surrender a portion of their crop yield to the royal family.

Fly-A-Sim gives humans wings and shows them how to use them. But these wings aren't covered with feathers or drenched with barbecue sauce—they're virtual and perfect for soaring across an imaginary stratosphere. A certified flight instructor begins each simulated journey with a lesson on how aircraft fly. Afterward, participants board a comfy jet simulator that trains real pilots for a solo flight in the captain's seat. Realistic sounds and visuals conjure a rush of excitement as virtual pilots execute basic maneuvers such as takeoffs and landings. For most simulations, the pilot-in-training can bring along a friend to test-drive the plane or point out clouds that look like Nietzsche's mustache.