Moore, OK Outdoor Activities

European Formula EK20 karts whiz by on Pole Position Raceway’s quarter-mile track, cruising at speeds of up to 45 miles per hour. Spectators crank their heads to keep up. There’s no wind to battle against, no sun blinding the drivers’ eyes, and no birds rigging the race by dropping smoke bombs because all of Pole Position Raceway’s competitions happen inside. This is thanks to a fleet of electric-powered karts, which accelerate more quickly and hug curves more smoothly than gas-powered karts without dumping out clouds of exhaust.

To sate speed cravings, drivers simply arrive and drive—show up and nab one of 12 spots in the next race. Then with a DOT-approved racing helmet, they push the pedal to the floor for roughly 10 minutes, drafting their opponents to fly past them near the finish line. At the end of each race, drivers receive a SpeedSheet that displays their race results, fastest lap time, and the likelihood of getting their own action-movie franchise. For those seeking to dive deep into the world of racing, Pole Position Raceway offers driving clinics and youth racing camps, where younger racers pilot EK10 karts that peak at 20 mph.

Ghouls, ghosts, and other blood-curdling creatures swarm to the Bricktown Haunted Warehouse to terrify locals in a 20,000-square-foot haunt. The site was once home to the Oklahoma Casket Company, but now houses a pitch-black labyrinth filled with unseen spooks around every twist and turn. In order to make it out alive, guests must find the finish using nothing more than a glow stick to light their way, hoping against hope that it will be enough to scare off monsters or at least make them dance long enough to make an escape.

Miles and Jayne Hall opened H&H Shooting Sports Complex to blend community, education, and retail with a commitment to safely developing the sport of shooting, helping them earn a five-star rating from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. At 36 pistol, rifle, and Olympic-grade air-gun lanes, sharpshooters can propel bullets toward paper targets using personal firearms, telekinesis, or rental firearms from manufacturers such as Glock and Smith & Wesson. Instructors lead private and group classes for gunslingers of all levels, which can teach basic firearm safety or advanced pistol techniques that explain why gumballs don't make effective ammunition. The 19-lane archery range mimics real-life conditions with its interactive digital hunting simulator, and the facility also hosts an on-staff gunsmith for repairs and a retail shop that stocks new firearms and accessories every week.

Skate Galaxy's outdoor sign is shaped like an orb surrounded by a ring of stars, proving that red planets are not just the birthplace of eccentric pop stars. Inside, skaters glide over a glossy white floor as neon lights trace patterns of planets and stars for them to follow and disco balls project glints onto the rink like twinkling comets. Even the carpet seems like a nightscape as it glows under the black light, directing eight-wheeled astronomers to the concession stand stocked with treats such as pizza, pretzels, and energy-boosting Clif Bars. All the while, air conditioning recalls the cold emptiness of space, where astronauts work tirelessly to keep the universe's thermostat at a comfy 65 million degrees below zero.

In 2011, major renovations transformed Myriad Botanical Gardens, adding a new children’s garden, architectural features, and event plazas. Upon entering, visitors have a tough first choice to make as 17 acres of rolling hills expand before the eyes. Massive sculptures dot the landscape alongside native and non-native trees, including a sycamore-tree-lined path designed in the image of the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. Visitors can often be seen relaxing in the shade of these sheltering plants, taking in music at the band shell, or walking around the gardens' 2-acre lake that houses 20-pound goldfish and Japanese koi that show off by bench-pressing them.

Near the lake, the spherical, elevated Crystal Bridge catches the sun with its more than 3,000 translucent windows stretching 224 feet across and 17 feet in diameter. The architectural marvel holds more than 2,000 species of dry and wet tropical plants that cavort with visitors wandering through the lush space. As they walk through the recreated vista, it slowly morphs from a tropical dry zone that imitates a drought to a tropical wet zone that replicates native tropical rain. Realistic rock walls add texture to the indoor environment, and a tropical waterfall pushes gushes of water over the towering Wet Mountain while simultaneously denying visitors the opportunity to kayak down its face.

Water erupts in twin geysers from the tail end of riders' wakeboards as they're pulled around a lake holding a fast-moving cable. In the open water, these riders would be pulled by boats. But here, a complex series of cables runs from the hands of riders to a motor on a steel apparatus above, which drags them on high-speed rides around the lake’s circumference. Onlookers at adjacent picnic benches applaud the spectacular tricks or particularly powerful wipeouts they see, after which the dunked party swims back to shore to hop back in line for the next available cable.

Many days, visitors can find the park’s team of professional cable boarders pushing the envelope and developing new air-defying stunts off semi-submerged ramps and grind rails. The staff sets aside Mondays and Tuesdays exclusively for beginners, reserving all seven cable tows for newbies to practice gliding on the water's surface.