Niagara Falls, NY Outdoor Activities

With backgrounds that include teaching yoga and running marathons, WSUP instructors Gudrun Hardes and Diana Turnbull share their love of being outside and on the water through stand-up paddleboarding lessons. Appropriate for all ages and fitness levels, the crisscrossing paddle motion lets boarders control their own pace for an up-tempo workout or a zen-like glide. For more adventurous boarders, Hardes and Turnbull lead on-the-water fitness classes, which include yoga and boot-camp workouts. WSUP's team also rents stand-up paddleboards for experienced riders, as well as guides sunrise and sunset paddles set to Disney sing-a-longs.

At Puck’s Farm, visitors can bond with 180 acres of the natural environment by learning about harvest-time chores and activities or scheduling weddings and events year-round on the open grounds. Guests of the farm can meet its animal residents, including emus, llamas, and a farm cat, which is much friendlier than a farm puma. For an even more interactive experience with fauna, Puck’s offers pony rides and the opportunity to milk cows and churn butter. Wooded trails traverse the expanse and present one of the many places on the farm where guests can delight in the changing of the seasons. Fall, for example, offers a variety of seasonal activities: visitors can get lost in corn mazes, pick ripened pumpkins, ride in horse-drawn wagons, and stroll through trails speckled with changing leaves. Autumn months also see pigs and goats building their nests for the winter ahead. An onsite snack bar serving hot dogs, hamburgers, and french fries enables guests to refuel for full days of farm activities.

There are more than 2,000 short tracks in the United States. Among them, fewer than 60 are NASCAR-sanctioned. Holland NASCAR Motorsports Complex is one of the few with such distinction. The raceway has guzzled the fumes of that rarified air since 1960, when it was built as a 1/3-mile facility surrounded by just 1,200 seats. In 1964, the course expanded to 3/8 mile, and four years later, asphalt replaced the outdated shag carpeting as the track's surface. Today, Holland packs up to 7,000 spectators into its grandstands. It completes the race-day experience with various amenities, including The Midway, where fans can fuel up on snacks and drinks, and The Village, where fans party under large tents and around picnic tables.

Development of the Roycroft Campus began in 1897 by author, lecturer, and entrepreneur Elbert Hubbbard, who sought to create a utopian society of artisans in reaction to the mass production of the Industrial Age. Drawing on inspiration by leaders of the arts-and-crafts movement in the UK, Hubbard founded the Roycroft Press to produce monthly publications, books, and elaborate conspiracy theories. After gaining international recognition for an essay he wrote in 1899, Hubbard was able to further expand and promote the Roycroft community, erecting 13 additional buildings on the campus over the next decade.

In its prime, the community was home to 23 presses and more imported handmade paper than all American printing institutions combined. More than 500 resident artists worked in wood, stained glass, and copper, and Roycroft became a thriving mecca for craftsmen, authors, artists, and philosophers. In 1986, the campus was designated a national historic landmark. Today it is home to 9 of the original 14 structures, preserved and restored throughout the last 17 years by the Roycroft Campus Corporation and open for exploration during guided walking tours.

Hidden Valley Animal Adventure's 60 acres are home to more than 30 species of animals—including zebras, wildebeest, and emu—who freely roam and peacefully coexist among the park's rolling plains and lush forests. Here, the park’s safaris leisurely tour through more than two miles of trails that cut through the non-African badlands. Guests hop aboard trolleys, soaking in the scenery as knowledgeable guides broaden their zoological horizons and impart facts about the park. Upon meeting a slew of animals along the path, guests outstretch feed-filled hands to nourish passing llama, camels, and hungry groundskeepers. During winter months, horse-drawn carriages gracefully escort guests through snow-covered paths behind strapping belgian draft steeds.

Located on Hidden Valley's expansive grounds, The Lodge accommodates guests with rustic hotel rooms, and its woodsy event space hosts banquets, weddings, and special events. After daylong romps through animal habitats, guests can partake in locally grown foodstuffs and libations at the Trailside Grill & Bar, sating thirsts worked up while trying to outspit a llama.