North Providence, RI Outdoor Activities

Devised in 2001 by a Brown University medical student in order to support Hasbro Children's Hospital's Asthma Camp, the annual Breeze Against Wheeze 5K run and 3K walk raises a quarter of the funds the camp needs each year to educate youngsters about managing a disease that stands as the leading cause of child hospitalization nationwide. At the start of the race, athletes trek across the Brown University campus and down Blackstone Boulevard, speeding past other runners or strolling at a heart-healthy pace to show their anti-asthma verve. The top competitor in each age bracket, plus the three fastest men and women overall, win a bounty of gift certificates and sports gear to help fuel their future challenges, while postrace raffles lend the chance for any participant to be crowned a winner. Before the adult events, kids can race for free, testing their endurance and agility without crawling through the TV screen into their favorite video game.

The phosphorescent, indoor landscape at Monster Mini Golf immerses putters in an eerie universe that inverts the sun-soaked cheer of conventional courses. Rimmed in glowing green barriers, 18 holes lure swingers of all sizes to challenge their coordination and resolve in the face of winged monsters, scowling animated trees, a creepy clown, and their opponents' shockingly dazzling smiles. Sheltered from searing rain and howling wind, the indoor course enables play around hazards such as a spell well and luminous, ghostly windmill at any time of the year. An in-house radio station and DJ mask the sound of pounding hearts with lively beats and course commentary, and golfers looking for additional glory can win prizes by participating in regular contests or at the onsite arcade.

At 14,000 square feet, the Bank of America City Center dwarfs the famed ice rink at New York City's Rockefeller Center and provides visitors with plenty of room to skate for hours. All winter long, the rink hosts public sessions as well as Learn-to-Skate classes for beginners and drop-in refresher classes for adults. Located in Kennedy Plaza, skaters can enjoy a day of gliding against a backdrop of Providence landmarks during open skate sessions, group skating and birthday parties. After graceful spins across the ice, guests can indulge in cocoa, coffee, and delicious eats from downtown Providence's nearby local haunts.

A plethora of mock-rock climbing challenges populates The Spot Bouldering Gym with 10,000 square feet of vertical obstacles. Rock climbers can spend all day scaling man-made mountains up to 18 feet high, gripping massive boulders made in the image of Hueco, Fontainebleau, and Abraham Lincoln's nose. Other trials include the gravity-fighting 25-foot roped wall, an assortment of muscle-mightying training equipment, and cushy flooring for seamless dismounts. No experience is necessary to tackle the upright obstacles at The Spot; the congenial crew eagerly shares climbing tips and creates encouraging victory pyramids.

Carved through dense pine trees according to the vision of New England course designer Donald Ross, Triggs Memorial Golf Course artfully incorporates the natural terrain into a scenic, 18-hole layout. The course begins with three long par 4s—demanding par 4s have become the course's calling card—making it a daunting layout for slow-starting swings and jet-lagged 9-irons. Relatively short par 5s offer stick-flickers scoring chances to compensate for some of the more difficult holes, provided they can keep their drives out of the fairway bunkers and dense tree lines that flank most fairways. Flat terrain eases golfers into the round on the front nine, and more hilly terrain awaits on the back nine to complicate club selection and force the occasional above- or below-the-feet lie. Small, well-bunkered greens loom at the end of each fairway, requiring precise approach shots to keep balls on the green. After rounds, golfers can head to Yogi's Grill, where a menu of sandwiches, wraps, burgers, and 13 beers slake appetites that haven't been spoiled by handfuls of savory greenside sand.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Course rating of 72.0 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 124 from the farthest tees
• Three tee options

Perched along the historic Palmer River, where steamships used to chug along to the ocean’s embrace, the tree-spotted links of Wampanoag Golf Course invite players to swing their way through nine holes designed by golf course architect Aljenon Barney in 1932. Golfers swing their way through the 110 acres of bucolic greenery, where subtle slopes facilitate walking or somersaulting from hole to hole, and gas-powered carts ferry club-swingers who loop the course twice over to play a full 18. Players are challenged with forced carries over water hazards on holes 7, 8, and 9 and must use deft club selections throughout to avoid excessive sunbathing in the course’s populous sand traps. After breaking a sweat, golfers can lounge in the shade of a patio, munching on sandwiches and sipping complimentary coffee before summoning camel transports for a renewed attack on hole six's sandy moat to the green.