Things to Do in Oakdale

The course at Sierra Meadows Country Club is cleaved into a mountain valley populated with mature oaks, pines, and cedars, producing a spectacular course yielding a gauntlet of obstacles. Nestled between the blanket of fog of the Central Valley below and snow higher up in the Sierra Nevadas, the 18-hole course stays open throughout the year so long as the fog and snow don't engage in water-cycle turf war. The par 3 fifth hole, the course's signature designed hole, combines mountainous scenery with the treachery of a 175-yard tee shot over a lake onto a contoured green, forcing golfers to select their club wisely or risk sending the ball into the watery abyss.

Prior to a round or after a dramatic finish, players can head to the driving range's turf-hitting surfaces to smash balls at targets or take aim at an unassuming mountain peak. Large putting and chipping greens provide ample space for short-game improvement.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course

• Length of 6,389 yards from back tees

• Three sets of tees per hole

Just 2 miles from the southern entrance of Yosemite National Park sits a post that passed from homesteader to cowboy to Mike and Sherry Knapp, who dubbed it Yosemite Trails Pack Station 70 years ago. Since then, three generations of Knapps have run the station, but it remains as isolated and wildlife rich as it was in 1966. Today, Larry Knapp and his team still raise cattle as well as american quarter and american paint horses in the Sierra Nevada mountains, getting them acclimated to the rocky terrain so that they can safely carry patrons on trail rides. Trails wind through Big Creek, the Vista Pass, and even venture into Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove, thick with millennia-old redwood trees. Days on horseback often culminate in cowboy cookouts with hot dogs, s’mores, and photos of ex-boyfriends roasted over the campfire. When summer fades to winter, guests can still enjoy the mountain-lined horizon on sleighs drawn by belgian draft horses.

The designers of Zip Yosemite, Experience Based Learning, focuses on adventure and safety in building their courses, but they also take care to look after the environment. The company uses Professional Ropes Course Association–accredited builders, who anchor single cables to trees using the Eco-Wrap system, a bolt-free method that doesn't pierce the tree and invite criticism from its grandparents. Using this system, the company can string six ziplines up to 1,000 feet long at heights of up to 80 feet through the aromatic canopies of incense cedars and ponderosa pine trees. Guides take visitors darting down these single-cable paths and across three suspension bridges. Then, they rappel toward the forest floor at one of two rappelling stations. As visitors glide through the forest, they can catch glimpses of wildlife as well as the Fresno Dome and other natural rock formations.