Ottawa, KS Outdoor Activities

Amid 20 acres of pastures and trails, the three barns and century-old home of Linden Hill Stables perch in the shade of mature trees, granting an idyllic setting for horse-riding lessons, birthday parties, and children's day camps. Property owner Lisa Hillmer tends to the horses each day, calling upon a lifetime of experience in training and showing American saddlebred horses. Through individually tailored riding lessons, Lisa helps students achieve personal goals, such as riding comfortably for enjoyment or participating in competitions. Her helpful staff also assists in boarding horses and monitoring kids at day camp. Students are required to wear long pants and closed-toe shoes while atop one of Linden Hills' well-trained steeds, their own horse, or a 1,000-pound housecat.

Horses prance across Timbermist Farm's stately 50-acre facility, where equestrians master the reins amid white plank fences, verdant grounds, and an ivory stable fronted by columns. The Farm's veteran instructors, Tina English and Chuck Browning, offer lessons to riders of all abilities, imparting knowledge gathered during nearly three decades of training, competing, and counting wooly horses just before bedtime.

Tina and Chuck specialize in the English riding discipline, a style that favors an upright riding posture made possible by a flat saddle. To spread their expertise, the duo shows students how to steer horses in the Farm's indoor training facility, which is heated during the winter. In addition to educating humans on the finer points of horsemanship, Tina and Chuck also train horses and ponies on proper equine behaviors, from confident show-ring trots to courteous, whispered conversations at the horse library.

Eight outdoor tennis courts, five indoor tennis courts, and an eight-lane competition-size outdoor pool are some of the figures that contribute to the expansive facility of Clayview Country Club, the staff of which oversees programs and classes for all members of the family. Within the fitness center, Nautilus machines line up with free weights, treadmills, and ellipticals—all within eyesight of flat-screen televisions—that members use to crush calories on their own or under the guise of a personal trainer. At the outdoor pool, swimmers jump from 1- and 3-meter boards into the diving well or groove to DJ-spun tunes at one of three holiday swim parties. Before departing, they take advantage of locker rooms with showers and stop by the pro shop to re-string racquets or polish their dorsal fins.

In 2005, the racehorse known as St. Croix was crowned Ohio's Horse of the Year, completing the season with one third-place, one second-place, and five first-place finishes. None of this would be possible without the tireless efforts of Saddle Creek Stables' trainers, who saved St. Croix from his early vacation plans to horse heaven. After the equine instructors retrained and bonded with him, St. Croix returned the favor with an awe-inspiring racing career. Now enjoying his retirement, St. Croix carries guests on leisurely trail rides across 160 acres of forest trails, outcroppings, cliffs, and flowing streams.

Saddle Creek Stables is a premier racehorse facility operated by trainers dedicated to making their thoroughbreds happy and healthy. The team leads trail rides for all ages and organizes parties with hayrides and bonfires for children. Their forested ranch also provides an excellent venue for hikers, campers, anglers, and deprived houseplants looking to reconnect with their natural habitat.

Nestled upon a patch of land that's passed through the hands of five generations, The Lessman Farm owes much to its current paterfamilias, Ronald Lessman, who began drawing in sightseers and visitors with his catfish pond, self-built house, and otherworldly sculpture gardens. Guests walk the shores or ply the waves of the 30-acre catfish lake, casting for regularly stocked populations of bass, perch, and crappie as they take in the majestic scenery of the rustic prairie. But what draws the most attention from visitors is Truckhenge, an arrangement of half-buried torpedo trucks, mysteriously lifting their engines skywards in what appears to be an industrial-age interpretation of Stonehenge. The Lessmans' outdoor installation is folk art on a monumental scale, proudly flaunting its offbeat flavor and inspiring visitors to express themselves without hesitation or apology or to bury themselves waist-deep in the ground at a 45-degree angle. A healthy respect for individualism and the avant-garde prevails throughout the property, with other attractions drawing attention from tourists, such as the enormous quonset hut farmhouse handmade from recycled materials or the huge beer-bottle glass wall mosaic.

As speeding wakeboarders bail from their runs, plunging into the water as the tow cables snap away from their grasp, no boats will ever circle back to pick them up. They're not stranded, however, because at KC Watersports, overhead cables pull riders along the water instead, ushering them toward the rails and ramps peppering the 7.5-acre lake. Families cheer on water-skiers from the beach, grab bites at the snack shack, or fasten water-skis on hot dogs and get them to race. Beginner sessions feature slower cable speeds to acclimate newcomers to the wakes, and the camp's sets of sliders and kickers challenge veterans to pull off new, more impressive stunts than merely back-flipping over a human pyramid. Back on shore, spectators can cheer on athletes from shaded beach or grab bites at the snack shack, and an onsite pro shop stocks rental or retail gear from brands such as Liquid Force, Body Glove, Go Pro, and Master Craft.