Things to Do in Peekskill

Colossal train engines once pulled hefty freight along the O&W Railway's main line. Today, where the rails lines formerly cut through glistening tree canopies, a 2-mile unpaved trail splices through six rural hamlets, just 90 miles from New York City. It's along this rails-to-trails path that Woodridge Segway Tours whisks its adventurers through beautiful mountain views, clean country air, and the sounds of fresh water trickling. With safety helmets securely atop their heads, tour takers steer the two-wheeled segway transporters with intuitive gestures: leaning forward to go ahead, leaning backward to reverse, and pulling on their ears to make the segways sing.

Situated at the foot of the Ellenville Mountain site, Mountain Wings has readied students for safe, engine-free flying since 1981. A staff of USHPA-certified instructors shares much of its knowledge on the facility's two training hills—a grassy, gently sloped concave for beginners, and a 180-foot hill used by intermediate gliders and a handful of pretty insane paper-airplane competitors. Sprinting, stumbling, and hovering across those hills, groups practice with Condors—slow-flying, easy-to-handle training gliders that work in zero-wind zones. Upon ascending to greater heights and skill levels, students can also snag their own equipment at Mountain Wings' full-service aero-sports shop.

The staff of Pocono Segway Tours leads groups of up to 10 sightseers on segway-propelled escapades through the scenic Pocono Mountains. A battery-powered personal transporter, the segway allows recreationalists of all shapes and sizes to navigate the gyroscopic machine along wooded paths and roadways while taking in the area's picturesque vistas during guided, multimile excursions. With two locations, the company gives tours in mountainous Split Rock; in Shawnee Inn, which presents views of the Delaware Water Gap.

The 27 holes that comprise Centennial Golf Club cover 340 woodland acres of pristine greenery, earning the Larry Nelson-designed course a difficult to achieve rating of Outstanding from Golf Digest. The nine-hole slates—dubbed the Fairways, the Lakes, and the Meadows—are characterized by frequent undulations and numerous encounters with intersecting waterways. Evergreens line the fairways on most holes, stretching out their needles to snag errant shots and raise golf balls as adopted pine cones in the family tree.

Centennial Golf Club's sprawling facilities include state-of-the-art instruction, practice facilities, and the Grille Room with indoor and outdoor dining spaces.

Course at a Glance:

• Three 9-hole, par 36 courses

• Maximum 18-hole length of 7,133 yards

• Maximum 18-hole course rating of 75.3

• Maximum 18-hole slope rating of 145

• Four sets of tees per hole

• Scorecard