Pella, IA Outdoor Activities

Brenton Skating Plaza's outdoor ice-skating rink is comprised of a 120'x60' sheet of ice that can hold up to 220 skaters. There, skaters—equipped with one of 450 pairs of skates available for rent—can cut lines through the ice in the open air, surrounded by all-glass boards. Throughout the season, which stretches from November to March, the rink hosts skating lessons, broomball games, and public skating.

We are an 18-hole public golf course located in the heart of Iowa. We showcase bentgrass tees, fairways, and greens and over 40 undulating bunkers. Our course pays tribute to the links traditions of golf by relying on the prairie winds and fescue grasses as the primary defenses.

Open for just one month every autumn, The Pumpkin Ranch seems more like a scene from a child’s dream than a family-run business. But that’s the way the Handsaker family planned it, hoping to create a family-friendly hub that celebrated their love of all things autumn. They began by cultivating their 9-acre cornfield into a complex maze, incorporating 12 checkpoints that make sure guests are on the right path and offer clues to the ranch’s Farm Scene Investigation mystery. Alongside the maze, the Handsakers have built up a 10-acre patch of pumpkins and gourds, where squashy specimens wait to be carved into jack-o’-lanterns or stomped into wine.

The hayrack ride transports guests to and fro on the ranch, speeding up walks so guests can spend more time reveling in the play zone’s bounce houses, climbable straw bales, and tire towers. For more exhilarating pastimes, the ranch offers tennis-ball launchers that send the bright orbs soaring at water-based targets, exhilarating zipline courses, and fire pits to warm up chilly fall afternoons. Inside the concession stand, staffers sell steamy cups of specialty ciders and hot chocolate alongside homemade baked goods, giving guests a taste of fall, and outside, vendors serve up larger bites such as grilled and smoked meat to fuel the outdoor fun.

Since 2007, foodies have flocked to Iowa's Premier Beer, Wine & Food Expo each year to check out food and drink booths, watch cooking demonstrations, and meet chefs. Guests explore more than 100 booths filled with samples of wines, food, and cheeses they may purchase and store at a complimentary drop-off location until they’re ready to leave. Expo-goers may also enjoy cooking demonstrations and meet-and-greet sessions with nationally recognized celebrity guests, including Food Network’s Dr. BBQ and Goose Island Beer Company–founder John Hall. Not to be outdone, local chefs share the secret techniques, ingredients, and facial expressions they use to make popular regional dishes.

As children and their caretakers enjoy a leisurely day at Union Park, a cluster of animals—storks, giraffes, brown bears, and ostriches among them —suddenly storms past. What sounds like a stampede is really the family-friendly site of The Heritage Carousel of Des Moines, which has been entertaining guests since 1998. For only 50 cents, participants can hop aboard the turn-of-the-century replica carousel, which builders hand carved from basswood and hand painted. As the dulcet tones of an old-fashioned band organ hum in the background, the carousel accommodates children, wedding parties, and bull riders in training. Elsewhere, riders can pause from carousel excursions to sample other Union Park attractions such as multiage play equipment and the Rocket Slide, whose recent repainting replicates its original look from the early 1970s.

Pleasantville Golf & Country Club's nine-hole course blankets the Marion County countryside with a circuit of tree-lined fairways. Originally opened in 1965, the course boasts the trademarks of a mature layout, with well-defined greens, tall timbers, and fairways that are starting to show flecks of gray. The semiprivate club also encompasses an outdoor swimming pool and Bogey's, a grill with a full-service bar and a menu of sandwiches, burgers, and other casual eats.: