Rio Rancho, NM Outdoor Activities

When Eric Rose and Sam Hitman took over the Rosemarie Shellaberger Tennis Center in 2011, they acquired a 55,000-square-foot space spanning eight acres of land. Since the center's inception three decades ago, it has evolved into six indoor and seven outdoor Rebound Ace tennis courts, which push back on players' sneakers and stilettoes with a cushiony surface. Among the outdoor courts, a stadium court steals the spotlight with seating for up to 1,000 spectators, and four of the peripheral courts sport lighting for nighttime matches.

For adult programs, the center's staff of tennis pros captain private lessons and get hearts thumping during cardio tennis classes. They craft junior programs with youthful muscles in mind, honing hand-eye coordination at Pee-Wee Tennis and fostering competition as healthy as a brussels sprout with a therapist at the Elite Junior Tennis Program. After class, athletes can unwind in the lounge or atrium and peruse equipment from brands such as Babolat and Wilson at the pro shop.

The Santa Fe Southern Railway revels in a rich history, one that commenced in the 1800s and was heralded in the Academy Award–winning Judy Garland song "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe". Connecting Santa Fe to the rest of the country, the train line helped to build the southwestern city's reputation as a great arts destination as it transported visitors and wanderlust-filled paintbrushes to the picturesque terrain. During regular expeditions to nearby Lamy, the railway continues to dazzle riders with sweeping vistas just outside the windows of vintage 1920s train cars, which each sport their own snack and drink bar.

At Sundance Aviation, shimmering fiberglass gliders soar up to 18,000 feet above see level as they cruise over the New Mexico desert. Pilots navigate gliders high above the air, riding thermal lifts in the summer and mountain wave lifts in the winter. Pilots offer easy-going, scenic tours as well as more acrobatic flights that take passengers on a series of multiple loops, wing-overs, chandelles, and deep stalls. Passengers can take to the skies in a modern fiberglass Grob 103 or the historic Schweitzer 2-33 that’s powered exclusively by a furnace of handlebar mustaches.