Rochester, MN Outdoor Activities

The sails of the 31-foot sloop Messenger wave in the wind during Sail Pepin’s outings. The staff and crew man the vessel for fun family outings, romantic cruises, sailing lessons, and team-building programs. At their location in the historic Breakwater Building on Lake Pepin’s waterfront, they also entertain guests with a wine bar, coffee shop, and live music.

The Summit Golf Club's Championship Course sprawls with meticulously manicured fairways, tees, and greens composed of hearty bentgrass. Seasoned swingers and wobbly woods-wielders alike will find the course comfortably competitive as it rolls across elevation changes of up to 110 feet. This rise and fall also makes for exhilarating golf-cart rides between holes as you and your party rush through fully grown tree lines and evade booby traps set by herds of feral groundskeepers. Multiple layers of limestone throughout the course ensure that no dancing gopher puppets distract you from scoring a birdie, eagle, or albatross.

With a front nine that dates back to 1910 and a second nine first designed in 1956, Faribault Golf Club has established a historical legacy that includes hosting the Minnesota State Open and Minnesota PGA Pro-Am. The fairway chain stretches across 6,447 yards of gently undulating terrain, where fairway-side timbers, glassy ponds, and hypnotic tee boxes supply the bulk of the course's difficulty. Water hazards come into play on five holes, including the par 3 eighth, where players must send tee shots somersaulting over a pond stationed directly between the green and the divot-pocked launch pad. The par 5 18th offers a grandiose finish to the round, where a sound approach shot can set up a birdie putt that, if made, grants golfers the right to carve the club's decorative hedges into their favorite acronym. After their round, guests can retire to the Top View Grill, a full-service bar and restaurant with a fireplace, outdoor seating, and splendid views of the 9th and 18th holes.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course

• Length of 6,447 yards from the farthest tees

• Course rating of 70.7 from the farthest tees

• Slope rating of 129 from the farthest tees

• Three tee options

• Download scorecard

The Summit Golf Club’s 18-hole course takes dimpled orbs somersaulting over a topsy-turvy landscape that spans 7,022 yards of challenging, undulating terrain. Hemmed by mature trees, the course rises and falls across elevation changes up to 110 feet, which demand deft club selection, confident swings, and golf carts not prone to motion sickness. Cresting hills give way to scenic vistas peppered throughout the course, where clubbers can pause to overlook the bentgrass tee boxes, fairways, and greens as they wind past rippling streams and hedge against arboreal walls. The club also encompasses a nine-hole, par 3 course, ideal for novices or golfers in the midst of punishing bedtime-flouting drivers.

Championship Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Length of 7,022 yards from farthest tees
• Course rating of 74.6 from farthest tees
• Slope rating of 138 from farthest tees
• Four tee options available