Rochester, NY Outdoor Activities

NVP Paintball houses healthy competition within 15,000 square feet of indoor arena space. The turf-covered playing field obstructs easy shots with giant inflatable obstacles that shoot up toward 40-foot ceilings. Trained refs monitor all the action, including walk-on play, private parties, and high-noon duels. Elsewhere in the facility, a pro shop vends paintball necessities, and a game room overlooking the field offers additional entertainment.

On Performance Paintball’s year-round outdoor field, teams compete in 10-minute rounds of elimination or capture the flag. Clutching Tippmann 98 paintball guns, players stalk and pursue enemies around obstacles—or climb the two-story Tower of Terror for a bird’s-eye view—as they fire gelatin capsules from pressurized air-guns, splattering enemies with water-soluble, biodegradable, nontoxic paint. Customers can arrive alone during open-play hours, or organize teams for a party or event. The outdoor playing field is open year-round, allowing players to compete against both friends and snowmen.

The botany enthusiasts at Oriental Garden Supply care for a wide variety of greenery, including many Japanese and Asian plants and flowers. Their verdant nursery opens Sunday, April 15, allowing guests to peruse mini forests of korean fir, japanese maple, norway spruce, and overgrown toothpicks. Blossoming perennials and succulents await green thumbs in the greenhouse, which opens the first week of April.:m]]

Arrowhead Golf Course’s 18-hole track rubs shoulders with the banks of the Erie Canal, which players follow on a picturesque tour of flora and fauna. Richard Wholers built the course in 1976, and made up for the lack of available distance by keeping the bluegrass fairways narrow and the bentgrass-greens compact. In addition to the canal, which looms heavily on the mind throughout a round, golfers must also factor water hazards on 12 holes into their shot-making decisions and choice of location for talking about how dumb mermaids look. These aquatic pitfalls take the form of nine ponds and two creeks that snake their ways across the beryl-green grass.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 66 course
• Total length of 4,171 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 61.5 from the back tees
• Course slope of 103 from the back tees

Since sculpting its first fairway in 1928, The Brookwoods Country Club has earned hosting rights to such prestigious events as a U.S. Women’s Open qualifying tournament and multiple New York State Amateur Championships, each attracted by the pristine upkeep and spectacular views sculpted into the Geoffrey Cornish–designed course. Golfers must navigate the dense forestation lining the fairways and the water in play on all holes except the par 3 14th hole, placing a premium on deft club selection and the use of hydrophobic golf balls.

Afterward, players can head to the 19th Hole and refuel with soups and sandwiches on the outdoor patio that overlooks the course. Indoors, a fireplace warms patrons as they sip on post-round beers and regale each other with tales of the time they putted the entire course.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course

• Total length of 6,806 yards from the back tees

• Four sets of tees per hole

• Designed by Geoffrey Cornish

Built in 1993 by owner Neil Comstra, Eagle Ridge Driving Range has since expanded from a practice facility to a fun center with mini-golfing and go-karting action. While putting guests try their hand at the 18-hole mini-golf course, players rehearsing teeoffs on the 300-yard driving range can take aim at a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle and the mechanic trying to start it. Guests can transition to a different kind of driving by hopping into a single- or double-seated go-kart for a spin around the oval slick track. In between races, range time, and mini-golf games, youngsters can continue playing in an oversized sandbox or join adults on the facility's picnic tables or in the shade of a custom-built gazebo.