Slidell, LA Outdoor Activities

Coral Reef's instructors help fledgling divers to fall in love with scuba diving, guiding students as they master buoyancy-control skills and environmental awareness. The scuba teachers oversee divers as they advance from beginner to master scuba diver in small and private classes at their PADI five-star facility, where water shimmers in both indoor and outdoor pools. Additionally, instructors teach specialized skills such as cave diving, rescue diving, and how to become a certified scuba instructor. They also pull up their anchors to take regular diving trips to exciting, watery locals such as Panama City Beach and William Howard Taft's tub.

Each spring, Frisco Fest welcomes more than 100 Louisiana crafters and artists to the picturesque grounds of the San Francisco Plantation, creating a unique environment where regional history and modern creativity converge. Setting up shop in the shadow of centuries-old live oaks, participants peddle everything from handmade jewelry and pottery to homemade jams, and master gardeners host plant-advice clinics to impart tips to green thumbs looking to revive once-lush landscapes or get their azaleas accepted into a private college.

Each year, activities that occupy the big curiosity and little hands of children abound, such as pony rides, petting zoos, and rock climbing, and adults detour from the crafty wares long enough to enjoy a classic-car show and live music by Leroy St. Pierre. Local chefs sizzle up piquant piles of Cajun and creole cuisine to tempt artistic appetites of all ages, and competitive appetites are twice-satisfied during a Chef's cook-off and cracklin contest.

Nestled in Audubon Park's rolling, verdant grounds dappled with tall oak trees, Cascade Stables' riding facilities train horse riders and enthusiasts in all levels of the equestrian sport. Seasoned trainers guide private and group lessons through trots and canters around a 60'x140' outdoor riding arena and a 80'x160' covered indoor arena, or through the park's relative wilderness on trail rides, where they may glimpse a wild Robin Hood in its natural habitat. Extended training programs instill riders and their horses with the passion and skills necessary to compete nationally. In addition to its arenas, the facilities boast amenities such as 44 rubber-matted stalls, which cradle horses when not in use, and a trio of air-conditioned tack rooms, where riders can store pet snowmen during lessons.

A special-education teacher, Susan Theodore brings a profound understanding of humans' individual learning styles to her horseback-riding lessons at Can Horses Fly ??, suiting each session to any age and experience level. After hopping atop well-trained mounts, which range from small ponies to wizened steeds, pupils learn the basics of riding, mastering walking, trotting, and cantering before gaining the confidence and notarized documents required to jump over fences and barriers.

“Today was a little weird,” begins one of New Orleans Jogging Tours’ guides in a recent blog entry. “Every time we stopped to talk about the houses in the Garden District, a lizard jumped out!” This rare bahama anole isn’t the only outlandish sight jogging tourists have encountered on the 10-kilometer jaunts. The bouncing periphery of tour routes is frequently peppered with unexpected encounters, such as late-night Bourbon Street revelers or trees costumed with Mardi Gras beads well after Fat Tuesday. All New Orleans natives, the guides are primed to run the routes but keep pace with their charges, even if that means leisurely strolling or cartwheeling through historic areas such as the French Quarter, cemetery, and Garden District. Each section houses morsels of historical and cultural significance, from the St. Louis Cathedral and Civil War Museum to the homes of Sandra Bullock and a former Real World cast. Guides can stow smaller items in a backpack they bring along, but suggest that joggers tow personal backpacks for larger cargo.