Southaven, MS Outdoor Activities

The two-hour cruise is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m., depart at 7 p.m., and return at 9 p.m., affording passengers plenty of time to successfully saturate taste buds, ear buds, and dance buds. As you set off into the sunset backdrop on the Mississippi River, the wafting aromas of a feast prepared onboard will tempt a range of palates. Select from salads, hot entrees, carving stations, and sides; choices include prime rib, roasted turkey, red beans and rice, steamed seasonal vegetables, and seasoned potatoes. Complimentary coffee, soft drinks, and tea abound, and tipplers can head to the cash bar for a classic cocktail. Panoramic windows, two enclosed decks, and two outdoor decks showcase the historic waterfront unfolding in front of you as live music invites dance muscles to twitch rhythmically under the stars.

Located on 20 tranquil acres, family-owned Fisherville Farms offers horseback-riding lessons for beginning and intermediate equestrians, ages six and up. Single, private horsecursions are about 60 minutes long and include a crash course in proper grooming and saddling techniques, in addition to riding instruction. Because Fisherville Farms' headed horsemen and women are schooled in both Western and English riding styles, students have the option of learning either as they walk, trot, and gallop over the facility's sprawling trails and rings. Originating in the traditions of Spanish conquistadors, Western riding involves a bigger saddle and one-handed rein technique, whereas English riding traditionally employs a smaller, flatter saddle, horseback tea brewing, and the donning of fashion-forward jodhpurs. As evidence of their commitment to equestrian safety, Fisherville Farms provides riders with helmets and, pending federal approval, full suits of medieval plate armor for biweekly jousting tournaments.

Most of the modern world is mapped—GPS devices capably guide people through entire road trips and atlases describe more terrain than most people could cover in an entire lifetime. While it's difficult to reawaken humanity’s sense of surprise and discovery, The Mid-South Maze is up for the challenge. Every year, the maze’s manufacturers spend months carving up their cornfield into clever patterns that, when viewed from the sky, might appear as a famed sports logo or the face of a long-departed pharaoh. On the ground, however, that pattern vanishes, leaving wanderers to use their wits to navigate the arching corn passageways.

The Mid-South Maze entertains with more than just its winding labyrinth. On Friday and Saturday nights in October, actors clad as ghostly apparitions haunt the herbaceous hallways of a spooky tractor ride. A giant jumping pillow launches kids skyward and gently cushions their falls, and a corn cannon fires ears of corn at targets up to 100 yards away. Anyone who hits a target wins a prize from one of the maze's sponsors and the right to eat nothing but popcorn balls until Thanksgiving.

What kid doesn't dream of owning his or her own playground? David Zorn grew up storming the fields of Paintball Park, falling in love with the game. In college his childhood pastime turned into a semiprofessional career that took him to cities such as Chicago and Miami, where he made his television debut on ESPN's airing of the Campaign Cup tournament. Shortly after college, David jumped at the chance to purchase his old stomping grounds, where, across 18 acres of pigment-spattered fields, shooters settle good-natured scores as a trained staff ensures safety.

Colorful projectiles tear a zipper-like sound through the air across Paintball Park’s seven paintball fields, which have varying themes. In Paintball Canyon, players hunker down alongside a gorge, stashing themselves inside log forts or under bridges. The simulated nuclear-waste site at Ground Zero provides hiding places in the form of stacks of barrels and pipes; Dodge City simulates an Old West town, complete with a saloon and animatronic tumbleweeds; and players can find tournament-style play among the inflated blue obstacles of the airball field. Between games, paintballers refuel at the snack shop or at the grill pits and picnic tables scattered in the courtyard. At annual events, the staff sets up a scenario that spans all seven fields for an all-day game, designed to re-create battles from history, video games, or the time Sun Tzu’s lunch was missing from the fridge.

At dawn, just as the sun breaks the horizon, dew slowly disappears from freshly mowed bentgrass greens at Cordova Country Club, summoning golfers of all stripes to test their skills on the tranquil links. Alongside the well-manicured fairways lie groves of mature pine, oak, and maple trees, whose majesty often inspires players to interpret their shape using all of their clubs as bionic branches.

At 6,300 yards, the course forgoes the extreme length of some courses and instead challenges golfers with an onslaught of strategically placed bunkers, creeks, and Bill Murrays.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-72 course

• Total length of 6,300 yards from the back tees

• Four sets of tees per hole

At Showcase Equestrian Center, instructors work to build solid and long-lasting relationships between students and horses through lessons, camps, and therapeutic riding sessions. Maintaining a focus on both events and safety, they help lead students to victory at championship competitions while also working with beginner through intermediate riders during private lessons that focus on riding and proper horse care. Lessons take place either on Showcase Equestrian Center's outdoor grounds or in its indoor ring, which features custom GGT textile footing—the same surface used during Olympic events such as dressage, jumping, and horse shot put.