Stockbridge, GA Outdoor Activities

A heavy mist settles over the rolling hills of High Point Farm each morning and slowly dissipates as the sun rises to reveal the arenas where Cindy Thaxton and her staff train horses and riders. The farm, which was established in 1993, spans 35 acres and includes several facilities. In its world-class competitive arenas, Cindy helps develop harmony between her students and the horses while sharing her own passion for dressage, equitation, hunters, and jumpers. A USDF silver and bronze medalist in her own right, Cindy has led six students to silver-medal status. She practices a multidimensional teaching approach, instructing competitive students as well as those with little interest in racing against their horses.

Iron Gate Farm owner Lisa Eisele harnesses a life's worth of horseback-riding dedication—including a youth career with the American Paint Horse Association—to enrich the skills and horsemanship of novice riders. Along with instructor Sarah Hutchinson, who draws upon her own extensive experiences breaking and showing horses in various disciplines, Lisa emphasizes safe riding techniques as well as important skills such as barn husbandry, equine first aid, and reminding steeds to double-knot their horseshoes. When not accommodating students at private sessions, group lessons, or summer camps, the farm also shelters owners' horses in 12'x12' matted stalls replete with blanketing and twice-daily feedings.

Georgia Aquatic Center keeps amphibious folks well hydrated with four pools specifically designed for fun and fitness. Catering to the young, the young at heart, and recently switched Freaky Friday victims, the outdoor beach and slide pools boast easy-access ramped entry, three tube slides, an ever-sprinkling sprayer, and a splashy manmade waterfall. Indoors, the competitive and aerobics pools are tailored to lap swimmers and lesson takers, maintaining a constantly balmy temperature of 82–85 degrees. These temperature-controlled oases can also be rented out for birthday parties regardless of the season, and provide a training ground for swim teams, stroke-and-turn clinics, and lifeguard training.

Two towers jut out of facing beaches, joined by cables that span an unusually placid portion of Lake Lanier. When New Wave Cable Park's small groups of customers suit up, however, the cable comes alive, towing boarders to and fro at blistering speeds. Nestled in a secure inlet surrounded by white beaches, the Park is sheltered from boat wakes so that beginners can acclimate themselves and can safely try out new tricks. A brand-new kicker box makes it even easier for boarders to grab some air and, for advanced riders, fistfuls of cloud.

Nestled in the high branches of Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center, a network of ropes, ladders, and bridges invites amateur adventurers to scurry across their lengths. Although Treetop Quest’s ropes courses hover as high as 55 feet above the ground, guests stay safe thanks to a belay system that’s impossible to detach at canopy level. During self-guided adventures, they encounter more than 70 obstacles, whooshing along ziplines, scaling rope nets, and carefully crossing suspension and monkey bridges. Before guests ascend through the branches, instructors issue them harnesses and gloves and give them a thorough safety briefing. The courses vary in difficulty and height to accommodate all experience levels and ages, allowing visitors as young as 4 to enjoy a challenge, even if it’s just trying to sweet-talk a squirrel into sharing his stash of Corn Nuts.

Amid the excitement, Treetop Quest educates patrons on the surrounding environment through plaques and info boards at each course level. The courses operate sustainably to respect their arboreal hosts; the structures are treatment-free and don’t puncture the trees in any way.

Together, the Snellville indoor field and the Conyers outdoor field make up the paintballer’s paradise known as Wildfire Paintball Games. Within Snellville’s warehouse-like space, gunrunners dive behind walls of corrugated pipes. Overhead netting prevents errant paintballs from splattering the ceiling, and large bunkers akin to oversized beanbags offer temporary cover to players who need to tie their shoes or quickly finish a book report. At Conyers, ramshackle huts and fort-like edifices give snipers a spot to target their opponents. A forested area provides camouflage, and the speedball arena’s regulation-style obstacles stand tall on the grass field as players duck and run.