Terre Haute, IN Outdoor Activities

Course architect Timothy Liddy designed The Trophy Club's 247-acre course, which Golf Digest recently ranked as Indiana’s Best Public Course in 2008. Prairie Creek stream meanders throughout the links-style course, which is characterized by open fairways framed by native grasses, mounded terrain, and deep bunkers. The course kicks off with a par 4 and before reaching the most difficult stretch at hole 6, whose treacherous bunker lures dimpled orbs away from their destination with ample sunlight and free tanning lotion. Blue and fescue grasses create slick putting surfaces on each green, sparing players the need to unroll their own green carpets for putting through their final strokes. After a day of chipping and driving, golfers can refuel in the clubhouse with sandwiches, hot dogs, and frosty brews at the Hogan Bar and Grill.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Length of 7,208 yards from the farthest set of tees
• Course rating of 74.0 from the farthest set of tees
• Slope rating of 131 from the farthest set of tees
• See photos and stats for each hole.

The Hunter family knows bees. At their family-owned and operated farm, they continue a more than 100-year-old tradition of producing honey and honey-related products. Managing several hundred hives across the state of Indiana, Hunter farms produce honey, beeswax, bee pollen, and propolis, which is used to make everything from beeswax soap and lip balm to honey hot-wing sauce and 32 different flavors of honey sticks.

Guided tours of the honey farm teach groups of all sizes and ages about the work of the honeybee, while forestry tours introduce tourists to the farm’s 65 acres of hardwood. The beehive tour lets guests shadow a beekeeper on the job while "Flight of the Bumblebee" plays on repeat in their heads. The Worker Special tour includes even more hands-on learning, teaching visitors how to roll their own beeswax candle and fill bear-shaped containers with honey.

Illinois Skydiving Center trains aspiring daredevils through a trio of tandem, static-line, and accelerated-free-fall classes. AFF classes teach solo skills under the direction of instructors and coaches who jump with you, teaching stability and proper deployment skills. Static-line progression jumps prepare sky mavens for the pressures of a solo career with an ascending series of jumps that impart the art of free fall. During tandem jumps, students are strapped to a certified instructor who pulls the cord and directs the movements of parachute as guests take in breathtaking views of the landscape, local tributaries, and central-state volcanoes before feet land safely on the ground.

Great Urban Race sends teams of two or four on adventure courses that zigzag through major metro areas. Following the trail left by 12 clues or the scent of other, pot-roast-bearing racers, the 4- to 8-mile trek takes anywhere between one and a half to five hours to complete. Along the way, pairs will be called to complete brawn- or brain-based feats that may include everything from solving cryptograms and riddles to taking tae kwon do lessons. Race organizers invite teams to dress up, and they hand out an award for best costume after teams cross the finish line. Top race finishers take home a $300 prize and free entry into the national championship race, which rewards winners with their choice of $10,000 or a lifetime supply of thimbles. All racers take home a T-shirt, munch on post-finish refreshments, and can imbibe a free beer if they’re of age.

Red Frog Events, the organizers of Great Urban Race, encourage participants to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by donating $10 to each participant that registers as a St. Jude Hero. Only teams that raise the suggested $250 will be eligible for special race-day awards, which are given out to the first Heroes team to cross the finish line as well as the team with the highest fundraising total.

Paradise Rental Boats carefully curates fleets of Yamaha, Bayliner, and Sun Tracker boats, so that sun-kissed riders can jet across the sparkling waters of Indiana’s Lake Monroe and Georgia’s Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona at their leisure. The company's vessels range from party barges and yachts—which hold groups of up to 26—to the smaller, two-person WaveRunner, whose highly responsive steering suits drivers trying to chase down and catch their fish dinner. Onboard radios and CD players let mariners groove to their favorite tunes, and the company also rents optional accessories for water sports, such as wakeboards, water skis, and artificial bait for licensed fishermen.

There are bears at Jellystone Park at Lake Monroe—two of them, to be precise. They hang around the flag pole each morning, loom during story time just before bed, pose for photos with children, and, almost always, dress in dapper neckties.

Yogi Bear and Boo Boo, Jellystone’s resident ursine population, welcome families to campgrounds that lie under a canopy of trees near the shores of Lake Monroe. Rustically inclined campers can set up tents deep in the woods, and nearly 100 pull-through campsites offer electric, water, and sewer hookups. For camping with access to modern amenities, there are spacious cabins built to withstand the mightiest huffing and puffing from the mascots' cartoon enemies.

Pools, mini golf, and hiking trails fuel hours of family fun, which includes a snowball toss during Christmas in July and a pudding wrestling match during the Death by Chocolate weekend. [Located] 15 minutes south of Bloomington, the campground can form a launch pad for excursions to golf courses, wineries, and other cultural attractions near Indiana University Bloomington.