The Colony, TX Outdoor Activities

Canyons Climbing Gym, a climbing center plastered in hand-and-foot holds top to bottom, challenges guests with 80 bouldering obstacles and 90 top-rope and lead-climbing routes fit for all skill levels. Once safely strapped into a harness, climbers make their way up one of the various routes, building up bicep strength by resisting gravity’s pull more forcefully than a jet-propelled magic carpet. Eighty obstacles bedeck the facility’s climbing floor, allowing guests to also try their hand at climbing rounded rock faces without the use of a rope.

Boasting more than 26 years in the aviation industry, Breeze Balloons' pilots expertly harness the wind to soar riders over north and east Texas in multihued hot-air vehicles. Pilots helm various sized balloons, which accommodate twosomes or let groups as large as 30 high-five Texan clouds. Pilots also do double duty as safety-training instructors, helping other hot air balloon pilots maintain Breeze Balloons' zero-safety-issue record.

The members of The National MudRunners Association strive to build challenging and entertaining obstacle courses with their medium of choice—mud—motivating participants to get fit while having fun and getting filthy. Each of their events attracts nearly 14,000 participants, who sprint across muddy terrain, climb over walls, and splash through muddy pools of water created by dinosaur footprints. After crossing the finish line, dirt-caked participants can amble into the event's post-race area to pick up their medal, grab a T-shirt, stroll around vendor booths, and dry off while soaking in live music. Committed to giving back to the community, The National MudRunners Association gives a portion of its events' proceeds to charitable organizations, which have included the American Red Cross.

Indoor Safari Park embodies childhood dreams of the Serengeti with a varicolored landscape of tropical murals, plush jungle creatures, and both educational and entertaining activities. Cerebral toys teach little tykes the basics of numbers and colors, and wooden train sets review the basic origins of interstate commerce. Around the facility, mechanical elephants and zebras trot through a safe indoor jungle beneath giggling children and a kid-size, primary-colored train chugs to life around a palm-flanked track. On an obstacle-flecked mini-golf course, prehistoric creatures guard the borders of each pin and avoid the ball pits that colorfully resemble the meteorites of their ancestors' demise. Age limits become obsolete with a specific play area for toddlers, and a huge retail area generously yields gift ideas to stumped shoppers.

Between voyages, Making Waves Boat Club’s fleet of watercrafts bobs cheerfully upon glistening marina waters as staffers scrub their hulls to a shine and fine-tune their motors, performing regular checkups. Each meticulously maintained vessel helps fulfill Making Waves’ mission—to grant aquatic enthusiasts a chance to explore local waterways without the hassles involved in boat ownership such as repairs, bills, and carpooling requests from neighborhood pirates. Each rental gives boaters the freedom to float wherever they choose as they spend a day in the sun, play watersports, and feel breezes that seem to come out just for them.

Originally leased from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1988, Meadowmere Park welcomes its guests to 250 acres of parklands and lakefront ripe for outdoor activities. As kayaks and paddleboats launch into Lake Grapevine and float across 8,000 acres of water, miles of trails surrounding the lake allow visitors to run, bike, and set world somersault records. As the evening sets in, tents sit beneath twinkling stars at campsites along sandy beaches, and special events unfold at a waterfront pavilion.