Tyngsboro, MA Outdoor Activities

At Skydive Pepperell, USPA– and state-licensed and certified instructors acquaint adventurers with the thrill of riding gravity back to the earth's crust. Skydive Pepperell's private, skydiving-only airport claims more than 60 acres for soaring steel birds at heights of 10,500–13,500 feet above ground. Neophyte fliers, harnessed to professionals for tandem jumps, leap from the belly of a DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter and indulge in trendy cloud diets on their way down to the safe, grassy landing area. Daredevils who thrive on the thrum of adrenaline can enroll in accelerated free-fall training, which drills students in the skills necessary for a solo dive. Jumpers can also purchase a DVD and digital stills that show them soaring through the sky while demonstrating ways to repurpose a parachute into a giant stuffed animal. Meanwhile, spectators watch jumps from the open landing area, confident in Skydive Pepperell's impeccable safety record.

The full SkyVenture indoor diving experience is equivalent to skydiving from a height of 13,000 feet six times, making it effective for training skydiving teams and providing ample time to preemptively identify future husbands or wives as life flashes before one’s eyes. The massive tunnel allows participants to float upward on a powerful, recirculating current of wind—rather than leaping from a higher point—so there is no sensation of falling or need to employ an airplane to accomplish the thrill. The recirculating current also allows technicians to keep the inside temperature at comfortable levels. Certified instructors prepare all guests with a brief training session, teaching them techniques for airborne movement, though training programs help more experienced flyers perform flips, rolls, and paper airplane impersonations. An observation deck allows family and friends to cheer on participants and in-flight photographers captures avian-style portraits. SkyVenture's staffers allow almost anyone of reasonable health and fitness to engage in the safe activity, or spin inside the Fishpipe, an inflatable water-filled barrel that sends passengers whirling the distance equivalent to a 1,600-foot waterslide.

The famous fairways at Doral, Sawgrass, and Pebble Beach that make avid golfers salivate are assembled in one place at Lancaster Golf Center, though with one key difference—they’re in miniature. The lilliputian course eschews the windmills and lava pits of normal mini-golf links for smaller replicas of full-sized bunkers and water hazards. Nearby, the center’s driving range challenges golfers to take more forceful swings. Its 78 hitting stations unfurl both natural grass and artificial turf, and there is cover and heating for winter practice as well as illumination for night or when everyone is wearing really dark sunglasses. The practice area also boasts an 8,500-square-foot putting green, a chipping area, and a sand bunker.

Golfers start keeping score at Lancaster's nine-hole executive course, especially at its fifth, sixth, and seventh holes, which compose an Amen Corner that claims 526 of the course’s 1,057 yards. Before trekking across the fairways, players can hone their form during lessons with teaching professionals Dennis Lanciani and Jim Cronin, who boast more than 43 years of combined experience teaching golfers not to illegally attach wings to their balls. As the instructors offer advice, students’ children can entertain themselves at nine batting cages or with bank-shot basketball. Before heading home, visitors of all ages can enjoy a frozen treat from the center's stock of Richardson’s Ice Cream.

The Cape Cod Country Club has been in operation under various names since 1928; today, it continues to offer challenging greens and formidable fairways to all levels of golfers. During their 18 holes of golf (up to a $57 value on summer weekends and holidays), iron-wielders will swing and slice their way down sprawling slopes and beguiling bends as they quest toward Horton Smith–esque levels of links luster. Golfers can get a dogleg up on the competition, including the ghosts of past putters whose spirits will not be at ease until they conquer the tricky eighth green, with the club's course strategy or try to outdrive their drive in an electric-golf-cart rental, included in this deal (a $17 value).

A haven for exotic animals rescued from neglect or abandonment, Animal Adventures lets visitors interact with its furry and scaly refugees, teaching them firsthand to appreciate and respect the earth's diverse wildlife. Working with a rotating cast of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and marsupials, animal experts regale audiences with facts and the backstories of each animal, such as how they were rescued and which cartoon representative of their species best captures their regional accent. Though its denizens regularly find new homes, Animal Adventures's altruistic menagerie has included a massive alligator snapping turtle, a canadian lynx, and an asian water monitor. The sanctuary also offers day camps for youngsters looking to get closer with the animals, and an animal-adoption program for adults looking to support the cause by taking a critter home and putting it through college.