Things to Do in Waconia

Upon stepping off their boats, soldiers storm the beach and attempt to take over a foreign stretch of land. It's no mistake that this image might conjure up echoes of D-day—Special Forces Paintball's primary scenario reenacts the infamous Battle of Normandy. Real army trucks escort players to a central base camp before they ride boats to the beach, huddle in trenches, and defend their flag by laminating it atop multilevel bunkers. The facility's four wooded fields—spread out across 40 acres—accommodate players during 2-, 3-, or 4-hour private paintball, airsoft, and laser bouts or 5.5-hour walk-on games.

Outdoor enthusiasts Dan and Sandra Meer equip adventurers with canoes, kayaks, and stand-up paddleboards to explore a 60-mile stretch of the Mississippi River whose picturesque shores have been designated wild and scenic by the Department of Natural Resources. “One group we sent out on just a two- or three-hour trip counted 12 eagles,” Dan says, marveling at the myriad wild turkeys, muskrats, and deer that often congregate along the protected waterway to gossip about bald eagles’ unconvincing hair plugs. Gleaming schools of small-mouth bass lure fishermen to the rippling waters, and plentiful sandbars and shallow depths also beckon younger explorers. “We want to get kids involved,” says Dan—himself a former Boy Scout and now the father of two more Scouts. “Get them away from their screens.”

He and his wife entice those youths, and older adventurers as well, with day trips in canoes and kayaks whose hulls are made in nearby Wenonah. For overnight jaunts down the river, the couple rents both vessels and camping gear, and at their store—housed in an old creamery building on the riverbank—they sell new and used canoes and kayaks to dedicated paddlers who know the river so well they can fall asleep while swimming across it.