Wrentham, MA Outdoor Activities

In 1958, Ryan Family Amusements founder James A. Ryan opened a simple, eight-lane bowling alley, planting the foundation for a slew of entertainment centers throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. At 10 locations, visitors enjoy a variety of arcade and skill games in addition to traditional candlepin, tenpin, or duckpin bowling. Every Friday and Saturday evening from 9 p.m. until midnight, bowling lanes take on an incandescent glow, allowing bowlers to experience futuristic entertainment without the inconvenience of rising jetpack-fuel prices. Bumper bowling is available for younger players, and an onsite concession stand refreshes responsible adults with glasses of beer and wine.

The Kingsbury Club, a multi-purpose health facility with a restaurant and multiple fitness/athletics options, ups the net worth of humankind with tennis programs for both raw and rehearsed racketeers. With the one-hour private tennis lesson ($78), taught by a certified senior tennis professional, and a one-day guest admittance ($15) to the Kingsbury Club, guests will refine backhands, polish up volleys, and learn how to properly grunt in spite of headband-wrought cranial pressure. The instructor will offer tips and suggestions on techniques and skills, helping students polish giant-scale ping-pong ability in time for summer's street-corner tennis showdowns.

At the center of The Water Hazard Mini Golf's three-acre course, a 35-foot geyser erupts, knocking away incoming golf balls and sprinkling sun-baked putters with a refreshing mist. The expansive course owes many of its obstacles to the natural layout of the Holliston landscape. Flourishing bushes sit between holes and three large ponds break up the terrain while giving golfers glimpses of the sunbathing turtles and soft-shoeing frogs dotting its banks. A waterfall system nearly 500 feet in length also meanders throughout the property. Rolling hills, ridges, and a grand 120-foot slope also challenge golfers. The Water Hazard Mini Golf also features a full-service concession stand, which serves hot dogs, hamburgers, and homemade ice cream from Bliss Dairy.

A plethora of mock-rock climbing challenges populates The Spot Bouldering Gym with 10,000 square feet of vertical obstacles. Rock climbers can spend all day scaling man-made mountains up to 18 feet high, gripping massive boulders made in the image of Hueco, Fontainebleau, and Abraham Lincoln's nose. Other trials include the gravity-fighting 25-foot roped wall, an assortment of muscle-mightying training equipment, and cushy flooring for seamless dismounts. No experience is necessary to tackle the upright obstacles at The Spot; the congenial crew eagerly shares climbing tips and creates encouraging victory pyramids.

The phosphorescent, indoor landscape at Monster Mini Golf immerses putters in an eerie universe that inverts the sun-soaked cheer of conventional courses. Rimmed in glowing green barriers, 18 holes lure swingers of all sizes to challenge their coordination and resolve in the face of winged monsters, scowling animated trees, a creepy clown, and their opponents' shockingly dazzling smiles. Sheltered from searing rain and howling wind, the indoor course enables play around hazards such as a spell well and luminous, ghostly windmill at any time of the year. An in-house radio station and DJ mask the sound of pounding hearts with lively beats and course commentary, and golfers looking for additional glory can win prizes by participating in regular contests or at the onsite arcade.

Home of the Babson College Beavers, and thus naturally formed by a dam made from half-chewed hockey sticks, the frozen expanse of Babson Skating Center provides plenty of space for skaters to etch figure eights in its smooth, glistening surface. Professional instructors impart skills in hockey and figure-skating lessons for all experience levels and ages, and public skating or pickup hockey matches allow students to test their newfound skills. Off the ice, the onsite skate shop's staff sharpens skates and keeps mouth guards, laces, and tape on hand in case hockey coaches need to fix up their injured starting mannequin.