Ace Adventure Resort
Oak Hill, West Virginia
There may be no better place for white-water rafting in America than West Virginia, and Ace Adventure Resort in Oak Hill offers seamless ways for groups to enjoy rafting and other adventure opportunities in this mountainous state.
“Ace is a 1,500-acre outdoor adventure resort that has its roots in white-water rafting,” said Dave Bassage, the resort’s chief of staff. “We do that on the New River and the Gauley River. Rafting here ranges from mild to wild. We do stuff on the famous Upper Gauley River that people come from all over the world to run.”
Any group that spends time at Ace is sure to include a rafting trip in the experience. That can take place on the New River, which features Class III and IV rapids from March through November, or the Gauley River, which boasts world-class rafting for six weeks after Labor Day.
“We can do rafting trips a variety of ways,” Bassage said. “The most popular is a full-day trip, which includes about six hours on the river and lunch. We also have an express trip on the New River that is two to three hours instead of six. And we do overnight trips that go down the Upper and Lower Gauley River. There is a hot meal waiting for you, and tents have already been set up.”
Besides rafting, groups can opt for guided hikes on dozens of miles of trails that connect to park service land in the New River Gorge National River area. Other activities include paintball courses, water sports, rock climbing, kayaking instruction, mountain biking and stand-up paddleboarding.
The resort has a wide variety of accommodations, from primitive camping and permanent tents to bunkhouses and deluxe cabins with hot tubs.
Fair Hills Resort
Detroit Lakes, Minnesota
Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, and at least 1,000 of them are located in Becker County in the northwest part of the state. Among those is Pelican Lake, home of Fair Hills Resort. This traditional, family-focused resort offers numerous activities and entertainment and is located about two hours east of Fargo, North Dakota.
“We’re one of the few American-plan, all-inclusive resorts in this part of the country,” said the resort’s Beth Schupp. “Our people typically come from Saturday through Saturday.”
As part of the all-inclusive plan, guests have access to a variety of activity types, many centered around Pelican Lake. The resort staff offers free waterskiing, wakeboarding and sailing lessons every weekday. Sports are a big part of the appeal, too; guests can try inventive new sports such as pickleball, a sort of hybrid between Ping-Pong and traditional tennis, or take lessons with golf or tennis pros to bone up on their skills.
“We like to always encourage people to try something new,” Schupp said. “Something like sailing lessons isn’t always available at home, and unless you own one or belong to a yacht club, it’s hard to just take a sailboat out. We have very easy-to-sail catamarans.”
Accommodations at the resort consist of 12 rooms in the main lodge as well as more than 80 rooms spread out in cabins throughout the property.
In addition to the water sports, games and other activities and meals included, Fair Hills Resort has a heritage of including entertainment for guests.
“A lot of the staff we hire is musically or theatrically based,” Schupp said. “They wait tables and clean tables, but they also perform. We have a marching band, and we do a little parade every Monday or Thursday. We also have a hootenanny, which is a sort of variety show that the staff puts on with a lot of music, skits and dancing. We just finished our 51st year of doing hootenannies here.”
Skytop Lodge
Skytop, Pennsylvania
In the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, Skytop Lodge carries on a long tradition of combining luxury accommodation with outdoor activity.
“We’ve been here since 1928,” said Chelsea Santamaria, the resort’s sales and marketing coordinator. “One of the most unique things about us is that we’re part of the Historic Hotels of America. We have a lot of families that come here generation after generation. It’s a tradition, and that’s part of who we are and what we do.”
Though the property originally began as a private club, it is now open to the public, which can come to enjoy a variety of activities in its creek, waterfalls and man-made lake. Water fun includes kayaking, rowboats and paddleboats, along with a lake trampoline and inflatable waterslides. And aquatic activities are only the beginning of the opportunities for adventure at the resort.
“We’re open all seasons, so we have summer, winter, fall and spring activities,” Santamaria said. “In the summer, we have all kinds of stuff at our adventure center, like the treetop adventure course, rock climbing and paintball. In the winter, we have skiing, tubing and our toboggan run, which shoots out onto our frozen lake. It’s one of only four toboggan runs in the Northeast.”
Groups can arrange to take guided wildlife hikes on the 5,500-acre resort with the staff naturalist, who can introduce them to various animals native to the mountains of Pennsylvania.
Most of the resort’s rooms are in the main lodge, where each is decorated uniquely to highlight an aspect of the property’s history. There are a number of restaurants on the property, including a formal dining room that serves four-course meals and requires dress clothes. A la carte and all-inclusive meal plans are available for groups.
