For many travelers, a memorable getaway now means more than checking into a hotel and spending the weekend beside the pool. They want to get outside, try something unfamiliar, and return home with stories that could not have happened anywhere else.
This interest in active, experience-led travel has also given rise to the “skillcation,” a trip built partly around learning or improving a skill. That might mean taking a sporting clays lesson, working on a golf game, learning to fly-fish, or joining a guided culinary experience.
Set across 3,500 acres in Richmond, Rhode Island, The Preserve Sporting Club & Resort brings these ideas together in one wooded destination. Guests can combine overnight accommodations with sporting activities, outdoor recreation, dining, and wellness without leaving the property.
What Makes an Experiential Outdoor Getaway Different?
A traditional hotel often serves as a base for exploring the surrounding area. At an experiential outdoor destination, the property itself is a central part of the trip.
The best examples offer more than a long activity list. They create opportunities for guests to participate, learn, and shape each day around their interests. A morning might begin on the golf course or sporting clays course, followed by an afternoon hike and an evening at the spa or over dinner.
This type of stay also gives groups more flexibility. Couples do not have to enjoy every activity together, and families do not have to build the entire trip around a single attraction. One guest may want instruction and adventure, while another may prefer swimming, yoga, dining, or a quieter afternoon outdoors.
That balance is central to The Preserve’s identity as a private sporting club and Rhode Island escape.
Sporting and Outdoor Experiences in One Place
The Preserve offers more than 70 activities and experiences across the property. Options include golf, sporting clays, shooting sports, archery, fishing, tennis, hiking, ziplining, rock climbing, kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding, horseback riding, ATVs, and seasonal winter recreation.
Rather than trying to experience everything in one visit, guests can build a stay around a few priorities.
Sporting experiences
Sporting clays are among the property’s most distinctive offerings. The Preserve has several clay-shooting experiences, including a 19-station sporting clays course, along with an indoor range and instruction-based options. Beginners should confirm lesson availability and safety requirements before arriving.
Golfers can play The Mountain Course, an 18-hole par-3 layout designed by Robert McNeil and the Northeast Golf Company. The course also offers a hybrid cross-country configuration, giving players a different experience from a conventional round.
Adventure and recreation
Guests looking for a more active day can explore ziplining, rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, ATV experiences, archery, and seasonal snow activities. Water-based recreation includes fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and paddleboarding.
The variety matters because The Preserve is not built around one sport. Guests can move between structured instruction, independent recreation, and slower time outdoors during the same stay.
A Natural Setting for a Skillcation
A skillcation should offer more than access to an activity. It should give travelers an opportunity to learn through guidance, practice, and hands-on participation.
At The Preserve, lessons and guided experiences can help guests try sporting clays, fishing, horseback riding, or other outdoor pursuits. Fishing lessons and equipment, for example, may be available by request during the operating season.
The same idea can extend beyond traditional outdoor sports. Culinary programming, wellness activities, creative experiences, and seasonal events give guests additional ways to build a trip around curiosity rather than passive sightseeing.
Availability varies, so travelers should review the current activity schedule and reserve priority experiences before their stay. Some offerings are seasonal, carry an additional charge, or depend on membership privileges.
Hunting should not be treated as The Preserve’s primary identity or as a standard activity available to every overnight guest. Access is limited, while the broader sporting-club experience includes golf, clays, fishing, tennis, equestrian activities, and outdoor recreation.
A Rhode Island Escape for Different Generations
Planning a trip for several generations can become an exercise in compromise. Children, parents, and grandparents may have different energy levels, comfort zones, and ideas of a relaxing weekend.
A destination with a broad mix of activities makes it easier for each person to choose a satisfying day. Some family members might head to the golf course or try sporting clays. Others may prefer the pool, a carriage ride, a creative activity, yoga, fishing, or a quiet walk through the property.
The accommodations support that flexibility. Options include rooms and suites at Hilltop Lodge, Townhomes on the Green, Laurel Ridge homes, and several Tiny Home layouts. Larger homes and townhomes provide shared living areas for families and groups, while smaller accommodations can suit couples or shorter stays.
Guests can spend meaningful time together without following the same itinerary from breakfast through dinner.
Balancing Adventure With Time to Unwind
An active getaway works best when there is room to slow down.
The Preserve’s wooded setting offers a sense of privacy that feels different from a busy coastal hotel or urban retreat. After a day outdoors, guests can return to their accommodations, book a treatment at The Hilltop Spa, or settle in for dinner.
The 12,000-square-foot spa offers wellness and beauty treatments that complement the property’s sporting lifestyle.
Dining ranges from Double Barrel Steak to private settings such as the Maker’s Mark Hobbit House and Safari Tent. These distinctive venues add another layer to the stay without competing with the outdoor focus.
Evenings can feel markedly different from the day. After golf, hiking, riding, or shooting sports, guests can shift toward dinner, conversation, and stargazing in the quiet Rhode Island countryside.
What to Look for in an Outdoor Destination
Before choosing a New England outdoor getaway, consider how well the property connects its activities with the rest of the stay.
Ask whether the experiences are located on-site or require additional travel. Review whether instruction is available for beginners and whether there are appropriate options for different ages and ability levels. It is also worth checking which activities are seasonal, which require reservations, and which may be limited by membership or safety requirements.
Accommodations are equally important. A couple planning an active weekend may need something different from a multigenerational family or wedding group. Dining and wellness options can also keep the trip enjoyable when not everyone wants to spend the entire day outdoors.
The strongest experiential destinations make it possible to stay active without turning the getaway into a rigid itinerary.
Plan a Different Kind of New England Stay
The Preserve brings sporting activities, outdoor adventure, hands-on learning, dining, wellness, and overnight accommodations together in one private Rhode Island setting.
Guests can challenge themselves in the morning, slow down in the afternoon, and gather over dinner without leaving the property. For travelers looking for more than a conventional hotel stay, The Preserve offers a distinctive New England escape built around choice, connection, and time outdoors.
Review the current accommodations and activity schedule to begin planning a weekday retreat or weekend stay at The Preserve.
