By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Jun 30, 2021 at 6:01 PM

The summer temperatures are climbing, which means it's the perfect time to dive into the cool waters at Bear Paw Beach & Adventure Island. 

Found in Caledonia adjacent to Jellystone Park camp and resort, Bear Paw Beach is a three-acre man-made lake surrounded by sunny sandy beaches – perfect for playing, relaxing or a combination of the two. But the star of this splashy show is Adventure Island, the largest inflatable water obstacle course in the country, a sprawling playtime spectacular filled with monkey bars, tricky climbing games, tall towers perfect for diving, entertaining balance beams and much more. With obstacle after obstacle weaving on top of the water, the inflatable island paradise serves as an ideal place for kids (and kids-at-heart) to reenact their "Ninja Warrior" dreams and aspirations. 

Or, if you're me, more like "Wipeout."

I came ashore Adventure Island recently to learn more about this blown-up bonanza – and, of course, to give it a try for myself on Facebook Live. How'd I do on my aquatic quest? Well, let's dive in – literally, in my case – and see:

Well, at least my cell phone survived and stayed dry. 

I may have lost the race – and pretty much any dignity I had left – but I had a winning time on Adventure Island. For kids, it's a wild, wondrous and wacky way to spend that summer vacation energy – and for adults, it's the most entertaining exercise you could possibly get while also enjoyably living out those nostalgic childhood memories of running around the tubes at Chuck E. Cheese and other play parks. It was certainly a great way to burn a summer afternoon, burn a bunch of calories and – judging by how I handled that monkey bar obstacle – burn any remaining respect the internet may have had for me. 

For those who want to check out Bear Paw Beach & Adventure Island for themselves (you definitely should) and think they can do better than me on the inflatable funhouse (you definitely can), sessions last for 50 minutes, with single excursions and double dips available. For more information on ticket prices, as well as other summer entertainment out by Jellystone, visit their website.

And enjoy soaking up the sun – and getting soaked – someday soon at Bear Paw Beach & Adventure Island this summer!

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.