Up, down and all around Colorado, it’s easy and fun to take the kids along on an adventure. With a hearty mix of rambunctious and fascinating activities and attractions to explore together, families can make memories they’ll savor for years to come.
Here are some multi-generational delights to discover.
Fruita
Out on the Western Slope, alongside both the magnificent Colorado National Monument and the Colorado River, Fruita is a small-town family dream destination where cycling enthusiasts, aquatic adventurers, hikers and dinosaur lovers converge.
With breathtaking red rock canyons and glorious desert terrain, Fruita is a cycling paradise. The local trails are beloved by mountain bikers, and visitors will also find a range of gravel and road biking options for all ability levels, including the paved Fruita section of the Riverfront Trail. Colorado Backcountry Biker can provide rentals and route suggestions for the whole family.
For nature lovers, a one-mile roundtrip hike on Otto’s Trail in Colorado National Monument is a perfect choice, with eye-popping views overlooking Independence Monument. When you’re done, you can go horseback riding, river rafting, kayaking, or paddleboarding with Rimrock Adventures, then grab a campsite at James M. Robb Colorado River State Park.
If you dig dinosaurs, Fruita has plenty to explore. Check out the robotic dinosaurs, earthquake simulator, interactive displays, and locally unearthed skeletons and fossils at the Dinosaur Journey Museum. Kids can even sign up to dig with paleontologists on expeditions lasting from a half-day to multiple days. Nearby, the Dinosaur Hill Trail is a kid-friendly, one-mile hiking loop in an area where an Apatosaurus skeleton was found in 1901.
Glenwood Springs
There’s plenty of splashy family fun where the Roaring Fork and Colorado rivers meet in Glenwood Springs. Aquatic attractions, including the historic Glenwood Hot Springs Resort and 35-pool Iron Mountain Hot Springs, offer a mind-boggling variety of hot spring pools, mineral baths, therapy pools, tube rides, slides, fountains, cold plunges, and more.
For high-altitude thrills at an elevation of 7,160 feet on Iron Mountain, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is an amusement park where visitors can tour caves that are over one million years old, play laser tag, search for hidden trolls, visit the 4D Motion Theater, try a roller coaster (the Wild West Express is geared toward younger kids), ride the Mine Wheel Ferris wheel, Giant Canyon Swing, or brave the Crystal Tower’s freefall.
KidVentures is an indoor playground perfect for the rambunctious crowd, with separate activity zones designed for different ages, from the gentle Tiny Explorers (0 to 3) to higher energy KidVentures (4-12) or big-kid action of the Adventure Course (7-16).
Active families can bike the Rio Grande Trail or the Glenwood Canyon Recreation Trail, hike the Doc Holliday Memorial Trail, go river rafting or fishing, and then wrap up the day with a rollicking live dinner theatre show at the Glenwood Vaudeville Revue.
Vail
Vail is a year-round, mountain adventure basecamp with a delightful Tyrolean village atmosphere and laid-back, walkable ease. Families can stroll, shop, dine, hop on a bike, attend an open-air concert at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater or bask in the glow of ski and snowboard glory at the Colorado Snowsports Museum.
Whiz down the mountain on the Forest Flyer alpine coaster, take a trail ride on horseback with Vail Stables, cast a line on a guided fly-fishing excursion with Minturn Anglers or hike with a gentle pack llama on a Paragon Guides backcountry tour. At the beautifully blooming Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, challenge the kids with a self-guided scavenger hunt, visit the Discovery Cart in the Children’s Garden for fun activities or stop by the adorable Betty’s Market playhouse.
Vail’s expert adventure outfitters can tailor their activities to each family’s interests. “Peak Indulgence” is a guided Jeep expedition by Vail 4×4 Tours that heads into the high-alpine terrain for a chef-prepared picnic on a mountaintop. A guided Black Tie bike tour, “Ride to Renewal,” includes refreshing outdoor yoga and sound bath experiences and the “Seasoned by Nature” walk, led by a naturalist from the Walking Mountains Science Center, examines alpine ecology among the forests and wildflowers of the Vail Valley, with a fresh-air meal by Picnic Vail at the end of the trail. Families can also hop on the Eagle Bahn gondola to check out the interactive exhibits at the Nature Discovery Center, tucked into a wonder-filled yurt on top of Vail Mountain.
Still have energy to burn? Vail’s imaginative playgrounds are extra-cool, including Pirate Ship Park at the base of Gondola One, Sunbird Park, where kids can explore a trio of giant birds’ nests, and Cloud Park, where musical chimes hang ready for ringing.
Colorado Springs
At the base of Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs offers a feast of family adventures. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is a wild and welcoming destination where visitors can watch or interact with animals, including feeding giraffes and hydrating elephants. Critter lovers will also go bug-eyed over the incredible insect collection of the May Natural History Museum, with a creepy, crawly collection of 7,000-plus species of beetles, moths, spiders, butterflies, scorpions and more. Get your hands wet at the Jungle Reef Aquarium, where families can feed and touch stingrays, and enjoy up-close interactions with fish, reptiles and birds.
To explore more natural wonders, hop aboard the bright-red train to the stunning summit of Pikes Peak with The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway or marvel at the towering red rock formations of the awe-inspiring Garden of the Gods. The Space Foundation Discovery Center is a mind-blowing, cosmic adventure zone, and the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center, in Woodland Park, is a kid-friendly Cretaceous period museum with fossil skeletons and a working paleontology lab.
As the home of the Olympic Training Center and U.S. Olympic Committee, Colorado Springs also boasts a mighty Olympic reputation. Salute your sports heroes and inspire your own inner athlete at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum.
In Manitou Springs, the Cave of the Winds Mountain Park is a family fun extravaganza, with ropes courses, aerial rides, climbing walls, Stalactykes Adventure Slide, zip lines, and a Via Ferrata. Venture into the Cave of the Winds on a Discovery Tour or, if you’re feeling brave, try a Haunted Lantern Tour (for kids age eight and above). Consider a pitstop at the eight-building Manitou Springs Penny Arcade, with over 400 tempting vintage and modern games.
Breckenridge
Combining vintage, small-town charm with big-time outdoor adventures, Breckenridge is a family-friendly Rocky Mountain gem on the edge of the Tenmile Range.
Perched at 9,600 feet above sea level, Breckenridge’s kid-focused activities include horseback riding, pumpkin wagon, and sleigh rides at Breckenridge Stables, summer dog sledding with Good Times Adventures, biking on the paved Blue River Recreation Path (it connects to the extensive Summit County Recreational Pathway System) and hiking on Breckenridge’s scenic paths (some accessible by wheelchair), including the Trollstigen Trail that leads to a giant wooden troll named Isak Heartstone, created by artist Thomas Dambo.
If your family loves art, crafts, and music-making, Breck Create has you covered, with an innovative schedule of classes and workshops, plus performances and films. And the Children’s Museum at the Mountain Top Explorium is a hive of interactive fun, with a kid-focused STEM Lab, Wonder Lab, Mountain Top Medical Center, Creation Station, Studio Imagination, Kidstruction Zone and hands-on wildlife exhibit.
At the historic Country Boy Mine, kids can don a helmet and venture over 1,000 feet into the dark mine, pan for gold, grab a map and a metal detector for an outdoor treasure hunt or head for the hills on a monster truck hayride.
Know Before You Go
For those families traveling with special needs, there are plenty of handy planning resources available, including details on accessibility at the Colorado National Monument and Fruita’s Dinosaur Journey Museum’s monthly Sensory Hour, a guide to accessible and inclusive Glenwood Springs activities, information on Vail’s accessible experiences, a helpful list of family-friendly, neuro-inclusive activities and programs offered in Colorado Springs and Breckenridge’s accessibility guide. The Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center, proudly celebrating its 50th anniversary, also organizes year-round programs for children and adults of all abilities.
