Family Travel

Check-out oodles of adventures in Colorado including where to find the best family travel getaways & Denver kid friendly activities.

Subaru Legacy Test Drive: Four days of Colorado adventures

My SUV is 12 years old so my family is in the market for a new vehicle.  Over the next couple of months, we’ll be test driving and sharing our experiences on our road to purchasing kid-friendly transportation–the good, the bad and the ugly. Because really, isn’t family travel a bit of all three? I’ve never driven a Subaru so I was game when they offered to have me drive the 2015 Legacy for a few days. However, when the car pulled up to my house, I astutely observed, “That’s not a Subaru.” Admittedly, my only associations with Subaru have been with the Forester and Outback, a.k.a. The Official Cars of Boulder (or it would appear that way because it seems the majority of the population owns one). But I was happily s...

Fourth Graders: Get Your Free National Park Pass NOW for “Every Kid in a Park”

Hey fourth graders: Do you want to see America’s natural wonders and historic sites for free? Earlier this year, the “Every Kid in a Park” initiative was announced that all fourth grade students and their families would have free admission to National Parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges and waters for a full year starting in the 2015-2016 school year. That day has come so grab your fourth grader and be sure to sign up now at https://everykidinapark.gov/. Start by clicking Get Your Pass Start Your Adventure Now   Click Start and then choose your adventure. It could be Go On a Nature Walk, Time Travel or Go Swimming. Whatever adventure you choose, follow the prompts until you reach your destination: Simply print your pass and enjoy ...

Girl’s Weekend: Getting down and dirty at Mudderella in Snowmass

Mile High Mamas participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Mudderella. We received complimentary admission to facilitate our review as well as a promotional item to thank us for our participation. When I was invited to compete at Mudderella in Snowmass with three friends, my first thought was GIRL’S WEEKEND. I’ve never done a girl’s-only getaway and it was the perfect motivation to stay in shape this summer while training for this 5-7-mile athletic event series that encourages being strong, having fun and enjoying the day with your gal pals. I asked my friends Lisa, Kendra and Tiffanie to join me and the hundreds of other women having the Ultimate Girl’s Weekend in Snowmass!  We dined slopeside...

Family Travel: 48 Hours In Aspen on a Budget

As an idealist planning a family vacation, I have a tendency towards Clark Griswold-level expectations.  I envision our family strolling hand-in-hand down a picturesque cobbled-stone street, and quiet children happily entertained as my husband and I read poetry at sunset with evening cocktails.  As laughable as this apparition may be to parents of young children, I found Aspen to be a significant realization of this elusive specter.  Known as the playground for the rich and famous, Aspen also has a growing reputation as an affordable luxury family retreat.  We had the weekend free and wanted to see for ourselves what this alpine mecca had to offer.  Aspen On A Budget Parks Yes, Aspen offers Prada and Gucci.  No, this is not recommended for a fun family activit...

Kids Adventure Games: One parent’s (poor) attempt to keep up in “Coolest Kids Race on the Planet”

“Mom, stop being part of the paparazzi. You’re taking too many pictures!” My daughter Hadley joked as I snapped my camera yet again while she soared across Gore Creek on a zipline.   But I couldn’t stop because she kept right on going in the Kids Adventure Games where kids, ages 6 through 14, experience the thrill of adventure racing in Vail, Colo. And believe me, it was thrilling as you can see from our video: My children have participated in a number of sporting events but never anything that pushed them to their limits while emphasizing the important of teamwork, problem solving and fun as teams of two tackled a variety of challenges.  From the get-go, this race was different. Prior to getting outfitted ...

Family travel: Where to stay, play and eat in Vail, Colorado

I’m assuredly the last person in Colorado to stay and play in Vail so my family’s quick 24-hour trip for the Kids Adventure Games was only a drop in a bucket flooding with possibilities in this resort town located  in the central Rocky Mountains just 100 miles west of Denver. Vail may be a world-class winter wonderland  but in the summer, the pedestrian villages in the three lively base areas are a labyrinth of cobblestone streets with charming plazas that are teaming with playgrounds, fountains, charming shops, a susurrus of conversation, jubilant kids on bikes and an avalanche of flowers spilling out of hanging baskets.  PLAY I tapped into my Vail-dwelling mom friend Kelly Leathers for her summer recommendations for families. ...

My Daughter’s First 14er: A Beginner’s Guide to Climbing Colorado’s Rooftop

My 11-year-old daughter Hadley has always been a strong hiker but I was surprised when she announced she wanted a climb a 14er this summer. I was a bit worried about her readiness but mostly about my own. I’ve “bagged” a dozen of Colorado’s  54 peaks that rise 14,000+ feet above sea level but it has been several years since my last climb.  In the interim, I’ve grown dazzlingly wiser, impressively slower and more cognizant of my own mortality because, if you’ve ever climbed a 14er, you know there are moments when you feel like you’re going to die (or that death might be more enjoyable than this). Most mountaineering enthusiasts recommend starting with Mt. Bierstadt or Grays Peak but we opted to hike 14,036 Mou...

Great Wolf Lodge Announces its First Colorado Resort

 Families in Colorado will soon have something new to howl about. Great Wolf Resorts, Inc., North America’s largest family of indoor water park resorts, announced it is expanding its paw print to the Centennial State. Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs will be a first-class destination resort, providing families with more than 380,000 square feet of entertainment offerings and lodging amenities to enjoy, all under one roof. The centerpiece of the resort will be more than 65,000 square feet of indoor water park fun, the largest in the state. With signature Great Wolf Lodge water rides and attractions, including the thrilling five-story funnel slide, Howlin’ Tornado™; Slap Tail Pond® wave pool and Fort Mackenzie® – a multi-level interactive tree house with a massive tipping water bucket ...

Family travel: 10 of Colorado’s most scenic waterfall hikes

Sometimes the best satisfaction at the end of a tough hike, besides that “ah, I’ve made it!” moment, is being greeted with amazing views. And nothing quite adds to the views of stunning mountain valleys and peaks like a tall, cascading waterfall. Colorado is filled with beautiful mountain waterfalls that are not to be missed. From one of the state’s most visited waterfalls, Hanging Lake in Glenwood Springs, to the tallest free falling falls in Colorado, Bridal Veil Falls, here is a sampling of some local favorites that are well worth the trek.   Alberta Falls (Estes Park). The 1.7-mile (roundtrip) Alberta Falls hike, named for Alberta Sprague, wife of Abner Sprague who was one of the original settlers in the area, is an easy but beautiful hike for the summer and fall. The aspen g...

Family Travel: 8 Ways Colorado Springs and Royal Gorge Rock

Colorado Springs, how many ways does my family love to explore you? More than 8! Here are our travel tips for 1, 2, and 3 day trips.

Hiking Adventures at Maxwell Falls in Evergreen

As much as my family loves the outdoors, they enjoy their technology, too. So when I suggested we participate in Cabela’s Disconnect Day, there was a mixed response and surprisingly, the push-back was mostly from my husband who loves his TV time in the evenings.  This isn’t the first time we’ve been challenged to disconnect. Earlier this year, my daughter’s school encouraged families to go for one evening without technology and electricity. We failed. Ever since then I’ve realized just how dependent we are upon modern conveniences. We went camping at Brainard Lake in June so that was my family’s official Disconnect Day but my kids and I recently had another memorable day where we unplugged with friends in the most beautiful ...

Family travel: Winter Park in the Summertime

Each year, we dutifully purchase our annual ski passes like good Front Range, Colorado residents. We moved to Colorado three years ago and we are just now getting to the point where we don’t say, “well, we just moved here” when we meet someone new. My husband had skied and snowboarded for years but the rest of the family had only spent time in the snow white sands of Pensacola Beach, Florida where we lived for fifteen years before moving here. We all learned how to ski in our first winter here and fell in love with it. Though we return to the mountains most weekend days during the winter, we didn’t realize that there really is something to the saying about people coming to the mountains for the winters but staying for the summers. Summer at Winter Park We chose to visit Winter Park Resort ...