Colorado Family Travel

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

Mile High Mamas’ Family Trip of the Month: Crested Butte

Last summer, my family embarked upon a roadtrip that highlighted the best that Colorado has to offer. We loved every single destination but Crested Butte was the one standout and is our choice for THE must-visit destination in July. Crested Butte is a haven for outdoor summer activities including hiking, climbing, mountain biking, boating, whitewater rafting, kayaking, fly-fishing, camping and horseback riding. But let’s face it: you’ll find most of these activities at Colorado’s other mountain resorts. There were three things that made Crested Butte one of my family’s favorite all-time vacations: the kid-friendly Crested Butte Music Festival, the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory’s Summer Camp and the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival. Crested Butte Music ...

Top 10 Family-friendly Rafting Trips on Colorado’s Rivers

I love rafting but I have not been since my children were born because I assumed they were too young. I was delighted to discover I was wrong. Mile High Mamas has teamed up with the Colorado River Outfitters Association to bring you a guide to the Top 10 Family-friendly Rafting Trips on Colorado’s Rivers that includes age guidelines. With more than 20 rivers across eight major basins, Colorado families are discovering the world’s largest water park is right in our own backyard. In no particular order, the top rafting opportunities for paddle-happy families are the following: 1. Ruby – Horsethief Canyons, Upper Colorado River Providing breathtaking views of dramatic western Colorado canyons, this tranquil 25-mile stretch just west of Grand Junction is perfect for rafting, inflat...

Golden: The Ultimate Family Staycation Right in Your Backyard

Golden is where every eccentric person who doesn’t reside in Boulder chooses to live. -Jane, the Clear Creek History Park’s “Chicken Mom” I am all about impromptu living and Golden is chock full of it. Visit the Golden Kayak Park on a Wednesday evening in the summer and you will be delighted to witness an unofficial freestyle kayak competition with free schwag and spontaneous tailgate parties. Drop by Woody’s Wood Fired Pizza at 7 p.m. on the last Tuesday of every month and you’ll see an onslaught of bicyclists congregated for the “Golden Cruise” (all ages are invited). I have spent a lot of time in Golden but truly fell in love during my family’s recent 24-hour-long staycation. With the gorgeously-appointed Golden Hotel as our basecamp, we delved into many family-friendly activities in th...

How to Have a Fantastic Road Trip, Even with Kids!

Warmer breezes are blowing. The sun is lingering longer before slipping behind the mountains. Far off locales are tempting us with their siren songs, and even the places in our own backyard are whispering promises of a much-needed retreat. The summer travel season is almost here! Last year, we decided to take advantage of the last bit of the “off-season” as we could, and we took a 12-day road trip in May out to California via The Grand Canyon and back! We explored a mountain hot springs, the desert, some beaches, a theme park, a world-renowned zoo, bustling cities and quiet little mountain towns. We relaxed, hiked, camped, strolled, played and “picked shells” to our hearts’ content. Our trip was a fabulous success, sprinkled with just the right amount of challenges, and i...

Tour de Colorado: Our Picks for Colorado’s Top Destinations for Families

Exactly one year ago today, I published my intentions for my family to visit many of Colorado’s world-class destinations last summer. We enjoyed our Tour de Colorado so much that we will be doing a repeat performance at fan-favorite Crested Butte while also adding glorious Golden and others to the mix. Did you miss Round 1? Be sure to check out our picks for Colorado’s Best-kept Secret, Best Splurge, Best Mountain Festival, Best Mountain Community, Best Dude Ranch, Best Camping and Best Front-range Destination. All of my trip reports embraced The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of family travel. Case in point: locking our keys in the car for three hours. While it was still running. Here is a flashback of our many great travels that I originally published last year (with 2010 updates): BES...

Harry Potter and Disneyland’s World of Color are among new theme parks for Muggles

The biggest news in the theme park world this summer is the June 18 opening of the long-anticipated Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando in Florida. But plenty of other new attractions await theme-park fans elsewhere, including a unique water-and-lights spectacle called World of Color, opening Friday at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and the reopening of the King Kong attraction at Universal Hollywood in Los Angeles. Other highlights this season include Shoot the Rapids, a 2,100-foot-long water ride at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, with an 85-foot drop that simulates whitewater rapids, which opened May 29; and a couple of roller coasters named Intimidator, inspired by NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt’s nickname. One Intimidator opened in March at the Carowinds park on the...

Don’t (Cake)Walk This Way: The Sordid Details of Golden’s New First Friday

I had a complicated relationship with cakewalks as a kid. Meaning: I always wanted to win and yet never did. My family had a glorious staycation in Golden, Colorado last weekend. My trip report and oodles of great giveaways are forthcoming but what cannot wait is my daughter Hurricane Hadley’s introduction to The (Cake)Walk of Doom. Which is only moderately less death-defying than walking the plank. I have spent a lot of time in this idyllic town that is nestled between two volcanic mesas and against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. We stayed at the Golden Hotel overlooking the main drag and gurgling Clear Creek. On Friday night, we attended the city’s “First Friday,” a newly-minted street fair that occurs on the first Friday of each month. We dined on deliciou...

Nederland’s New Carousel of Happiness Makes for a Happy Family Getaway

Nederland, just 17 miles west of Boulder, retains a reputation for being a hippie town, thanks in part to such well-known, offbeat annual events as the jam-friendly music festival NedFest, happening Aug. 28-29, and winter’s wacky Frozen Dead Guy Days. But today at 10 a.m., Nederland launches into a new era of being not just a hippie town, but a happy town, too. That’s when the Carousel of Happiness starts to turn, the calliope begins to play, and the face of this community breaks into a smile. In 1985, Scott Harrison, a Nederland resident, began carving and handpainting carousel animals, and a year later, bought and set about restoring the workings of an old merry-go-round that long ago graced the Saltair amusement park near Salt Lake City. Since then, with determination, inspi...

Glenwood Springs’ Adventure Park On Top of a Mountain (and Win a Family Four-pack of Tickets!)

CONTEST CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO WINNER MARY-FRANCES MAIN AND THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED! Take the world’s largest outdoor mineral hot springs pool, add an adventure park built on top of a mountain, sprinkle in the Roaring Fork Valley’s crimson rocks and emerald forests and what do you have? Glenwood Springs’ matchless Shangri-La. Conveniently located off I-70 between Vail and Aspen, my family has driven through Glenwood Springs multiple times and often marveled at the tram that appeared to go nowhere. Turns out, the Iron Mountain Tramway soars 4,300 feet up Iron Mountain to a big ol’ somewhere: Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. The 135-acre park features guided tours of Glenwood Caverns and Historic Fairy Caves, an alpine coaster, 4-dimensional theater, a laser ...

How the blind led the blonde on the Braille Trail (and a guide to Denver’s Mountain Parks)

Snow in May?!! Let’s face it: very few people welcomed our winter blast last week with the exception of a few hearty souls like me. I am admittedly dysfunctional in that when it snows, all I want to do is ski, hike or run in it. Either that or I’m just Canadian. After I bundled up my kids and sent them to school, I headed to the hills on Wednesday. Destination: The Braille Trail. Located in Genesse, this hike is a small cut of paradise in Denver’s largest mountain park. My kids and I have hiked most of the trails along Denver’s front range with the exception of this one. I figured the 1-mile loop through a wooded grove would be perfect for a snowy day. The Braille Trail’s access is off the Chief Hosa Exit 153 on I-70. My directions then told me to turn right o...

Explore Colorado With Fun Outdoor Events From Planet Explore

With Spring’s glorious temperatures, Colorado is a joy to explore. The North Face has made outdoor participation a priority with Planet Explore a portal to the outdoors for people of all ages to find outdoor events in their area. In Denver, Planet Explore has teamed up with the Audubon Society of Greater Denver, the Blufflake Nature Center, Trips for Kids Denver/Boulder, Big City Mountaineers and Environmental Learning for Kids to help promote these fantastic events. 1) Bluff Lake Nature Center has planned several events that will help you celebrate Earth Day. Wednesday, April 21: STARGAZING. The Bluff Lake Nature Center will kick off Earth Day events on April 21 with a members-only event at dusk. An amateur Astronomer will bring his telescopes to Bluff Lake and share the wonders of ...

Snowmass: Inspiring Olympic Aspirations in Families + Win 4 Ski Passes!

Aspen has a couple of things working against it: exorbitant prices and a reputation for misbehaving celebrities such as Charlie Sheen and those on VH1’s controversial Secrets of Aspen. Fortunately, it has even more going for it. My family visited Snowmass for the first time last weekend. I was eager to try the largest of Aspen Ski Company’s highly acclaimed four resorts but I was also worried I wouldn’t fit in. I don’t own fur and my nails haven’t seen a manicure since those fake nails I wore to my high school graduation. Turns out, it didn’t matter. I was, after all, at a world-class ski resort. I just wore gloves the entire time. The Mountain If you have kids, there is nothing greater than Snowmass’ 25,000-square-foot Tree House Kid’s Adventure Center. The $17 million facility stands as ...