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Activities for families traveling in Colorado
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A ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park takes a group of families on a nature hike.
Colorado is a state for getting the kids up and getting them going. Whether a family traveling in Colorado wants fresh air and sunshine outdoors, or the excitement of learning new things indoors, the Centennial State has a huge variety of options.
Outdoor Activities for Families
Colorado is known for its outdoor activities. When families plan their vacations in the state, most often they are looking for opportunities to enjoy the great climate and outstanding scenery. For them, getting a taste of nature is what traveling in Colorado is all about.
Skiing
Skiing is perhaps the most famous outdoor family activity in Colorado. Twenty-three major ski areas provide a huge variety of choices for families with kids who ski and snow board. Whether your kids are hard-skiing monsters diving down the hardest black diamond runs or are just beginning on the bunny slopes, most ski areas in Colorado can accommodate their style.
Hiking
Hiking, on the other hand, is a more egalitarian activity, that requires a lot less equipment and expense. With sturdy pair of shoes or boots, a lunch and a water bottle, and you can enjoy thousands of short trails, some right through urban areas. Hiking in Colorado with kids on more extended trails takes only slightly more preparation, and the rewards in fresh air, sunshine, exercise, scenic beauty, and shared experience with the family are huge.
River Running
Whitewater rafting is only one of the types of great river running that Colorado offers to vacationing families. From the extreme so-called “hair runs” (few or no people have survived these sections), to silky-smooth meanders, Colorado rivers have every type of personality imaginable. What type of river running you choose depends on the ages and swimming ability of your children, their tolerance of adversity, and what features you want. Some river trips provide thrills and chills (literally, when the snowmelt water splashes over you), while others may be more contemplative, while others offer outstanding scenery. You may be in a raft where the guide does all the work at the oars, rowing the boat down the river, or you and your kids may be expected to pull your weight with your own paddles while the guide shouts commands, or you may be on a canoe trip, guiding your own craft down the river. However you choose to go, it’s a sure bet that Colorado’s river running opportunities are legend.
Camping
Marshmallows by a campfire, blizzards of stars overhead, and waking in the morning to pines swishing in the breeze – camping is a classic Colorado activity. And whether you rent a rustic cabin or end up throwing your bedroll on the ground next to the fire (roast on one side, freeze on the other), your family has thousands of options to choose from when spending the night outdoors. All of Colorado’s national parks have campgrounds, as do the state parks and the national forests. An excellent article to get started is at Family Travel Colorado website, called Camping in Colorado with the Kids.
Wildlife Watching
Nature abounds in Colorado, and the wildlife watching is spectacular. Some of the best bird watching in the state can be found at the Great Plains Reservoirs in southeast Colorado, near the tiny town of Eads and the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. Look for elk, bighorn sheep, and marmots in Rocky Mountain National Park. We saw several mountain lion tracks – but not the big cat (whew!) – near Colorado National Monument, and wild horses in Mesa Verde National Park. But you don’t have to go into the boonies to see animals. I’ve watched bald eagles from I-25 in Denver (I wasn’t driving.) And we see coyotes and foxes regularly at the kid’s soccer field near I-225. All over Colorado, wildlife watching is a popular family activity.
Indoor activities for families traveling in Colorado
While most families think of outdoor activities when they plan their travel in Colorado, the state has plenty of indoor fun as well.
Museums
As they travel around Colorado, families will discover world-renowned institutions of study and exhibition. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science has a superb paleontology collection with several dinosaur collections from Colorado. Other world-class Colorado museums include the Anasazi Heritage Center, in Dolores, Colorado, with excellent interpretations and collections from the area (which happens to have the highest concentration of archaeological sites in the Untied States.) Or families may want to visit the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, which is America’s center for studying atmospheric phenomena. Tech-head computer junkies will find the view of the specially-chilled computer room “awesome!” Whether a family loves history, science, art, literature, or a thousand topics in between, Colorado has outstanding museums.
Performing Arts
Especially in Denver, families can find great performing arts to enjoy. Upscale performances at the architecturally impressive Denver Center for the Performing Arts make a fun, urban outing for kids. Even preschoolers will enjoy children’s theater melodrama at Golden’s Heritage Square Music Hall. And the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities is well respected for its children’s theater and performances.
When planning travel with the kids in Colorado, parents can find a huge variety of things to do with their children in the highest state in the Union.
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