Family Attractions

Colorado has more than its share of stunning natural attractions, but sometimes the kids are eager for things to do that don’t involve mountain vistas and scenic drives. We’re happy to oblige with Colorado family attractions that make great vacations for every member of your fam.

Watch our video of a Colorado zipline and aerial park for inspiration, zoom down an alpine slide, check out family attractions for kids 10 and under and thrilling family vacation ideas, and read below for even more ideas.

People riding a yellow rollercoaster head skyward with a couple of Denver's skyscrapers in the background — Elitch Gardens Theme Park in Denver

Four skiers are lined up at the top of a slope with the sun shining down on them — Skiers at Beaver Creek

An older man holds a little girl in pink as she feeds a giraffe who's leaning its giant neck over its enclosure — A giraffe at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs

A dimly lit cave shows stalactites dripping down from the ceiling — Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs

An aerial view of a corn maze with a barn in the distance — A corn maze at the Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield

A boy in a green hat and red sweatshirts holds his fishing pole over a bridge, dropping his line into a still creek below — Family fishing in Rocky Mountain National Park

Three kids in helmets sit on a bench outside, waiting their turn for horse-riding lessons. One reches out her hand to pet the nose of a harnessed, brown horse. — Getting ready to ride at a Colorado Dude Ranch
Getting ready to ride at a Colorado Dude Ranch

Two adults, one with a child perched on his shoulders, walks across a grassy ridge on a trail lined with evergreens — Hiking near Grand Junction

The sky is blue, a mountain peak is barely dusted with snow and a hot-springs pool filled with romping kids and adults in steaming waters — Soothing muscles in the Ouray Hot Springs Pool

Groups of parents, kids and teens soak in the light-blue waters of the hot-springs pool, with the historical red-brick lodge behind them — Summer at the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool

Two skaters blur by the camera on an ice rink surrounded by the lights of shops and restaurants — Ice skating in Beaver Creek Village

In the foreground, a family of four on ice skats holds hands as they glide toward a wooden lodge with snow on the roof. Other skaters can be seen in the background. — Ice skating on Evergreen Lake

A little girl stretches to reach a box of cereal to put in her mini shopping card in a kid-sized grocery store — Shopping in the My Market exhibit at the Children's Museum of Denver

In the soaring of the museum, a dinosaur skeleton stands two stories tall — Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Up in the nosebleed seats, a group of fans throw their hands up in celebration as they look down on the baseball field below — Colorado Rockies game at Coors Field in Denver

The stadium lights brighten the green soccer field while two tiers of fans fill up the stands to watch two teams play — MLS' Colorado Rapids play at Dick's Sporting Goods Park outside Denver

Eight people in red lifejackets inside a blue raft paddle through white rapids — Colorado rating trip in Glenwood Canyon near Glenwood Springs

An aerial view of two rafts filled with paddlers passing by a train on the banks of the river — Colorado rafting trip on the Arkansas River near Cañon City

Eight people in red lifejackets inside a blue raft paddle through white rapids; a guide at the back tries to steer the raft through the water — Colorado rafting trip on Clear Creek near Idaho Springs

A gathering of snowboarders in helmets and googles waits their turn to hit the halfpipe as the sun sets behind the mountain — Colorado snowboarding at Vail Mountain

A family of five in brightly colored jackets kick up fresh powder with their snowshoes; several snow-covered peaks are behind them — Snowshoeing through fresh powder in Beaver Creek

A boy in a yellow intertube waits his turn to be pushed down a gently sloped snowtubing course — Snowtubing at Vail Mountain

A boy tows his yellow tube on a rope up a hill to get ready to head down it again; several other riders are lined up behind him — Heading toward the snow-tubing lift at Vail Mountain

Three riders in red tubes bounce over a bump as they zoom down the mountain — Snow tubing at Copper Mountain

A woman in a lacy, Victorian-era dress, hat and white gloves leads a tour group down the winding wooden staircase of the Molly Brown House — A tour of the Molly Brown House Museum in Denver

A boy on a wake board being towed by a boat launches into the air over some rapids; he wears a life vest — Wakeboarding on Boulder Reservoir in Boulder

A group of kids and adults dressed in ski clothes sip hot chocolate around a crackling firepit in a ski village — Adventure Ridge at Vail Mountain

The yellow, red and lights of a Ferris wheel and the white lights of a food stand sit beneath a darkening sky — Colorado State Fair in Pueblo

Several buildings, ranging from towsers to homes, can be seen under the shelter of a cliffs — Mesa Verde National Park, just 35 miles west of Durango

A boy in a yellow kayak and a life vest paddles through still waters toward an evergreen-lined shore as the sun sets — Kayaking at Vallecito Lake near Durango

Quell all that fighting in the backseat by wearing the kids out at Denver-area fun parks like Water World, Elitch Gardens and Lakeside. Check out Denver’s family-friendly attractions, including the Downtown Aquarium, Children’s Museum of Denver, Denver Museum of Nature & Science and Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, and head south to Colorado Springs to see the giraffes at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the caverns of Cave of the Winds, then let them run off whatever energy is left on the easy hiking paths at Garden of the Gods.

If you’re heading beyond Colorado’s big cities, there are still plenty of things to see and do with the family. Many of the state’s ski areas have fun parks that offer kids attractions and rides in summer and winter, including Vail, Breckenridge, Winter Park, Steamboat, Snowmass, Copper Mountain, Crested Butte and Durango. In the winter, nearly every ski resort has a festive outdoor ice-skating rink and a tubing hill to sail down.

Need more Colorado family vacation ideas? You could spend a full day at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs or the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park in Cañon City, commune with rainforest creatures at the Butterfly Pavilion and Insect Center in Broomfield, and certify the little ones as Junior Rangers at Rocky Mountain National Park or Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

In addition to the zoos in Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, your family can get in touch with exotic wildlife at the Colorado Gators Reptile Park, lions and tigers at The Wild Animal Sanctuary and rescued black bears, mountain lions, elk and more at the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park.

Whatever your group’s taste, a Colorado family vacation is sure to keep the fun level high and the boredom level low.

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