Colorado Family Attractions for Kids 10 & Under

Here are a few suggestions for kids 10 and under — from children’s museums and zoos to hot-springs pools, tubing hills and wildlife experiences. 

Denver & Cities of the Rockies Region

• Elitch Gardens Theme & Water Park, Denver: Ride scream-inducing roller coasters, little-kid-friendly rides and slippery water slides. (Check website for seasonal hours.)
• Children’s Museum of Denver: Learn about the world in the museum’s child-sized grocery market, fire station and construction workshop.
• Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance: See the more than 3,500 animals that call the 80-acre zoo home. The monkey and big cats exhibits are among the top crowd pleasers.
• Downtown Aquarium, Denver: Feed a slippery stingray and gaze at hypnotically moving jellyfish, stealthy sharks and frisky fish of every color.
• Butterfly Pavilion and Insect Center, Broomfield: Walk through a tropical rainforest habitat filled with free-flying butterflies. Sniff exotic plants, pet a sea star and hold a tarantula.
• Denver Museum of Nature & Science: Watch an out-of-this-world show at the planetarium and IMAX theater. Tour exhibits about space, gems and minerals, dinosaurs and the color spectrum.
• Denver Art Museum: Explore, learn and play. Get creative with hands-on activities for all ages, relax in one of the family fun areas and discover world-class art.
• Colorado Railroad Museum, Golden: Stroll the museum's 15-acre railyard featuring more than 100 railcars. Most Saturdays (and select Tuesdays) you'll also find train rides! Check the museum's train-ride schedule before you go.
• Aurora Reservoir, Aurora: Spend a day on the white-sand beach, paddleboard, ride the bike trail and more.
• Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum, Denver: See dozens of historic airplanes, space vehicles and interactive exhibits. The collection includes a rare B-18A Bolo–one of only five remaining WWII-era bombers–five Century-Series fighters.
• Fort Collins Museum of Discovery: Kids love the blend of science, history and culture at this hands-on experience in Fort Collins.
• The Wild Animal Sanctuary, about 45 minutes from Denver in Keenesburg, amazes visitors with its Mile Into the Wild walkway that lets you observe lions, wolves, grizzlies and other rescued exotic and endangered species from above.
• Pottery painting: Pick a piece of pottery at Color Me Mine in Boulder and Crackpots in Longmont. Make it your very own with paints and stencils.
• Fun Parks: Keep busy all day with rides, mini-golf, go-karts, arcade games, batting cages and giant slides at Gateway Park Fun Center in Boulder, Fort Fun in Fort Collins, and Ride-A-Kart & Cascade Creek Mini-Golf in Estes Park. (Check websites for seasonal hours.)
• Mineral-rich fun, Idaho Springs: Play in the mineral-water swimming pool at Indian Hot Springs or pan for gold at Argo Mill & Tunnel.
• Colorado Model Railroad Museum: In Greeley, examine intricate model railroad layouts, a wooden caboose from the Colorado and Southern Railroad and more than 1,000 railroad artifacts. See actual trains come and go on nearby tracks.
• Trout Haven Ranch Trout Pond, Estes Park: Cast your line in Trout Haven’s stocked pond — a perfect first-time fishing experience. (Check website for seasonal hours.)
• Edge Ziplines & Adventures, Castle Rock: Scale a climbing wall, zipline and freefall from a platform.
• Water World, Federal Heights: Cool off at one of the biggest and best water parks in the nation. 
• Dinosaur Ridge, Morrison: Encounter more than 100 fossilized dinosaur tracks and informative signs.
• Hidee Gold Mine, Black Hawk: Head down into an operating gold mine and pan for gold!
• The National Western Stock Show, Denver: Delight in rip-roarin’ rodeos, a livestock parade, an art show, Mutton Bustin’ (kids competing to hold onto bucking sheep in a pint-sized rodeo) and funnel cake.

Rockies Playground Region

• Epic Discovery at Vail and Breckenridge: Immerse yourself in nature, challenge yourself with thrilling activities like mountain coasters, zipline tours, adventure courses and much more.
• Hot-springs pools: Splash around and soak up the mineral waters year-round at Glenwood Hot Springs Pool and Iron Mountain Hot Springs (which provides water wheelchairs and accessible ramps so that everyone can soak in the goodness), both in Glenwood Springs.
• Summer fun parks: Sample the activities at mountain-top parks with alpine slides, mini-golf, bungee rides, climbing walls, mountain-bike parks and more in Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Snowmass, Vail. There’s also Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs, which provides a wheelchair-accessible gondola to those who need it.
• Mountain Top Explorium, Breckenridge: Become a fireman in the costume studio, create a masterpiece at the Creation Station and make wildlife tracks in the wildlife exhibit.
• Ice rinks: Skate around with beautiful mountains as your backdrop in many resort towns, including Copper Mountain, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Vail and Breckenridge. (Winter only.)
• Tubing hills: Float down a hill on a bouncy tube, then ride the lift to the top to do it again and again in Keystone and Copper Mountain. (Winter only.)
• Ski schools: Learn to ski or snowboard in kid-focused programs at one of 11 ski areas and resorts in this region. (October to April.)

Mountains & Mesas Region

• Get wild in Grand Junction at Bananas Fun Park, Jet Boat Colorado, Get Air at the Silo Trampoline Park and Imondi Wake Zone, and then learn about the history of the West at the Museum of the West.
• Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park, Pagosa Springs: Peer into habitats of animals native to the area, including black bears, wolves, elk, mountain lions, bobcats and coyotes.
• Crested Butte Mountain Resort Adventure Park: Pan for gold or take on the climbing wall and bungee trampolines in summer.
• The Trailhead Discovery Museum and Arts Center, Crested Butte: Explore the play park, art and science activities, a puppet theater and a Dig Pit, with trucks, funnels and shovels.
• Purgatory (formerly Durango Mountain Resort) Resort: Spend a day taking scenic chairlift rides, ride the mountain coaster, pan for treasure, zoom around in go-karts or hit the alpine slide in summer. In winter, kids 12 and younger get free, unlimited skiing on select routes. 
• Durango Hot Springs Resort & Spa, Ouray Hot Springs Pool in Ouray and The Springs Resort in Pagosa Springs: Swim year-round in natural hot springs. 
• Museum of the Mountain West, Montrose: The Old West comes alive at this gem packed with fascinating artifacts housed in restored historic buildings, including a saloon and doctor’s office.
• Telluride Ski Resort’s Mountain Village Adventure Activities include disc golf, bungee tramps, gold panning and more.
• Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and Museum: Climb aboard a vintage steam locomotive that has been carrying passengers along the scenic Animas River from Durango to Silverton since 1882.
• Ski schools: Learn to ski or snowboard in kid-focused programs (including adaptive options) at one of several ski areas and resorts in this region. (November to April.)

The Great West

• Hot-springs pools: Hit the warm waters at Strawberry Hot Springs and Old Town Hot Springs in Steamboat Springs and Hot Sulphur Springs Resort & Spa.
• Summer fun parks: Get the adrenaline pumping in Steamboat Springs or Winter Park with alpine slides, ziplines, scenic chairlift rides, bike parks and more.
• Summer Tubing Hill in Granby: This is the first-of-its-kind in Colorado and only the third in the U.S. Take winter tubes for a thrilling ride down the simulated snow surface, then ride the magic carpet to the top and do it again.
• Headwaters River Journey in Fraser: Explore the wonders of conservation and preservation at this interactive locale.
• Winter Park Adventure Quest: Book a rock-climbing outing or take a wilderness-survival course.
• Pioneer Village Museum in Hot Sulphur Springs: Discover the history of this area's inhabitants inside an old schoolhouse.
• Winter tubing hills: Float down a hill on a bouncy tube, then ride the lift to the top to do it again and again in Fraser and Winter Park.

Pikes Peak Wonders Region

• Cave of the Winds, Manitou Springs: Travel through more than 2 miles of underground limestone passageways on well-lit, easy tours into the cave’s twists and turns.
• Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs: See nearly 800 animals — from endangered Amur tigers to moose and mountain lions — in a mountain setting that makes this one of the most unique zoos you’ll encounter.
• Pueblo Zoo in City Park: Meet red kangaroos, white-handed gibbons and zebras, and visit an eco-center with exotic birds, penguins and reptiles.
• North Pole Home of Santa’s Workshop, Cascade: Never lose that holiday feeling with special visits from Santa, magic shows, the Candy Cane coaster and more than 20 other rides. (Open mid-May–December 24).
• Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center, Woodland Park: See displays of dinosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles and fish from the late Cretaceous period; learn the stories of their discoveries and see a working fossil lab.
• Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience, Cañon City: Explore full-scale dinosaur fossil casts, hands-on exhibits, animitronic dinosaurs and more.
• Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad, Cripple Creek: Embark on a 45-minute ride in an old steam engine through past historic mines to the boomtown days of Cripple Creek and Victor.
• Captain Zipline Adventure Tours, Salida: Swing, walk tightropes, scale cliffs and more at Colorado’s largest aerial adventure park, featuring courses for all ages and abilities.
• Buell Children’s Museum, Pueblo: Play in the colorful hands-on exhibits, create in the arts-and-crafts studio and explore cool rotating installations.
• The Nature & Wildlife Discovery Center, Pueblo: Stroll dozens of miles of trails that are home to hundreds of birds of prey along the Arkansas River.

Mystic San Luis Valley Region

• Sand sledding and boarding: The young and young at heart love to slide down the soft sands at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve near Alamosa.
• Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad in Antonito: Hop aboard this 1880s scenic wonder to see the area by rail.
• Colorado Gators Reptile Park in Mosca: See — and even handle — some of the more than 300 alligators and other scaly critters.
• Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge in Monte Vista: Discover avocets, killdeer, white-faced ibis, herons and other wildlife.
• Wild Waters in Walsenburg: Float in the lazy river or shoot down the water slides.

Pioneer Plains + Canyons & Plains Regions

• Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, near La Junta: Enter a living museum, where costume-clad guides lead you through a trading outpost once frequented by legendary Kit Carson. Tip: Check the fort's official website for when it's open while you're planning; its hours can change during different seasons. 
• Family Aquatic Center, Trinidad: Ride down the slide and splash into the water, wade in the kiddie pool and have a picnic. (Summer only.)
• Kit Carson County Carousel, Burlington: Take a spin on the nostalgic carousel. Built in 1905, the wooden animals are all original and hand painted.
• Burlington’s Old Town Museum, Burlington: See what life was like 100 years ago in this re-created prairie town with an old-timey soda fountain, horse-drawn carriage rides and more.
• Overland Trail Museum, Sterling: Hear tales of Colorado’s earliest settlers in the period village’s blacksmith and barber shops, one-room schoolhouse and general store.

Want More?

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