1. Twin Silo Park
Located in southeast Fort Collins, Twin Silo Park is a 54-acre park featuring a fantastic playground that reminds visitors of the area’s farming history. Along with a zipline and unique play structures, the playground has two towering 50-foot silos with the tallest slide in the city traveling between them. There are also pickleball courts, a dog park, fruit orchards and a community garden. The park hosts the annual free Kids in the Park festival each May. The festival encourages kids to get out and play and includes kite flying and make-your-own kites for kids, along with live music, food trucks and additional recreational activities. Find more Fort Collins festivals
2. Spring Canyon Community Park
Located at the base of the foothills, the incredible 100-acre Spring Canyon Community Park gets rave reviews from parents and kids alike. The unique accessible play area — Inspiration Playground — offers a place for children and families of all abilities to share play experiences and enables children of various abilities to play independently on the same equipment. Along with the play area, the park features a splash pad, a skate park, tennis courts, a dog park (with a pond!), a basketball court, a dirt-bike course and walking trails.
3. Fossil Creek Park
Fossil Creek Park (5821 S. Lemay St.) is a must-visit for the dino-loving little in your life. After scaling a giant wooly mammoth and swinging from its tusks, kids can scramble through a shark’s jaw and then make their ways to the top of a concrete climbing wall with embedded “fossils.” The park is an ode to Colorado’s abundant geological history. Along with the great playground, the nearly 100-acre park includes a dog park, skate park, tennis courts, baseball fields, basketball courts, hockey courts, plenty of walking paths and a splash park for kids to cool off in during the summer months. Explore Fort Collins swimming pools for another way to cool off
4. Lee Martinez Community Park
Lee Martinez Community Park is a nearly 90-acre park that features the usual fields, basketball and tennis courts, a playground and more — but its most unique feature is a petting zoo that’s open year-round. At The Farm at Lee Martinez Park, kids love getting an up-close view of farm animals. Available amenities now include a one-way route through the farm to view animals and buildings, an onsite retail store and private 45-minute time slots available by reservation.
5. Sugar Beet Park
Sugar Beet Park features a playground centered around a 12-foot-tall wooden sugar-beet play structure featuring climbable slats, a rope ladder, a slide and more. Additionally, the 5.3-acre park features a multi-use turf field, native grasses, a park shelter and a pollinator garden. The theme is a nod to the city’s history, where fields growing the cash crop were prevalent. The park is also located near the site of the former Great Western Sugar Factory. At the park, trees and plants are planted in distinct rows, reminiscent of how beets were planted in fields. Sliding benches replicate the rail cars that once transported beets on the railroad tracks that still run just north of the site.
6. Poudre River Whitewater Park
For the bigger kids who prefer to play on the waves, the Poudre River Whitewater Park is the place to go. Located on the river just north of Old Town, the park includes a boulder-lined boat chute, rock features, holes for kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding and tubing, as well as shallow play areas along the shore. Kayakers, tubers and kids of all ages will be able to enjoy the Cache la Poudre River from this beautiful spot. Dive into more ways to have fun on the water in Fort Collins
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A version of this article originally appeared on visitftcollins.com.