Family Vacation in Colorado. Suggestions?

by M.J. 14 Replies latest jw friends

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  M.J.

  Hi! I would really love to take my family (including a couple of small kids...and maybe the dog) on a road trip to the Colorado Rockies in late summer. I'd like to spend at least a week out there. Any ideas on places with some good scenery, activities, places to stay (a cabin would be cool).

  I haven't been out there before, and I don't know if I want to just stay in one area or make some sort of "grand circuit". Any thoughts? I'm leaning toward finding a good area where we can spend 4-5 days in a condo or cabin, and camp along the way to and from the area.

  Thanks!
• 

  AK - Jeff

  http://www.canoncitycolorado.com/activitiesattractions.aspx

  This is fabulous! Wonderful.

  http://www.nps.gov/romo/

  Rocky Mountain National Park is fantastic! You could spend a month there alone. I recall camping there in sites set up so that you could not see the other campers, nor any cars. Just beautiful mountain vistas.

  Jeff
• 

  rebel8

  Garden of the Gods--free and beautiful.

  Nearby you can take a train to Pike's Peak--the train ride is awesome.
• 

  outofservice

  MJ you have a PM
• 

  Scarred for life

  I agree with AKJeff about Rocky Mountain National Park.
• 

  cameo-d

  Maybe you will get a chance to check out the artwork at the Denver airport.

  Here is a video and some pics:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/177648/1/And-you-thought-Awake-Art-was-Scary
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  ssn587

  Canon City, is great too, i totally agree, buckskin Joe, royal gorge, front range, etc etc., been there many times. loved it. so great views also.
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  WTWizard

  I would recommend researching for whatever focal attraction you want most to see, and find a campground that is close by. You will explore the region for other attractions, building up to the feature at the end (this works great if you have children). If you do this, you are less likely to be distracted by everything in the state (which would prevent you from fully enjoying anything). You can always go back another time, this year or another year, if you would like to see additional things in the state--having the area mapped will help you to get the most out of it.

  There is one thing that I would NOT under any circumstances recommend. If you visit the local Kingdumb Hell and find out when the boasting sessions and field circus arrangements are, you are sure to waste the whole time. You will never get to do what you went there for (whether that be a hike, climbing a mountain, a theme park, zoo, museum trip, or whatever). Instead, you will find yourself doing field circus and going to the boasting sessions. And, if you are going to do that, you might as well not bother wasting the trip in order to do it. Better to skip the trip to the Kingdumb Hell--if you see one, I recommend driving right past it.
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  SnakesInTheTower

  I loved Boulder, not far from Denver...I hiked into the mounains, took a tour of the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory, which was really cool. They let you go into a big room where they have to keep all of the bags of spearmint and peppermint seperate from everything else. Clears the sinuses nicely. Overwhelming....

  ...only fly in the ointment, and WTWizard made me remember...do NOT stop at the Kingdumb Hell as you pass it on the road to the factory. LOL

  There are some facilities to take hot air balloon rides but I think that has to be planned ahead and done early, weather permitting. I just missed that opportunity a couple of years back......ballooning in the Rockies... great idea...

  downtown Denver...16th street pedestrian mall is nice if the weather is good...great for people watching..... There is a free tram that saves you a lot of walking that runs every few minutes... Science Museum in Denver looked interesting...I wish I would have had time to really check it out...I was working all but one day that week....

  ...anything in the Rockies or the National Parks...choose the ones off the beaten path....

  Snakes ()
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  HintOfLime

  Black Canyon of the Gunnison is cool (west), Sand Dunes National Monument(south) is interesting, and like others said before... Canon City (Royal Gorge), Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs (I live within 5 miles of it! Neener neener!) and Rocky Mountain National Park (north) are all great.

  I'm less familiar with the west, but Durango and Ouray (on the west side) are both really pretty. Southwestern Colorado (Mesa Verde) tends to be more interesting than northwestern (Dinosaur National Monument) in my opinion, but it depends on your interests. If you want to huff and puff, feel nauseated and want to pass out, you can drive to the top of Pikes Peak (The view at Will Rodgers Shrine in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is similar, in my opinion, but without the sickly effects).

  For non-national-park attractions, there is The Denver Museum of Natural History, the awesome Denver Aquarium, and both the zoos in Colorado Springs (Cheyenne Mountain) and Denver have their strengths, and there is a little bug museum (The Mays Field Museum) between Canon City and Colorado Springs (just look for the giant bug on the west side of HW 115 as you get close to the Springs).

  - Lime

  PS: I still hate this forum software.