9 Best Water Parks in Colorado

Colorado is home to a few indoor water parks, which means residents and visitors alike in Colorado can enjoy fun water attractions any time throughout the year. These water parks provide big splashes, plenty of adventure, heart-pounding, thrilling adrenaline, memorable moments, and hours of fun and laughter. Attractions range from laid-back, fun kiddie areas to thrill rides, offering something for visitors of all ages to enjoy.

We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

9 Best Water Parks in Colorado

• Elitch Gardens, Photo: Elitch Gardens
• Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs, Photo: Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs
• Hotel Glenwood Springs, Photo: Hotel Glenwood Springs
• Old Town Hot Springs, Photo: Old Town Hot Springs
• Pirates Cove Water Park, Photo: Courtesy of bortnikau - Fotolia.com
• The Splash at Fossil Trace, Photo: Courtesy of Dmitry Perov - Fotolia.com
• Brighton Oasis Family Aquatic Park, Photo: Brighton Oasis Family Aquatic Park
• Walsenburg Wild Waters, Photo: Walsenburg Wild Waters
• Water World, Photo: Water World
• Cover Photo: Courtesy of ivan kmit - Fotolia.com

More Ideas in CO: Arapahoe Basin

Ski resorts are gaining popularity with the numerous benefits they provide their guests, not to mention the fact that they are always located atop beautiful mountains with breathtaking, mesmerizing views. Planning activities for your vacation can be a pretty daunting task, especially when you are travelling with the whole family, but thankfully, ski resorts are always packed with numerous activities to keep you busy all day!.

Arapahoe Basin in Colorado is a beautiful destination for that much-needed vacation. The exquisite location nestles amidst beautiful snowcapped mountains tucked away in the heart of Colorado and offers a uniquely aesthetic experience that is bound to leave visitors dazzled. This resort is also packed with activities for adventurers and holidaymakers, ensuring everything is in place to make their family vacation a truly memorable one.

It should come as no surprise that ski resorts are filled with activities for the entire family – from kids to grandparents. For those new to skiing, Arapahoe Basin provides ski lessons with professional ski trainers who are experts at getting you on the right track, making Arapahoe Basin one of the best places to learn skiing. The resort also offers special training programs for kids under 14. Children tend to learn differently compared to adults and also have different limitations, hence putting your kid in a beginners’ ski lesson is a good way to get them skiing, probably – no offense intended – much faster than you! These classes are catered towards families and are the best way to get the most out of your ski experience.

Arapahoe Basin also has multiple programs that take place on a monthly basis to give people all-round ski training. These are regularly conducted in batches of six throughout the operational months of the year, depending on the weather. There are programs especially for ladies where they meet up regularly and partake in their shared love for skiing. Arapahoe Basin offers alpine and telemark ski lessons, as well as snowboard lessons. The modernized ski methods, in our opinion, are a much faster and efficient way to learn the art. Fancy your kids to be the next great skiing YouTubers, performing insane feats? Arapahoe Basin will give them the tools to get started.

For individuals wanting private tuition and skiing lessons with the hopes of making it pro someday, there's an option for you, although even if you just want to learn how to ski extremely well, then private lessons are your best choice. Because of the resort’s professional trainers, you can be assured that you are getting the highest quality ski training to send you gliding down the slopes with absolute grace and speed.

Arapahoe Basin also offers exquisite dining options for guests who like the idea of a nice dinner against the gorgeous mountain scenery. There is the quite a unique annual Moonlight Dinner Series, which offers guests a wide selection of meals and dishes featuring the best of their international cuisine.

Arapahoe Basin is ideal for those wanting a nice skiing vacation as well as those who are just on a day visit. Arapahoe Basin is generally open from mid-October to early June, and has even remained open until July 4 several times in its history. A-Basin has the longest ski season in the state of Colorado. Ski classes are conducted based on prior booking and on a first-come first-served basis if spots are available. You can pre-book the classes on their website or by phone. Arapahoe Basin doesn't offer accommodation, but has partnered with numerous hotels and homestays around the area and their information can be found on their website. Discounted tickets are available online at tickets.arapahoebasin.com.

28194 US-6, Keystone, CO 80435, Phone: 970-468-0718

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More Ideas in CO: Georgetown Heritage Center

The Georgetown school that dates back to the year 1874 was reopened to the public in 2015 through a collaborative effort by many people as the Georgetown Heritage Center. The center is a place where the history of Georgetown is celebrated, as well as space for exhibitions, fine arts, traditional crafts, live performances, lectures, conferences, meetings, and other activities. The Cultural Arts Program at the Heritage Center provides a wide variety of classes for the community.

The Georgetown Heritage Center’s anchor is its Local History Archive. The Archive is operated and owned by the Clear Creek County Library District, and collects the maps, photographs, records, and other documentation of the history of the town of Georgetown. The local library also sponsors programs for children and films. The Heritage Center aims to be a dynamic educational facility the provides resources to the enhance the lives of residents in the local community, as well as residents of neighboring communities and visitors to the Georgetown-Silver Plume National Historic Landmark District.

Many of the classrooms on the first floor of the Georgetown Heritage Center are used for the Cultural Arts Program. The program uses these classrooms for the demonstration, teaching, and exhibition of traditional folk arts, as well as their modern adaptations. The Heritage Center also provides cultural programs that were practiced and enjoyed by the different groups who established Georgetown during the mining boom of the nineteenth century up through modern times.

Program offered by the Cultural Arts Program include participants from the local and regional area, as well as tourists. Senior groups and school groups are also welcome to participate in the various programming. Fine arts and crafts classes and exhibits are provided as well. The performance space on the second-floor of the Heritage Center hosts a diverse assortment of concerts and other performance events, including performances by local musicians.

The Georgetown Heritage Center is housed within the 1874 Georgetown Schoolhouse, situated in town on Taos Street. It’s hard to miss the Heritage Center with its large bell tower and central location in the heart of historic Georgetown. First floor of the building consists a conference room and classrooms that are utilized by the Cultural Arts Program, as well as space available for rent for events. The second floor of the Heritage Center includes a performance space that can seat one hundred people, as well as audio and screen projection equipment and a platform.

The Cultural Arts Program’s mission at the Georgetown Heritage Center is to promote the heritage performance and folk arts that reflect the culture of the Georgetown-Silver Plume National Historic Landmark District, dating back to life during the nineteenth century up to present day. The varied programming includes traditional crafts, music, fine arts, film, gardening, and drama. The events and classes of the Cultural Arts Program are designed to exhibit, teach, and demonstrate the traditional folk crafts and arts that were practiced by the different groups that created the town during its mining heyday. This promotes an understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the nineteenth century cultural and ethnic heritage of the Georgetown area.

809 Taos Street, Georgetown, Colorado, Phone: 303-569-0289

More Things to Do in Georgetown, CO

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More Ideas in CO: Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine

The ‘world famous’ Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine tour is located in Cripple Creek, Colorado. The tour takes visitors over 100 stories below ground into America’s only vertical shaft gold mine, an authentic mine from the 1890’s. The mine is located along the southwest face of Pikes Peak Mountain, approximately halfway between the Royal Gorge and Colorado Springs in the Pikes Peak region. The mine tour includes exhibits that educate guests on the history of gold mining in Cripple Creek, as well as the evolution in mining techniques from 1891 to the present day.

Artifacts from the lifelong collection of miner and prospector Melvin Anderson are on display, and highlight gold ore samples from several of the area’s historic mines in an underground vault. After descending the shaft to the ‘tenth level’ underground, guests enjoy a short train ride aboard the last Tram-Air-Locomotive, built for the mine in 1951, and restored to working condition in 1988. A rare 1890’s steam hoist has also been restored, as well as air compressors used in air powered mining equipment. Visitors can still see authentic veins of gold in the blasted underground areas. Above ground, the mine displays historic mining equipment, a sawmill and a gift shop.

History: Mollie Kathleen’s son, Perry Gortner, arrived in Cripple Creek in 1891 as a geological surveyor assigned to map mining claims in the area. Soon thereafter, Mollie followed to assist her son with housekeeping. One day, while Mollie was wandering the Poverty Gulch and sightseeing, she noticed an interesting rock formation glistening in the sun. Mollie quickly grabbed a few samples of the pure gold she had found and became the first woman in the Gold Camp to strike a claim in her own name, an act that was highly unusual for the day. The National Geological Surveyors who came to visit her mine would record the discoverer’s name as Mr. M.C. Gortner, either ignoring or not noticing that the mine was in fact, discovered by a woman. Mollie Kathleen died in 1917, leaving a one-third interest in the mine to her son, Perry, who remained the mine’s managing operator until his own death in 1949. Tours have been in operation almost as long as the mine itself. Early tours allowed guests to explore the underground shaft while the mine was still in operation. Visitors were guided by candlelight and rode open ore skips with no side or head protection. Ultimately, the popular tours became disruptive to actual work at the mine. This forced mining work to be done at night, while tours were conducted by day. Mining operations ceased in 1961 when the nearby Carlton Mill closed. The closure of the mill forced many mines in the area to shut down, with no way to process ore. Rather than closing completely, the Mollie Kathleen mine remained open, continuing the tour business that had grown in popularity over the years. With the mining activities on hold, several updates were made to the shaft and the mines to enhance the ease and safety of the tours. In the 1970’s, the mine’s new owners financed continued exploration and struck gold again. The ore body they discovered is visible on the tours today. The mine tour has had a considerable impact on the economy of the Cripple Creek area, which otherwise may have been an abandoned mining town. Over 40,000 visitors tour the mine annually.

Ongoing Programs and Education: Tours of the mine depart daily on the hour and are weather permitting, thus guests are encouraged to call ahead. The mine is closed from mid-October through mid-April for the winter season. The 1-hour tours are conducted entirely underground. Visitors should be advised that the 2-minute, 1,000-foot descent down the vertical shaft is in extremely tight quarters. Once underground, guests take a short ride on a rail car, and walk approximately one quarter of a mile. Underground temperature on the mine tour remains steady at approximately 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Guests are encouraged to wear warm clothing, and are provided hard hats for safety.

What’s Nearby: The historic mining and gambling town of Cripple Creek offers restored old west brick buildings, nine casinos, restaurants and hotels. Attractions in the area include the Cripple Creek District Museum, the Cripple Creek Jail Museum, an historic firehouse built in 1900 and the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad, with an historic 1894 station house and several refurbished steam engines.

9388 Highway 67 Cripple Creek, Colorado 80813, Phone: 719-689-2466

More Fun Things to Do in Colorado

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