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.
1. Elitch Gardens
The Water Park at Elitch Gardens in Denver, Colorado is open during the summer season, from the weekend of Memorial Day to the weekend of Labor Day. Admission to the water park is included with the admission to the theme park. There are numerous rides and attractions throughout both parks for visitors to enjoy. Gangplanks consists of two river-run, continuous tube slides, while the award-winning Tube Top offers quite a bit of whirling excitement for riders. Canonball Falls lets guests have a splashing good time sliding down one of two enclosed tube slides. RipQurl is a two-person, high-energy bowl ride.
2000 Elitch Cir, Denver, CO 80204, Phone: 303-595-4386
2. Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs
The Great Wolf Lodge at Colorado Springs is a destination resort, complete with dining options, shopping, and most important of all, a water park. The famous resort provides guests with both adventures on land and an indoor water park, offering something to do for basically everyone. From wine down service for adults to an array of different dining choices to indoor activities for children and more all in one destination, there is plenty to do at the Great Wolf Lodge. Located not too far from the city of Denver, the indoor water park is maintained at a consistent 84-degrees throughout the year.
9494 Federal Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80921, Phone: 844-553-9653
3. Hotel Glenwood Springs
The Hotel Glenwood Springs offers an ideal destination for family vacations, offering the area’s only indoor water park. Glenwood Springs is only a short walk away from the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park as well.The hotel offers spacious guests suites that offer plenty of room for families. The indoor Splash Pool Family Fun Center is a unique water park that features an indoor waterslide, wading pool, kiddie water slide, large indoor pool, recreation area, whirlpool, and more. The water park includes an area just for children that has a zero depth entrance and a Rain Tree fountain in the shallow play area.
52000 Two Rivers Plaza Rd, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601, Phone: 888-411-8188
4. Old Town Hot Springs
The Old Town Hot Springs in Steamboat Springs offers an unusual water park experience, providing guests with all-natural hot springs in a downtown area. Visitors can soak and relax throughout the year in the outdoor natural hot spring pools. During the summer season, guests have the opportunity to cool off on water slides, deep-end and lap pools, and a kiddie pool. The hot spring pool have existed for more than one hundred years, and were used by the Ute Native Americans who were the first to settle the area, followed by homesteaders. There eight pools at the Old Town Hot Springs.
136 Lincoln Ave, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477, Phone: 970-879-1828
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5. Pirates Cove Water Park
The Pirates Cove Water Park is an outdoor water park in Englewood, Colorado. The Leisure Pool at Pirates Cove provides a massive structure for playing in the water, including zero depth entry and a giant dump bucket. The park also features a water slide tower of 35 feet that contains three different slides that vary in speed and length. The Lazy River at Pirates Cove winds through the upper level of the water park, going around the bottom of the water slides. More adventurous guests can take a thrilling ride on the Swirling Vortex from the river.
1225 W Belleview Ave, Englewood CO 80120, Phone: 303-762-2683
6. The Splash at Fossil Trace
The Splash at Fossil Trace is Jefferson County’s largest water park. The open season for the outdoor water park typically runs from around the end of May until the end of August. The water park has an adult swim/rest break every hour for ten minutes in the leisure pool and the lap pool. The water park includes two large tube and body water slides, in addition to its popular leisure pool that contains a structure for play, spray fountains, a 500-gallon massive dump bucket, and smaller water slides. There is also a beach-like area of sand for visitors of all ages.
3151 Illinois St, Golden, CO 80401, Phone: 303-277-8700
7. Brighton Oasis Family Aquatic Park
The Brighton Oasis Family Aquatic Park provides water-filled fun for anyone in the city of Brighton, Colorado. There are many different water attractions within this small water park, including a deep water pool, wave generator, lazy river with a zero-depth entrance, a water basketball court, two thrilling water slides, and a climbing wall. The water park also features a tot pool that contains several interactive water features and an entry with zero depth. The Brighton Oasis Family Aquatic Park offers locker rentals, a full snack stand, and pavilion and party rentals. Guests can also bring their own drinks and food.
1852 E Bromley Ln, Brighton, CO 80601, Phone: 303-655-2095
8. Walsenburg Wild Waters
The Walsenburg Wild Waters outdoor water park features three pools, two large water slides, and a lazy river, as well as many different interactive water features, such as dump buckets, sprays, and fountains. Children can have a splashing fun time in the zero depth entry pool, designed for the youngest guests to have fun without their parents worrying about deep water. The giant slides at the park are more than thirty feet high, including one enclosed water slide and one open slide. Both water slides provide a turning, twisting, exhilarating ride that ends with a large splash.
700 W 7th St, Walsenburg, CO 81089, Phone: 719-738-2628
9. Water World
Water World in Federal Heights, Colorado is one of the premier water amusement parks in the United States, featuring more than fifteen fun attractions for visitors of all ages located just minutes away from Denver. The outdoor water park features areas for smaller children, speed rides, family raft rides, dark rides, wave pools, the first water coaster in the state of Colorado, and much more. There’s something for everyone at Water World, from the thrilling Lost River of the Pharaohs to the kid-friendly Wally World to the Lazy River and massive wave pool, and so much more.
8801 N. Pecos St, Federal Heights, CO 80260, Phone: 303-427-7873
10. The Great Outdoors Waterpark
The Great Outdoors Waterpark in Lafayette, Colorado offers plenty of water fun for people of any age, featuring a vortex pool, aqua arch, double flume water slides measuring 21 feet in height, lazy river, and much more. Guests can take in beautiful views as they float down the Lazy River, swim laps or play pool games in the Lap Pool, or test their skills at the Aqua Arch, part monkey bars and part cargo net. In addition to the pools and water slides, the Great Outdoors Waterpark also has a native Colorado flower garden that sprinkles water around visitors.
500 E South Boulder Rd, Lafayette, CO 80026, 303-673-9207
11. Bananas Fun Park
Bananas Fun Park in Grand Junction, Colorado is a locally-owned destination for entertainment that first opened in 2004 with a goal of providing an entertainment center for the whole family to enjoy. Over the years, the park has seen several additions and upgrades that have culminated in Coconut Cove. Coconut Cove includes more than 100 jet features, over 50 water features, multi-level platforms, a tipping bucket, and more. This Aqua Play Center totals approximately 6,000 square feet of water fun. Bananas Fun Park also features Congo Cafe, a laser maze, arcade, go karts, an inflatable playland, bumper boats, and miniature golf.
2469 Riverside Pkwy, Grand Junction, CO 81505, 970-241-7529
What are the 9 Best Water Parks in Colorado?
The 9 Best Water Parks in Colorado according to local experts are:
- Elitch Gardens
- Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs
- Hotel Glenwood Springs
- Old Town Hot Springs
- Pirates Cove Water Park
- The Splash at Fossil Trace
- Brighton Oasis Family Aquatic Park
- Walsenburg Wild Waters
- Water World
- The Great Outdoors Waterpark
- Bananas Fun Park
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
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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
