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For families living in or visiting the greater Denver area, the Elitch Gardens Theme Park has been a favorite for decades. Covering about 63 acres near downtown Denver, this family park offers plenty of shopping and dining surrounded by 50 rides and live entertainment. A twenty-story tower provides fantastic views of the Colorado state capital. The memorable Tower of Doom offers a 200 foot drop.

There is plenty of family fun along the Front Range, with Gateway Park Fun Center in Boulder offering go-karts, batting cages, mini-golf, plus slides and game arcades. At Fort Collins there is Fort Fun, a year-round family playground offering indoor and outdoor activities. Among offerings are bumper cars and bumper boats, laser tag, mini-golf, go-kart track, mini-bowling, and video arcade.

Families can take a trip back in time to the Old West at the Bee Family Centennial Farm Museum in Northern Colorado. Farm tours and educational programs are offered, and children can take part in farm activities such as gathering eggs at the chicken house and grinding corn for chicken feed.

The Greeley Freight Station Museum has over 600 railroad history artifacts on display, plus visitors can enter a former Colorado and Southern wooden caboose.

Colorado is a year-round paradise. The state capital of Denver has several large parks such as Washington Park and City Park. The Cherry Creek Reservoir on the south side is popular with boaters. North of Denver, it is an easy drive to Rocky Mountain National Park. The town of Estes Park is at the southern entrance to the park, which has trails along mountainsides.

In west central Colorado are the famous ski resorts of Aspen, Vail, Steamboat Springs, and Telluride. Often overlooked by summer travelers, these same ski resorts are great summer destinations, with ski trails becoming beautiful nature trails surrounded by snowy peaks.

Glenwood Springs is base camp for white-water rafting on the Colorado River, with half and full day adventures down the Shoshone Rapids. Travelers can also hop on the only zipline across the Colorado at Royal Gorge near Canon City.

On the west side of Colorado Springs is Garden of the Gods Park, enjoy picnics by a stream while looking out for bears here. Almost directly west of that is Pike’s Peak, which has the highest road in the country ending at the summit. In semi-arid southwestern Colorado is Mesa Verde National Park, far from major cities.