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EA TURTLE, ISTOCKPHOTO Your kids will be grinning from ear to ear whenever they’re in the Mile High City, thanks to Denver’s wide array of kid-friendly attractions. DAY 1 More than 500 species of ocean-dwellers roam landlocked Denver, thanks to the Downtown Aquarium, the region’s largest. Have close encounters with sharks, sea turtles, stingrays and even Sumatran tigers as they swim in more than a million gallons of water. 16TH STREET MALL, VISIT DENVER Down the street is the Children’s Museum of Denver (2), an imagination-stimulating journey for kids 8 and under. Along with playing at more than a dozen “playscapes,” including a hands-on fire department, an assembly plant and a tot-size veterinary clinic, they can create bubbles more than six feet long in the Bubble Booth. CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF DENVER Older kids will want to check out a few of the city’s urban adventure parks for skateboarding, BMX, mountain biking, skiing/boarding and more right in town. Downtown Denver Skatepark and Evolve Action Sports Park are a couple to scope out. More: denv.co/ extremesports. SKATEBOARD, ISTOCKPHOTO End your first day on the 16th Street Mall (1), a mile-long promenade and one of the Mile High City’s most visited attractions. It’s a great spot for dinner, with plenty of kid-pleasing choices. Every block boasts a landmark or one of many public art sculptures, a perfect scavenger hunt as you make your way around. COLORADO RAILROAD MUSEUM DAY 2 Go to where the wild things are: the Denver Zoo. One of the nation’s most popular zoos, this adventure in City Park takes visitors on a globetrotting safari. You’ll go nose to nose with a polar bear, trade funny faces with orangutans and stretch necks with giraffes. The Toyota Elephant Passage lets kids get up-close-and-personal with elephants, rhinos and more in one of the world’s largest bullelephant habitats. Pack a picnic lunch and spread out in City Park, the largest in Denver, with 330 acres of refreshing green space and an abundance of fresh-air activities. Find a spot in the area around Ferril Lake to take in the best views of Denver’s skyline and the Rocky Mountains. Museum options for today include the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, also in City Park, to see enormous dinosaur skeletons in the Prehistoric Journey exhibit, watch an IMAX feature or transport into space at the planetarium. Or head west to the city of Golden’s Colorado Railroad Museum (3), where more than 100 locomotives, cabooses and HO model railroad attractions make the state’s rail history seem larger than life. The Denver Art Museum (4) is one of the nation’s best for kids programs, including the Just for Fun Family Center and Family Backpacks and Creative Corners for exploring the galleries. DENVER ART MUSEUM The Denver Center for the Performing Arts hosts many kid-friendly performances each year, including the Colorado Symphony’s Family Series (Halloween Spooktacular and Drums of the Word are faves), as well as — hold onto your ice cubes — the world premiere of Disney’s “Frozen, The Broadway Musical” in August 2017 before it heads to New York. CASA BONITA Dinner calls for a trip to Casa Bonita, which is not your average Mexican restaurant. This longtime Denver favorite is a great place to end your Denver adventure. Known less for its food and more as an indoor amusement park, it entertains little ones with cliff divers, mariachi bands, puppet shows, a pirate cave, magicians and more. After this packed weekend, you might consider treating yourself to one of their famously large margaritas. MORE IDEAS FOR FAMILIES BETH SCHNEIDER; ELITCH GARDENS THEME & WATER PARK ELITCH GARDENS THEME & WATER PARK Mind-blowing rides for those taller than 48 inches (including the seven-story Brain Drain), plenty of slower family rides for those who aren’t, Island Kingdom Water Park, lots of places to eat and a summer concert series, “dive-in” movies and other events make the nation’s only downtown theme park a must visit. WINGS OVER THE ROCKIES AIR & SPACE MUSEUM WINGS OVER THE ROCKIES AIR & SPACE MUSEUM Experience the rush of flight in the museum’s simulation center, climb into cockpits and wonder at the collection of military and civilian aircraft and the country’s only X-wing Starfighter. WATER WORLD, BETH SCHNEIDER WATER WORLD One of the biggest and best water parks in the nation, with acres of refreshing summertime fun. Nearly 50 rides and adventures offer something for all ages. BUTTERFLY PAVILION BUTTERFLY PAVILION 1,200 free-flying butterflies make their home at this oneof- a-kind attraction in Westminster, fluttering around visitors in a re-creation of a tropical rainforest. THE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY THE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY This 720-acre rescue/educational facility 30 miles outside of Denver is home to nearly 350 large carnivores (including lions, tigers, bears and wolves!). They roam the massive refuge while you walk above them on the Mile Into the Wild walkway. DINOSAUR RIDGE Compare footprint sizes with giant prehistoric beasts on a 1.5-mile nature walk in Morrison. You’ll encounter more than 100 fossilized dinosaur tracks, including those of stegosaurus, apatosaurus and allosaurus. IFLY INDOOR SKYDIVING Lone Tree’s smoothriding vertical wind tunnel literally sends you soaring. A stellar training program and instructors make it great for families. STAY & PLAY OPTIONS Aurora (page 196), Arvada, Brighton (page 198), Castle Rock (page 199), Centennial (page 199), Commerce City, Denver (page 201), Englewood (page 202), Evergreen (page 203),Glendale, Golden (page 205), Greenwood Village (page 206), Highlands Ranch (page 207), Lakewood (page 207), Littleton (page 208), Morrison (page 210), Roxborough (page 211), Sedalia (page 212), Wheat Ridge (page 214)
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