We recently went to Colorado with some family. It was beautiful as aways. Colorado offers so many different great activities for everyone’s different taste. We stayed at an Airbnb in Glenwood Springs that had plenty of space for our 11 people group.
We white water rafted, hiked, soaked in hot springs and enjoyed some games at our Airbnb in the evenings. Oh, and Grant and I decided we are fly fisher people. Grant caught his first fish! I got a my first bite, but have yet to catch one.
Glenwood Springs in my opinion is a great place to stay when traveling with a group. It offers a lot of fun different activities. For example, not everyone wanted to do the hot springs, so they went off and enjoyed another day time activity. There’s just so much to do! Below is our itinerary:
*Note. Grant and I drove out there. We found traveling out there on a Sunday and leaving early morning on a Saturday was ideal because mountain traffic can get bad (we’ve experienced it before in the past) and this really help avoid all that!
Itinerary
Sunday
4pm Airbnb check-in
Dinner idea: Family dinner in Glenwood at Slope and Hatch. Great spot! It’s a very small restaurant, but you can get your food to go, and find a spot right around the corner to sit and enjoy your meal. There is a large public sitting area with chairs and tables under a bridge. It’s really quite neat.
Monday
Morning: Jess Weaver Hike (not the whole 16 miles, just a timed out and back) Other Hike options: 1) grizzly creek trail – hard (currently partially closed) 2) Two Rivers Red Mountain Trail – Two Rivers Park – hard 3) Wulfsohn Trail and Defiance Trail – moderate 4) Glenwood Canyon Trail via Glenwood Sprints – easy 5) Rio Grande Trail – easy
Afternoon: Iron Mountain Hot Springs. Iron Mountain is a new hot springs area. We had previously did the Glenwood hot springs pool – which is also great. So we wanted to try something new. You can bring your littles to both. I do think Glenwood hot springs pool might be a better kid friendly option.
Evening: Family night. Every evening we had family night 🙂
Dinner theme idea: Cheeseburger night.
Tuesday
White water rafting day.
Everyone on the trip said this was their highlight. I’ve white water rafted this same river 4 times now. It’s a fun one! Great for kids too. If you’re unsure of the rapids, they will happily pick you up at a spot on the river after the rapids part to float down the rest of the river.
There is a safety orientation, so plan to arrive 45 minutes before your scheduled launch time. I’ve tried a couple different companies, and I thought they were all great. I would say that White Water Rafting LLC might be my favorite. That’s the company we used this trip.
Dinner theme idea: Tacos
Wednesday, July 19
Explore Basalt and Aspen.
Basalt has some of the best fishing.
We ended up grabbing lunch at in Basalt at The Tipsy Trout. I’ve been here a few times and was really impressed my first time. Its a fun location with the water streaming right outside. To experience this you’ll want to request the patio. However, this last time I thought the service lacked and later when walking around the shops noticed some new restaurants that looked fun in the historic area. Check out Basalt River Park. Maybe do some fishing.
Dinner theme idea: Sandwiches
Thursday, July 20
We had originally scheduled Glenwood Cavern Adventure Park. You take a gondola up to the adventure park, which is a fun experience! They have caves, and the thrill rides on top of the mountain, which is unique.
However, to my surprise no one was really interested in the theme park. Which is fine with me as I’m always open to exploring and hiking the mountains. We ended up at Maroon Bells, hiking and soaking up the stunning scenery. This was my 4th time at Maroon Bells and it never disappoints. Well, actually I take that back. One time it was a very cloudy day and it covered the Bells, so yeah, that was a little disappointing. However, this time, it was very clear and beautiful! You do need to book reservations for a shuttle bus to take you all the way up. You’ll want to do this online before hand to secure your spot. We bought the day before, and was just fine.
Dinner theme idea: Surprise night – we will see what we come up with!
Friday, July 21
This day we hiked the oh so beautiful Hanging Lake. Google the pics! It’s stunning. It’s only a little over a mile hike to hanging lake, but I’ll warn you, it’s a steep 1 mile! Take your time, enjoy the scenery. Once you get to the top it’s worth it. Once you get to hanging lake, enjoy a rest, then continue up another 200 ft to a waterfall you can walk under.
Dinner theme idea: Order carryout pizza night
Saturday, July 22
All good things must come to an end.
10am Airbnb checkout.
Some family drove to Denver and flew the rest of the way home, while others continued their vacation on in Estes Park and Grant and I booked it home for 13 hours.
This itinerary is what worked for us. Feel free to take and leave what works for you. I will say, we did create family theme dinner nights but really those ended up being a wash and everyone just ate different things.
Wandering Swansons 