Kids Korner

Visit Denver and other areas of Colorado! Ski School Six Flags Elitch Gardens Georgetown Loop Railroad Quick—name the place that's as much fun in the winter as in summer. You can fly down the mountains on skis or a snowboard or on a mountain bike. You can snowmobile in the winter and river raft in summer. Look for animal tracks in the snow or animals in the national parks in summer. There are even plenty of cool museums—the kind with exhibits that kids can play in. Welcome to Colorado!

Did You Know?

• Colorado has more mountain peaks above 14,000 feet than any other state—58. They're called Fourteeners, and many people like to keep track of the number they've climbed. Colorado's famous Pikes Peak is 31st on the list. The view from the summit inspired Katherine Lee Bates to write “America the Beautiful” more than 100 years ago, in 1893. You can take a special train up to the top of Pikes Peak (www.cograilway.com) or a special ski train from Denver to Winter Park (www.skitrain.com).

• Twenty athletes from Colorado went to the 2006 winter Olympics in Torino, Italy—more than anywhere else in the country. Steamboat has produced more winter Olympians than any other town in North America over the years—69 and counting—and its ski school is headed by former Olympian Billy Kidd. Many families like to ski and board at Steamboat, as well as visit in the summer (www.steamboat.com).

• The cheeseburger was invented in Denver in 1935 by Louis Ballast. He operated the Humpty Dumpty Barrel Drive-In in Denver, and one day he put a slice of cheese on the burger and melted it. He dubbed his invention the “cheeseburger” and applied for a patent. Outdoor Christmas lights were also invented in Denver when D.D. Sturgeon decided to decorate a tree in his backyard—back in 1919. Today, Denver has one of the biggest holiday lighting displays in the world—10,000 lights on the City and Country Building!

• Denver is called the “Mile High City” because it is truly one mile high. If you are on the 15th step of the State Capitol Building, you will be exactly 5,280 feet above sea level. There's a plaque to mark the spot. Denver is not really in the mountains, but it's near them—just to the east. Because the city is so close to ski areas, people think Denver is freezing all winter. Actually, it's mostly mild, dry, and sunny getting just 15 inches of precipitation a year—the same as Los Angeles! It's possible to play golf in Denver in the morning and ski at a nearby ski area in the afternoon. Visit www.Denver.org to see all there is to do here for kids.

• Colorado is home to 25 ski resorts and more skiers and boarders come here every winter than California and Utah combined. That's because Colorado gets 300 inches of snow and has 300 days of sunshine every year! Every ski area has special activities and programs for kids—often in the summer as well as the winter (www.coloradoski.com).

• Colorado is home to four national parks: Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and Great Sand Dunes. You'll find dunes 600 feet high at Great Sand Dunes National Park, cliff dwellings that are thousands of years old at Mesa Verde, lots of hiking trails and bighorn sheep at Rocky Mountain National Park, and the deepest abyss not in the oceans (over one half mile deep) at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison where you can raft in the summer. (www.nps.gov)

• Dr. Justina Ford, the first African-American woman to practice medicine in Colorado, delivered 7,000 babies in the first half of the 20th century. Her home is now the Black American West Museum and Heritage Center in Denver where you can find out more about the African Americans who helped settle the west. More than a third of the cowboys who helped build the West were Black. (www.blackamericanwest.org)

• You can shop until you drop without worrying about traffic for an entire mile along the 16th Street Mall in Denver. Besides shops like Virgin Records Megastore and Niketown, there are cafes, restaurants (such as ESPN ZONE), and free shuttles that go from one end to the other as well as plenty of free chairs where you can take a break. (www.downtowndenver.com)

• You can soak in the world's largest open-air hot springs swimming pool in Glenwood Springs, fed by mineral springs that produce 3,000 gallons of water per minute! Nearby, go to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park to ride the cool Canyon Flier, an alpine coaster that races 3,400 feet down the mountain in between the trees. (www.glenwoodchamber.com and www.glenwoodcaverns.com)

• There are dinosaur skeletons 84 feet long at Dinosaur National Monument in northwest Colorado, and you'll find more dino footprints than anywhere else in the country at Picketwire Canyonlands in the Comanche National Grasslands. (www.fs.fed.us)

• Women were just as important to ranching and settling the West as men. In fact, Colorado was the second state to grant women the right to vote. You can find out a lot more about Women on the Range, as well as Native Americans, at www.coloradohistory.org. Over the past 500 years, as many as 46 different American Indian Tribes, each with its own language, culture, and beliefs, have called Colorado home. You can find out a lot more about them at the Colorado History Museum in Denver.

• Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver sells more than 75,000 glow sticks every season. Located in the middle of downtown Denver, Six Flags Elitch Gardens is actually two parks in one—a theme park with six major coasters, an area for little kids, and a water park that has more than 1.5 million gallons of water running through it! Visit www.sixflags.com and click on Elitch Gardens to see what's planned to celebrate the park's 45th anniversary this year.

• The Denver Zoo is home to Mshindi, the world's only rhinoceros that paints with a brush, and nearly 4,000 other animals! There are lots of special activities for kids—even the chance to bunk with the beasts. (www.denverzoo.org)

What Other Kids Say You Should Do While In Colorado . . .

Meet: Augie Miller (age 3) who lives in Denver. He is the son of Southwest Airlines Ramp Supervisor Don Miller. He Says: "Snow, Papi, snow!" Don't Miss: Casa Bonita, it's a kid's heaven. This one of a kind restaurant features great Mexican food plus over 30 attractions. You'll really enjoy the wacky shows--escaping gorillas, cowboy shootouts, and cliff divers. They even have arcades! Don't Go Home Without: Visiting the 16th Street Mall located downtown. There are great restaurants, lots of shopping, and a trolley to take you wherever you want to go! Best Places to Eat: Colorado Mills Food Court (located by the carousel) Maggiano's (located downtown) Best Places to Visit Outside Denver: Vail Resort in the high mountains. It's beautiful!

Kids, Tell Your Parents . . .

• Colorado Ski Resorts have terrific deals and activities for families in winter as well as summer, especially if you avoid the peak school break weeks. In winter, besides skiing and snowboarding, there's ice skating (Keystone and Beaver Creek, among others); snowshoeing (Crested Butte); tubing (Vail and Copper Mountain); snowmobiling (Winter Park); and dogsledding (Snowmass and Breckenridge), as well as spas galore. In summer, there's hiking, mountain biking, fishing, river rafting, and all kind of festivals plus the chance to see the Colorado Rockies play in Denver. Visit www.coloradoski.com or www.colorado.com and link to your favorite resort. Every Wednesday after skiing in March at Snowmass Village, there's Storytelling by the Campfire, where families can hear local tales and drink hot chocolate. See www.snowmassvillage.com.

• Colorado is also a good bet for a dude ranch vacation. Many of the state's 32 ranches offer special children's activities and programs. Visit the Colorado Dude Ranch Association at www.coloradoranch.com.

• There are also plenty of museums and one-of-a-kind places to visit in Denver and beyond. Here are ten that are sure to please:
  
  1. The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder where scientists study weather, and there are many hands-on activities at the Mesa Lab. (www.ucar.edu)
  2. Celestial Seasonings tea company in Boulder, where you can take a tour and learn the difference between black tea, herb tea, green tea, and red tea. (www.celestialseasonings.com)
  3. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science, one of the world's largest natural history museums. The new BodyWorlds 2 exhibit opens March 10 through July 23. (www.dmns.org)
  4. The Children's Museum of Denver with interactive playscapes for young children. (www.cmdenver.org)
  5. The Denver Art Museum, which is free on Saturdays and offers special backpacks for kids to learn about art in the museum. (www.DenverArtMuseum.org)
  6. Tiny Town and Railroad, a historic Colorado landmark with more than 100 miniature buildings and authentic steam train rides. (www.tinytownrailroad.com)
  7. Downtown Aquarium in Denver with more than one million gallons of underwater tanks. Future marine biologists might want to check out the chance to sleep over. (www.downtownaquariumdenver.com)
  8. The United States Air Force Academy just north of Colorado Springs. (www.usafa.af.mil)
  9. The U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs with its Olympic Hall of Fame and tours offered. (www.usolympicteam.com)
  10. The Colorado Ski Museum and Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in Vail. Check out the exhibit on the 10th Mountain Division, which was originally based in Colorado. (www.skimuseum.net)

• Just remember, heading for the high country means heading into oxygen levels that are a lot less than at sea level. The rapid gain in altitude might make some people in the family feel sick—headaches, dizziness, or nausea can be symptoms. The best protection is to take it slow! Get lots of rest, eat regularly, and drink plenty of fluids. Remember sunscreen because the winter and summer sun is stronger in high altitudes. And if you're heading to the slopes, don't forget ski helmets. You'll all be safer, and they keep you warm, too! Check out www.lidsonkids.org.

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By: Eileen Ogintz, Author of Taking the Kids™