suzyroh

We are taking a family vacation in June 2008 to Rocky Mtn Park, Aspen/vail/Breckinridge, and Colorado Springs. We are interested in horse riding, rafting, easy hikes for 10 & 7 year olds and any other fun sites there might be.

tekwriter

Are you visiting all those areas, or trying to pick one? You couldn't easily stay in one place and visit the others for day trips. How long will your trip be? If it's a week or so, you'll need to choose only one or two of these locations.

suzyroh

We are spending about 10 days driving around.

GBbabe

That's a tight schedule.

Are you flying into/out of Denver? What time of day are you arriving and leaving?

Assuming you arrive at DIA around noon and not the first week in June, Day 1: I would head to Estes Park for for the night.

Day 2rive through Rocky Mtn. Park, might not be able to hike much if there is still a lot of snow. Hike if you can. Spend the night in Grand Lake.

Day 3: Spend the day in/around Grand Lake, go horseback riding and hiking.

Day 4: Drive to Vail, maybe have lunch there and take a gondola up the mountain. But head to Breckinridge for the night.

Day 5: Hike and see Breckenridge

Day 6 & 7: Head over to Glenwood Springs. Lots of stuff to do here, gondola to the top of the mountain, world's largest outdoor mineral pool, and it has slides. Wonderful hikes in the canyon. The hike up to Hidden Lake is a challenge, but worth it and my 78 year old MIL did it!

Day 8: Drive over to Aspen, have lunch and see the town then continue over Independence Pass on to Colorado Springs.

Day 9: See the sights in COS.

Day 10: Leave.

suzyroh

Wonderful! Thanks for all of the ideas. We are flying into Denver- arriving early in the day and leaving late afternoon. We will fit in what we can and then come back again sometime. Thanks again. S

Mambo_

Do you really want to drive nearly every day? I recommend you pick two or three places and spend three or four nights at each. With the price of gas, and two kids getting bored in the car, I would think driving would be expensive and stressful. Come to Colorado to relax, not drive-by.
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AttyWSW

Your best bet is to try a dude ranch. Best vacation you'll ever have. Try the BarLazyJ or Cherokeeparkranch.com. There are many others in CO. If not, I like Glenwood Springs. There is the hot springs pool (world's largest), fairy caves, biking (by the river downhill), and horseback riding at either Sunlight or in Silt. Silt is an overnight trip on horseback.