Colorado/Utah

Kalaar kururuc

Kalaar kururuc

Grumpy old man
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I'm starting to plan a holiday for my 50th next year (crazy really, almost 25 years since EQ came out and I started visiting this forum, and its predecessors). I've got kids who will be 4 and 7 when we go next summer, so that steers much of the planning (no massive hikes for example) but the current plan is roughly:

Fly to Denver: spend 2-3 days in Golden to get over the flight and see some sights, currently have the Railroad museum, museum of nature on the list
Drive over to Glenwood Springs: spend 2-3 nights there to see the area around there such as the gondola in Aspen, Colorado National Monument etc.
Drive over to Moab: spend 2-3 nights there in a hotel with a good pool so we can chill out whilst also seeing Arches, Dead Horse Point etc
Drive to SLC: 2-3 nights there seeing the sights and have a day in Park City
Drive over to Steamboat Springs: 2-3 nights there, with a stop at Dinosaur National Park on the way over
Drive to Boulder: 2-3 nights there then fly back out of Denver

Is there anything that's a must see on that loop? No way you can see everything, even with close to 3 weeks, but a good BBQ joint would go down well, bear in mind I have kids so a place with live music and raucous drinking isn't particularly suitable :) Obviously the big missing stop is Yellowstone, but on balance it isn't worth it this time around, my little one is small enough that the majority of Yellowstone sights, such as the hot springs, and queuing for old faithful will be too stressful. Yellowstone can be another trip when the kids are older, or maybe once I've got rid of them to university.
 
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Fenriz

Fenriz

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For shit your kids would love in SLC I'd recommend Living Planet Aquarium and Hogle Zoo.
 
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moonarchia

moonarchia

The Scientific Shitlord
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Kalaar kururuc said:
I'm starting to plan a holiday for my 50th next year (crazy really, almost 25 years since EQ came out and I started visiting this forum, and its predecessors). I've got kids who will be 4 and 7 when we go next summer, so that steers much of the planning (no massive hikes for example) but the current plan is roughly:

Fly to Denver: spend 2-3 days in Golden to get over the flight and see some sights, currently have the Railroad museum, museum of nature on the list
Drive over to Glenwood Springs: spend 2-3 nights there to see the area around there such as the gondola in Aspen, Colorado National Monument etc.
Drive over to Moab: spend 2-3 nights there in a hotel with a good pool so we can chill out whilst also seeing Arches, Dead Horse Point etc
Drive to SLC: 2-3 nights there seeing the sights and have a day in Park City
Drive over to Steamboat Springs: 2-3 nights there, with a stop at Dinosaur National Park on the way over
Drive to Boulder: 2-3 nights there then fly back out of Denver

Is there anything that's a must see on that loop? No way you can see everything, even with close to 3 weeks, but a good BBQ joint would go down well, bear in mind I have kids so a place with live music and raucous drinking isn't particularly suitable :) Obviously the big missing stop is Yellowstone, but on balance it isn't worth it this time around, my little one is small enough that the majority of Yellowstone sights, such as the hot springs, and queuing for old faithful will be too stressful. Yellowstone can be another trip when the kids are older, or maybe once I've got rid of them to university.
Click to expand...
Denver:
Denver Steakhouse | Denver's Oldest Restaurant | Buckhorn Exchange - Great historic steakhouse
Casa Bonita - Recently reopened and owned by Parker and Stone who make South Park.

Glenwood Springs - I grew up here
Glenwood Hot Springs Resort, Pool and Lodge | Glenwood Springs, CO - If you are going to be hitting parks and trails consider staying here or one of the several hotels in walking distance. This is one of the biggest tourist traps in the area.

Doc Holliday Grave & Hiking Trail - Glenwood Springs, CO

Glenwood Springs most famous gunslinger rests in Linwood Cemetery, though no one knows the exact spot. Hike the short trail to the Doc Holliday memorial marker!
visitglenwood.com visitglenwood.com
 
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Kalaar kururuc

Kalaar kururuc

Grumpy old man
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moonarchia said:
Denver:
Denver Steakhouse | Denver's Oldest Restaurant | Buckhorn Exchange - Great historic steakhouse
Casa Bonita - Recently reopened and owned by Parker and Stone who make South Park.

Glenwood Springs - I grew up here
Glenwood Hot Springs Resort, Pool and Lodge | Glenwood Springs, CO - If you are going to be hitting parks and trails consider staying here or one of the several hotels in walking distance. This is one of the biggest tourist traps in the area.

Doc Holliday Grave & Hiking Trail - Glenwood Springs, CO

Glenwood Springs most famous gunslinger rests in Linwood Cemetery, though no one knows the exact spot. Hike the short trail to the Doc Holliday memorial marker!
visitglenwood.com visitglenwood.com
Click to expand...
Thanks, the boys will likely enjoy the Mexican place, they both love Despicable Me, shame no tortilla hats though 🤠
 
Alex

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
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Kalaar kururuc said:
I'm starting to plan a holiday for my 50th next year (crazy really, almost 25 years since EQ came out and I started visiting this forum, and its predecessors). I've got kids who will be 4 and 7 when we go next summer, so that steers much of the planning (no massive hikes for example) but the current plan is roughly:

Fly to Denver: spend 2-3 days in Golden to get over the flight and see some sights, currently have the Railroad museum, museum of nature on the list
Drive over to Glenwood Springs: spend 2-3 nights there to see the area around there such as the gondola in Aspen, Colorado National Monument etc.
Drive over to Moab: spend 2-3 nights there in a hotel with a good pool so we can chill out whilst also seeing Arches, Dead Horse Point etc
Drive to SLC: 2-3 nights there seeing the sights and have a day in Park City
Drive over to Steamboat Springs: 2-3 nights there, with a stop at Dinosaur National Park on the way over
Drive to Boulder: 2-3 nights there then fly back out of Denver

Is there anything that's a must see on that loop? No way you can see everything, even with close to 3 weeks, but a good BBQ joint would go down well, bear in mind I have kids so a place with live music and raucous drinking isn't particularly suitable :) Obviously the big missing stop is Yellowstone, but on balance it isn't worth it this time around, my little one is small enough that the majority of Yellowstone sights, such as the hot springs, and queuing for old faithful will be too stressful. Yellowstone can be another trip when the kids are older, or maybe once I've got rid of them to university.
Click to expand...

Man I feel like doing that much driving in UT and skipping out on the SW parks of Zion and Bryce Canyon is criminal. I know it's out of the way, but Zion is just the most magical place I've seen in America. I'll always hype it up.

I think 2-3 days in Golden is too much. It is not a big town and most of the interesting mountain stuff is deeper into the mountains. I think taking off a day or so and hitting somewhere on the way to Glenwood Springs like Dillon/Frisco would be a good move.

SLC is an underrated city. Get a good meal at Copper Onion. Spend $40 on 40 pounds of Mexican food at Alberto's.

Canyonlands (Dead Horse Point is majestic) and Arches are absolutely worth checking out but be cognizant of the time of year you're there. Our dumbasses went on an 11 day camping trip throughout all the national parks in that area this time of the year two years ago. It was 100 degrees by like 10am in Arches. Thankfully we hit the trails at 6am so we were able to check out quite a bit before we had to call it a day.
 
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Kalaar kururuc

Kalaar kururuc

Grumpy old man
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Yes, I've seen the weather in Moab in August when it's my birthday, so the plan is to go the last week of May and early June, that should be late enough to have most of the snow gone in the mountain towns but not scorching hot in Moab. I think if the kids were older I'd agree about Golden, but the plane lands mid afternoon so realistically 3 nights is only 2 days if we head out towards Glenwood on the morning after the third night. At the age of my kids we can blow a good chunk of a day at the railroad museum, a full morning at the dinosaurs and then the remaining time seeing a few odds and ends and some shopping. I do quite fancy Zion, it may end up being a full 3 week trip rather than a long 2 weeks, like you say, it's a shame to miss it.
 
Alex

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
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Kalaar kururuc said:
Yes, I've seen the weather in Moab in August when it's my birthday, so the plan is to go the last week of May and early June, that should be late enough to have most of the snow gone in the mountain towns but not scorching hot in Moab. I think if the kids were older I'd agree about Golden, but the plane lands mid afternoon so realistically 3 nights is only 2 days if we head out towards Glenwood on the morning after the third night. At the age of my kids we can blow a good chunk of a day at the railroad museum, a full morning at the dinosaurs and then the remaining time seeing a few odds and ends and some shopping. I do quite fancy Zion, it may end up being a full 3 week trip rather than a long 2 weeks, like you say, it's a shame to miss it.
Click to expand...

If the weather cooperates you can go tubing down the stream that rolls through Golden. Could be a fun thing for the kids to do.
 
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Kalaar kururuc

Kalaar kururuc

Grumpy old man
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I'm going to add a few nights and go to Zion in between Moab and SLC. It's a bit of a detour but it's not like I'll be out that way again soon.
 
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Fenriz

Fenriz

Molten Core Raider
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You won't regret it, I live about 30 minutes away from Zion and don't go nearly enough.
 
C

Captain Suave

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I just spent a week in Vail. Took my kids (8, 11) to the National Mining Museum in Leadville. Pretty cool bit of history there, though your kids might be a bit young for it, and the area is expectedly gorgeous.
 
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Kalaar kururuc

Kalaar kururuc

Grumpy old man
532
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Well, that's the flights and car booked, I added 3 extra nights so we can see Zion. Now that I've got the start and finish sorted, just need to finalise the itinerary and start to get some hotels booked.

Enob Enob the Meow Wolf place looks like somewhere to drop lsd before entering, and then having a bad trip before waking up in a dumpster :) Something for the list if the weather is crap maybe.

C Captain Suave I think my youngest is too little for the mining museum but it does look cool, there is one not too far from me in England that I went to with my own dad, will probably take my kids here when they're a little older.
 
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Hateyou

Hateyou

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Kalaar kururuc said:
I'm starting to plan a holiday for my 50th next year (crazy really, almost 25 years since EQ came out and I started visiting this forum, and its predecessors). I've got kids who will be 4 and 7 when we go next summer, so that steers much of the planning (no massive hikes for example) but the current plan is roughly:

Fly to Denver: spend 2-3 days in Golden to get over the flight and see some sights, currently have the Railroad museum, museum of nature on the list
Drive over to Glenwood Springs: spend 2-3 nights there to see the area around there such as the gondola in Aspen, Colorado National Monument etc.
Drive over to Moab: spend 2-3 nights there in a hotel with a good pool so we can chill out whilst also seeing Arches, Dead Horse Point etc
Drive to SLC: 2-3 nights there seeing the sights and have a day in Park City
Drive over to Steamboat Springs: 2-3 nights there, with a stop at Dinosaur National Park on the way over
Drive to Boulder: 2-3 nights there then fly back out of Denver

Is there anything that's a must see on that loop? No way you can see everything, even with close to 3 weeks, but a good BBQ joint would go down well, bear in mind I have kids so a place with live music and raucous drinking isn't particularly suitable :) Obviously the big missing stop is Yellowstone, but on balance it isn't worth it this time around, my little one is small enough that the majority of Yellowstone sights, such as the hot springs, and queuing for old faithful will be too stressful. Yellowstone can be another trip when the kids are older, or maybe once I've got rid of them to university.
Click to expand...
Breakfast at Lucile’s, a creole joint in Boulder. Hidden gem.

Lucile's Creole Cafe - best breakfast + brunch in Boulder

Lucile's Creole Restaurant based in Boulder with 5 Colorado locations. Come in for the best breakfast and brunch in Boulder.
www.luciles.com www.luciles.com
 
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Ranak

Ranak

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Utah's aquarium and zoo are both pretty good, especially for kids that age. The Homestead Crater is a cool swimming experience up past Park City. They also have Alpine slides up in PC. Utah has a ton of really cool parks for kids with splash pads etc. as well as recreation centers that are basically miniature water parks (Provo Rec Center is crazy value/fun for a $5 admission; google for pics) Also some cool children's museums (downtown SLC and Lehi) as well as a nice natural history museum up by the University of Utah in SLC and a couple different dinosaur museums/exhibits down in Lehi if your kids are into that. Lots of easy hikes that a 4 and 7 year old could do as well that are simple up-and-backs in both Big and Little Cottonwood canyons: 1-2 miles or so. There are also a bunch of indoor play areas like the old-school Discovery Zones like Kidstopia etc. if it's a real hot day and you want to relax for a couple hours.
 
Alex

Alex

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