My wife and I are looking for vacation ideas for next year and we're thinking about driving out west. We'd like to see the sights (Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, etc) but are fairly open to suggestions. We generally have not been much in the way of outdoors people but are interested in camping or possibly renting a cabin, hiking, etc. Any suggestions on some place where there would be fun things for the family to do and possibly some mountain biking for me? My family does love tourist crap, me not so much.
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Re: Vacation out west [Toefuzz]
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How old is the family? Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA is really family friendly - has touristy horse rides and mountain biking- is in proximity to Winter Park, CO which has some of the best mountain biking in the country and you can rent a yurt next to campground or a cabin and kind of camp. Not fancy at all but they have mini golf, climbing wall, archery, canoeing, indoor pool, summer tubing hill etc etc. Rocky Mountain National Park is right down the road. But they have a pizza place so you don’t have to camping style cook.
https://snowmountainranch.org
https://snowmountainranch.org
Re: Vacation out west [Toefuzz]
[ In reply to ]
A lot depends on how old the kids are.
If you want Mount Rushmore, plan on a long 8+ hour drive through nowhere to get there. Hope you like open prairie and cornfields! Depending on the time of the year, you can expect heavy snow or 90+ degrees of dry hot heat or a few hundred thousand motorcycles (Sturgis bike rally). When you get there though: plan on plenty of hiking, great views, and mountain biking. Custer State Park has nice rental cabins on their campgrounds. They even have a few mountain bike races out there.
As someone else mentioned, Rocky Mountain NP is great for the family. Estes Park is a great basecamp.
If you want Mount Rushmore, plan on a long 8+ hour drive through nowhere to get there. Hope you like open prairie and cornfields! Depending on the time of the year, you can expect heavy snow or 90+ degrees of dry hot heat or a few hundred thousand motorcycles (Sturgis bike rally). When you get there though: plan on plenty of hiking, great views, and mountain biking. Custer State Park has nice rental cabins on their campgrounds. They even have a few mountain bike races out there.
As someone else mentioned, Rocky Mountain NP is great for the family. Estes Park is a great basecamp.
Wife and I went to Grand Canyon a couple years ago, had a very nice time. Stayed in the park accommodations which are basically like hotels, not particularly cheap but generally well run. There are a steady stream of ranger-led classes and walks appropriate for families. We flew into Flagstaff and the drive from there up to the Canyon was very pretty. We didn't have time to go to Sedona but that was recommended to us as well and could be combined with a Grand Canyon visit if you have some time to work with.
We also went to a wedding in Big Sky, Montana about 5 years ago. It was held at a place called 320 Ranch, and it was great. Can rent 'cabins', which have a western feel but all the modern amenities. Can go horseback riding, fly fishing, good hiking in the Gallatin National Forest, and it's a little less than an hour's drive from Yellowstone.
We also went to a wedding in Big Sky, Montana about 5 years ago. It was held at a place called 320 Ranch, and it was great. Can rent 'cabins', which have a western feel but all the modern amenities. Can go horseback riding, fly fishing, good hiking in the Gallatin National Forest, and it's a little less than an hour's drive from Yellowstone.