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Golden is a great place for kids.
Activities abound in a safe, family-friendly,
community environment.
Part of
Heritage Square Amusement Park, the Alpine
Slide is fun for the older kids. A chair
lift transports riders 490 feet to the top of a
mountain where they can slide to the bottom on a
plastic sled at their own speed.
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The City of Golden has an excellent
five-position batting cage located at
1205 Ulysses St. at the
Ulysses Sports Complex.
Baseball, softball, slow, and fast pitch
machines are available. The hours of
operation depend on the time of the year
and the weather. |
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The paved trail along Clear Creek
and along the northern side of Coors
Brewery is a nice place to ride bikes.
The terrain is mostly flat, and the
sidewalk is wide. The
City of Golden provides bicycle
safety information on its web site. |
High school students like to meet and bowl at
Golden Bowl. Students can buy Chinese
food there seven days a week!
Golden Community Choirs includes a
Children's Choir for ages 7 - 12 and a
Children's Training Choir for ages 4 - 6.
Rehearsals for both choirs are on Mondays from
5:30-6:30 p.m. at Applewood Valley United
Methodist Church, 2035 Ellis St.
Children ages 6-10 can learn about life in
the 1800's during a week of outdoor hands-on
history camps at the
Clear Creek History Park, a working 19th
century village.
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Located at the
Golden Community Center, the indoor climbing
wall is popular with youth of all ages.
Parents may bring in their child ages 6 - 17
years old and supervise them while they use the
bouldering wall. Drop-in fee applies.
The wall may be reserved for birthday parties,
too.
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The Golden
Community Center offers many classes for
tykes and teens, such as drawing, music,
ceramics, dance, computer, sports, babysitting
and first aid courses, and yoga. An
on-site preschool program is fun and educational
two mornings a week during the school year.
Child-care is also available for a fee for
children ages six months to seven years for
people using the facility.
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A small fishing pond is located in
Lions Park at the west end of 10th
Street where children and their parents
can spend a relaxing afternoon.
Kids love to throw in a line whether or
not they catch any fish!
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The
Fossil Trace Golf Club offers special
discount rates to juniors (up to age 18) Monday
- Thursday from 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. In
addition, private lessons are available.
Spring golf clinics and a summer golf school are
also held for golfers ages 4-18.
Golden's Downtown Merchants Association makes
Halloween especially fun for the little ones.
Kids (and sometimes adults) put on their
costumes and can trick-or-treat at the local
shops on Washington Avenue where it's safe and
still light out.
According to the local teenagers,
Spider Mansion at Heritage Square Amusement
Park is a very creepy haunted house and well
worth an annual visit. In fact, it's so
scary that children under seven years old must
be accompanied by an adult. Set in a 5000
square foot Victorian mansion, this popular
Halloween attraction is best seen with a group
of friends.
Originally built as a buffer zone between the
LaFarge gravel quarry and the Heritage Dells
neighborhood,
Heritage Square Amusement Park is worth a
visit with the little ones. Activities
include go kart tracks, bumper and paddle boats,
miniature golf, some amusement rides, ponies,
and fishing. The Heritage Rio Golden Train
circles the park. The Children's Theater
makes a great field trip.
Living in Golden wouldn't be complete without
a hike up North or South Table Mountain.
Views at the top of either one are spectacular.
For maps and directions, click
here.
A highlight for kids is riding through Golden
in a carriage pulled by a friendly horse!
Horse-drawn carriage rides are free and are
available at the following Golden events:
Farmers' Markets, Olde Golden Christmas, and
Golden Family Easter.
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Located in
Southridge Park,
the in-line hockey rink is open to the
public from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
daily. Put on your roller blades and
protective gear and enjoy a sunny
morning practicing your goal shots.
FREE. |
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Fridays during the
school year, kids from 8 - 13 years old can hang
out at the Golden Community Center from 7:00 -
10:30 p.m. for only $10.00 and play games,
dance, eat, climb, swim, and much more.
Supervision provided. Visit the
Golden Community Center website
for more information.
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Fridays in August the City of Golden
and the
Golden Resource for Education, Arts, and
Theater (GREAT) present live music
and outdoor films for families to enjoy
in Parfet Park. Families can bring
a picnic dinner and settle in for an
evening's entertainment under the stars.
Admission is FREE. |
The
Golden Music Center is the happening place
for musically-inclined young people.
Private lessons are available from qualified
instructors for many instruments. The
Center also sponsors an audition-only Student
Chamber Orchestra which meets during the summer.
Instrument rental and repair, too!
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Lookout Mountain Nature Center has wonderful
programs and interactive exhibits for
play groups and individual families.
The trails are very manageable for
hikers of all ages. Take a picnic
lunch and enjoy the vanilla scent of the
ponderosa pines. |
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In addition to interesting exhibits depicting
Golden's history, the
Golden Pioneer Museum hosts several events
for children, including Make a May Basket,
Mining Family Stories Summer Camp, and Make a
Gingerbread House.
Beverly Heights
19th St. & Goldenvue Dr.
Cressman
Wyoming St. & Mesa Court
Discovery Park
23rd Street & Illinois Street
Heritage Dells
Crawford Circle & Kimball Ave.
Lions
1300 10th St.
New Loveland Mine
1309 5th St.
Norman D.
N. Ford St. & Mesa Dr.
Southridge
16th Ave. & Violet St.
Tony Grampsas
4471 Salvia St.
Ulysses Park
1205 Ulysses St.
White Ash Mine
1400 Iowa Street
Kids love to sit and wave out the windows of
the many types of rail cars at the
Colorado Railroad Museum. Another
highlight is the toy train display inside the
museum building. Thomas the Tank Engine
periodically visits as well.
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The Skateboard Park is located at
the
Ulysses Ballfield Complex
at 10th Avenue and Ulysses Street. It
includes a two-level half pipe, slide
rail, an Ollie box, a jump ramp, a
quarter pipe, and fly box. Park is open
from dawn to 10:00 p.m. FREE.
Golden Heights Skate Park at West
2nd Place and Quaker St. has a quarter
pipe, fun box, fly box, rail, and unique
concrete wall structure. |
The hills at Heritage Dells Park hold the
distinction for best sledding in Golden.
After any major snowfall, sledders, tobogganers,
and snowboarders share the park with homemade
snow jumps, smooth tracks, and even kiddie runs
for winter fun.
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The
Colorado Ice Soccer
(part of the Table Mountain Soccer
Association) has teams for kids as young
as four years old. Both
recreational and competitive soccer draw
players of all ages from all over
Golden. The sport is very popular
here. Micro-soccer for
pre-kindergarteners is offered in the
fall and spring.
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The Golden Public Library has many programs
for kids and teens, but Storytime is a favorite
with the little ones. Different programs
are scheduled Monday through Thursday throughout
the school year. A theme-based reading program
for all ages with special presentations, prizes,
and book awards takes place during the summer. Visit the
Jefferson County Public Library web site for
more information.
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From Parfet Park (at 10th
Street and Washington) to the library on
both sides of Clear Creek the walk is
paved and partly shady. Continue
on the north side of the creek to Lions
Park. This section is popular for
people-watching, but keep a close eye on
your children; the water in the creek is
swift. |
When the weather is summer hot, head for
The Splash where you'll find water slides,
sand, an activity pool, fountains, and more.
Lawn chairs provided and concession stand
available.
The indoor pools at the
Golden Community Center are open year-round.
The Leisure Pool is especially popular for the
younger set. All ages love the big
enclosed slide. Swim lessons and classes
are also offered. Drop-in fee applies.
Periodically the
Astor
House holds Tea Time with luncheon or
dessert and an interesting historical program.
Private teas are also available.
Lions Park tennis courts are popular
with youth. When they are full,
the courts at Southridge Park are
available during the day, too. Two
of the three Lions Park courts are
lighted, making it easy to play in the
cooler summer evenings. First
come, first serve.
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The
Golden Lions Club puts on quite an eventful
4th of July celebration in downtown Golden.
Many activities for children and their families
are available, including free rides, live music
and, of course, fireworks after dark.
One of Golden's signature events the last
weekend in July,
Buffalo Bill Days has plenty of activities
for the little ones, including Mutton Bustin, a
parade down the main street, a wild west show,
and plenty of food.
This year on November 30th, families will
gather on the south end of Washington Avenue
near 15th Street for the traditional Candlelight
Walk to usher in the holidays with singing and
merriment as part of
Olde Golden Christmas. Kids love
holding a candle while walking through downtown.
Many activities follow, including the chance to
pet one of Santa's reindeer.
The Downtown Merchants Association and the
Kiwanis Club work together to make the
Saturday before Easter a fun community
event. The day starts with a brief and
very intense Easter Egg Hunt in Parfet Park.
The crowd then strolls up and down
Washington Avenue, meeting the Easter Bunny
and various other characters (Mother Goose
sometimes makes an appearance). Cart
rides drawn by Newfoundland Dogs are popular
with little children.
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