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Golden is a great place for kids.
Activities abound in a safe, family-friendly,
community environment.
The
Heritage Square 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. Rosie's Diner serves good food inside the bowling alley.
This is the place to learn about
Buffalo Bill. Visit the
Kids’ Cowboy Corral to Design a brand, dress as
a cowboy, or sit in a saddle and try to lasso a
calf! This interactive area offers hands-on fun for
children of all ages.
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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Youth interested in rock climbing
can find an abundance of classes offered through the
Colorado Mountain Club. Also learn about
plants, birds, hiking, and survival skills. Perfect
for kids who love the outdoors!
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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Art classes are frequently offered
for the young set at the
Foothills Art Center.
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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. |
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The Colorado School of Mines has an
awesome
Geology Museum with rocks galore! Full of
interesting specimens. And admission is free!
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Learn about the history of Golden through
exhibits, artifacts, lectures, programs, and
events. The
Golden History Center has been updated
and is worth a visit! |
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, as well as many First Fridays.
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Located in
Hockeystop 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 web site for more
information.
The
Action
Family ATA Martial Arts offers a variety of
classes for ages 2 and up. Work towards your black
belt or just train for a nice fitness workout.
Golden Tae Kwon Do Family Center has been in the Golden area for over 15 years and offers classes for the whole family! Learn not only the physical aspects of martial arts but also develop a positive mental attitude.
If your child has a flare for
acting,
Kids
Eye Theater is a must for workshops to perfect
the performance. Fun and educational!
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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The
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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When panning for gold, select a spot
where the water isn't very deep and make
sure it's flowing slowly enough that it
won't wash the water out of your pan. Try it
with a metal pie tin. Or check
Gold-n-Detectors for more sopisticated
equipment.
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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. |
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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. |
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Periodically the
Astor
House holds Tea Time with luncheon or dessert
and an interesting historical program. Private teas
are also available.
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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
Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum offers a variety of
quilt-making and sewing activities for youth. There
is a monthly quilting bee plus classes with
instruction for specific projects, as well as
individual instruction.
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.
Families gather on the south end of
Washington Avenue near 15th Street each year in late
November or early December 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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