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This post contains affiliate links. We may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. Glenwood Springs is a beautiful city in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. Best known for its hot springs and outdoor adventures, this is one family vacation destination you don’t want to miss! Here are my top things to do in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Things to Do in Glenwood Springs:

1. Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park

A western themed theme park located at the top of a mountain! Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is the only theme park in the US located at the top of a mountain. There are rides and cave tours! To reach the adventure park, you have to ride the gondolas up from Hotel Glenwood Springs.

We did the cave tours first since the park was pretty empty at the start of the day. The fairy caves were super cool. It’s about a 40 minute tour. You get to walk into different caverns, see stalagmites and stalactites, see the original lighting within the cave, and get some nice history of how they were found. At one point you walk out of the cave to a really nice picture spot overlooking Glenwood Springs.

If you’re traveling with small children, you need to carry them inside the caves the whole time so don’t forget your harness like I did. Strollers are not permitted inside the caves, neither are backpacks or diaper bags. Lots of the openings you walk through are pretty narrow and they don’t want your bags to get caught or damaged on the rough cave walls.

After the caves it was time to ride some rides. Logan was able to ride the kids roller coaster so we did that a whole bunch. There is also the alpine coaster and zip lining that my husband really liked. When the kids were napping we enjoyed the Ferris wheel. If you’re a trill seeker, there are 2 different swing rides that take you over the cliff and a roller coaster.

For the most up to date info on hours and operations, check out there website here.

2. Hot Springs

For some rest and relaxation check out the Hot Springs. There are 2 different hot springs locations in Glenwood Springs. The one we went to was Glenwood Hot Springs Pool. They have a hot pool and a mild pool for family fun. They also have a slide and a kiddie area. Family had a blast. Kids went down the slide a millions times and us adults enjoyed relaxing in the warm water.

3. White Water Rafting

The family did some white water rafting down the Colorado river during our stay. Children as small as 30 lbs are welcome to enjoy this excursion. My children were too small (only 1 and 2 1/2 and both under 20 lbs) so I stayed behind at the hotel pool. The rest of the family had a blast! You meet at the office and get shuttled to the river bed where you take off down the river. My husband said it was a pretty intense 4 hours but no one fell off so that’s a plus. Make sure to make your reservations in advance because it fill up!

4. Hanging Lake hike

Mid way through our trip, we were lucky enough to get the grandparents to watch our kiddos while we went hiking. I did a lot of research because I really wanted to take the kids and even bought a toddler harness but I’m glad we didn’t take them. Hanging Lake hike is a beautiful but difficult hike uphill. There are areas that feel like your climbing stairs but the view up top is worth it. The hike takes about 3-4 hours for those of us unexperienced hikers. Take lots of snacks and water! Take breaks as you need. Most of all, take in the views you will see. This Florida girl was blown away.

5. Downtown Glenwood Springs

While in Glenwood Springs, don’t miss the downtown area. Its a cute small area with lots of restaurants and shops. It is about a 7-10 minute drive from the hotel but we were there every night for dinner. Thats where the action is. I’ve listed some restaurants below and they also have music and a brewery.

6. Street Art

In the downtown area there are these beautiful butterfly and dragonfly hidden in the alleyways. Chrissy Lee-Manes of Homsted worked with local artists to create these works of art. Make sure to get your pictures taken with them. You can find them around Hotel Denver, Slope and Hatch, the Bethel Lot, and Treadz.

7. Doc Holiday’s Grave

On the last day of our trip we checked out Doc Holliday’s grave. Its a steep climb up a hill about .7 miles round trip. There is no shade but if you’re a history buff, you’ll see a lot of historic gravesites at Linwood Cementary.

8. Horse Back Riding

Something we did not get to do was go Horseback riding through Glenwood Canyon. Our kiddos were too small and I didn’t want to do this without them. Kids have to be at least 7 years old and 42″ tall. It costs $75 per rider with Glenwood Adventure Company. You can choose a 1 hour, 2 hour, or evening ride.

9. ATV Adventure

Glenwood Adventure Company also offers an ATV tour trough the 6,000 acre private land of Bair Ranch. They have single and double ATVs and range from easier to more skilled paths. You can choose from a 2 hour adventure or an evening adventure and the price ranges from $139 – $225.

10. Jeep Tour

We did not get to do the jeep tour but boy did we want to! It is a private 4 wheel drive tour through Bair Ranch where cars and tours can not go. From the website, it seems like they take you to some historic sites and show you some pretty amazing views. Children must be at least 2 years old and it costs $300 for a 2 and a half hour tour.

Where to Stay in Glenwood Springs

We stayed at Hotel Glenwood Springs. I chose this hotel because of its cute pool area for the kids. I should actually say its more like a mini water park. Since we stayed for more than 3 days they also gave us a voucher for pizza. They also included day passes to Glenwood Hot Springs Pool. I loved that the gondolas to the Adventure park leave from the hotel. It was super convenient especially with 2 kids.

What to Eat in Glenwood Springs

1. Glenwood Canyon Brewpub – Their turkey club and beer cheese soup were my favs
2. Smoke – Had their Brisket on my salad. May be the best salad I’ve ever had.
3. Colorado Ranch house – get the Field and Stream (more game type meats)
4. Riviera Supper Club – The beef stroganoff and Shrimp pasta were the 2 best dishes
5. Daily Bread – delicious breakfast skillets
6. Bluebird Cafe – Really great coffee
7. Local – Best bacon egg and cheese croissant

For more things to do in Colorado, check out Colorado Springs in a Day!

Check out these handy items that made our trip so much better: