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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!
| Thee 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
History Center 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.
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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