What to do at Garden of the Gods with kids

We LOVE Garden of the Gods. It’s our favorite place here in Colorado. We have been so many times. I thought it would be helpful to write about what to do at Garden of the Gods with kids.

Before we moved to Colorado, we would visit all.the.time. If we would visit Colorado and NOT go to Garden of the Gods the kids would be so sad. Now that we live here, we still go about once a month.

**Related Post: Complete Guide to Garden of the Gods

Why bring your kids to Garden of the Gods

As I said above, we love Garden of the Gods. We have been taking the kids there for many many years, and that was before we moved to Colorado. The sheer fact that they can climb rocks is the number one reason they love this park so much. There are also many spots within the park that are great for kids too.

What to do at Garden of the Gods with kids

Below are 9 different things you can do at Garden of the Gods with kids. You may not get to everything in one day. That’s ok. You can come back the next day, the park is FREE!

Guided Tyke Hikes

The guided Tyke Hike is for kiddos ages 2-10. The hike takes place on Mondays and Wednesday from 11-12:30. It’s $5 per kiddo. You meet in the downstairs lobby and they take you to the Central Garden where you rest, have a snack and listen to a story read-aloud, then hike back.

Visitor Center

The Visitor’s Center is awesome. You can enter down stairs and you are greeted with a huge dinosaur wall/floor mural. There is also a life size buffalo to the left you can check out and touch.

You go up the stairs, this is where the bathrooms are located right at the top of the stairs. Then you can go straight to the Museum or left. There is a visitor’s desk there with a sweet person to answer your gazillion questions. You can pick up a park map there as well.

There are so many places inside the visitor’s center to explore and places to stop and read about the park. The Bean Sprouts cafe is located upstairs as well. You can go out to the deck and take a couple selfies or soak up the amazing views.

We recommend spending some time in the visitors center and immersing yourself in the history of the park.

Climbing rocks

My kids favorite part! When we first went to Garden of the Gods with the kids we entered the park from Ridge Road. Parking Lot #9 is where we enjoyed the park the most for a few years. We knew you could climb on these rocks. One of the park rules is not to climb on the rock formations. We didn’t really know what that meant, so we stuck to this area for a while.

Then we asked. They don’t want you climbing on the actual named formations, like Kissing Camels or Siamese Twins. Which makes sense, because if you didn’t have proper rock climbing equipment, you couldn’t climb those rocks anyway. Well, safely at least.

You can’t scramble on those rocks either. Scrambling is rock climbing without the ropes, using your hands and feet, on a rock formation over 10 feet. If you want to rock climb you can, but you need a permit. And you will certainly ALWAYS have an audience. People LOVE to watch you climb the rocks. They also offer rock climbing excursions!

Jeep & Trolley Tours

These are guided vehicle tours. They can take anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple of hours, depending on which tour you take.

They range from about $20 per person and up to over $100 per person, depending on which tour you want to take.

Short hikes

Garden of the Gods has 10 hiking trails, that aren’t paved. 4 of the 10 are great for kids. These are about a mile long or shorter.

• Cabin Canyon: Our favorite. It shares the same parking lot as Siamese Twins.
• Siamese Twins: You can get a really awesome picture once you get to the rock formations.
• Upper Loop trail: You can get up and personal with the Sleeping Giant.
• Ridge Trail Loop: Another short trail that gets you up and personal with the Sleeping Giant.

Junior Ranger Program

The park offers the Junior Ranger Program. To get the book, you have to buy it in the gift shop for $2. It takes about an hour or so to complete, then you can get your badge.

GeoTrekker movie experience and boxed lunch

This is super neat. It’s a package deal. For $36 a person you can ride the trolley, watch the Geo Trekker movie and have a boxed lunch!! This is a great experience and a great deal!

E-Bike Tour

You can take a guided tour or rent the E-Bikes and go out on your own! You can also bring your own bike and ride it through the park.

As you are driving through the park you will have to yield to all the bicyclists. You share the road with them. And when they are going down hill, they will end up going faster than you!

Horseback riding

Garden of the Gods does NOT offer horseback riding. BUT…there is a stable right around the corner that does offer horseback riding through the park!

Or, if you bring your horse on vacation with you, you can park in parking lot #16 and ride your horse on designated horse riding trails.

Frequently Asked Questions

The last thing you need to know about bringing the kids to Garden of the Gods

Going to Garden of the Gods with kids will be a great experience. But be sure to wear grippy shoes or hiking shoes, sunblock, hat, sunglasses and bring a water bottle. It will most likely be hot and sunny when you are there. Colorado has about 300 days of sunshine a year.

You can pack a lunch for a picnic or order lunch at the cafe. Make a day out of the trip. The kids will love it.

Also, print out the scavenger hunt above to add some extra fun to your trip!