Summer Fun at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park

Though it’s not officially summer yet according to our seasonal calendar, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park has rolled out all of its awesome attractions and summer pricing for the warm-weather months. This fun theme park offers a ton of things for families to do — at an incredibly reasonably price, especially if you plan to make a day of it on top of Iron Mountain in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Riding the Iron Mountain Tramway.

I’ve been going to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park with my family since 2003, the year the gondola opened, whisking visitors to the top of the mountain for cave tours. The caverns were actually open to the public in the late 1800s, when the family who homesteaded on the property welcomed visitors (via horse-drawn carriage, burro, horse or foot) to check out the interesting stalactites and stalagmites inside. Owner Charles Darrow, a Glenwood Springs attorney, strung up electric lights so visitors could best appreciate the interesting formations — this was quite the forward thinking for the time! One of my favorite parts of the Cave Tour at Glenwood Caverns is hearing about the caves’ fascinating history, imagining women in Victorian dresses and heeled boots, stepping along the rocks and making their way through narrow tunnels.

My children were as young as three when I took them on the 70-minute walking Cave Tour; it’s not “scary” at all — just a little dark (both kids, when they were preschoolers, had to hold my hand through the whole thing). The guides’ stories about the caves are intriguing to all ages. Visitors who are at least 10 years old, and who are not claustrophobic, should consider the 90-minute “Adventure Tour,” where you squeeze through tight spaces to access “rooms” that are not on the standard Cave Tour. And the most adventurous types age 13 and up can sign up for the “Wild Tour,” where you slither along the cave floor on your belly, deep into the caverns.

Awesome mountain views from Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.

While I highly recommend you schedule a cave tour during your visit to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, other attractions beckon, too, so I’d plan to spend at least four hours on the top of Iron Mountain. Consider these fun activities — just a few of my favorites:

Iron Mountain Tramway: This is how you get from the valley floor to the top of the mountain for the attractions, the Lookout Grille and the cave tours. But the 10-minute ride is not just a means of transportation — it’s a fun adventure in itself! The views from the six-passenger gondola are phenomenal; you’ll see winding historic train tracks, the mighty Colorado River and the Glenwood Hot Springs. It’s fun to get a birds-eye view of Glenwood Springs’ downtown grid and the scenery down the valley along I-70.

Aboard the Canyon Flyer (alpine coaster); you control the speed of the car.

Canyon Flyer: This is like an alpine slide, but you board an individual car on wheels to fly down 3,400 feet of roller-coaster-like track, sailing around sharp turns and over bumps. You control the ride, so you can go as fast or as slow as you want. (I recommend fast; it’s so fun to whip through the trees!) There is a height minimum to drive the car solo; kids like it better when Mom or Dad drives anyway, since it requires some upper-body strength to hold the levers down to make the car go.

Laser Tag: I was skeptical that this indoor attraction would hold much appeal, but my family and I had a ball trying to “shoot” each other with laser guns when we visited the Adventure Park last month. We had the most fun when it was just the four of us inside the dark, Wild West saloon setting; it wasn’t as entertaining when teenage kids were in there nailing us with the laser constantly (though once we realized we could gang up on them — four on two — it was much more satisfying).

Fort Where-am-I Maze: My 10-year-old daughter and her friends love this attraction — a human maze, where you earn little prizes according to how fast you finish the course. At one recent birthday party, my daughter went through it at least six times.

Sporting 3-D glasses in the 4-D Theater.

4-D Theater: This is another indoor attraction — air conditioned like the Laser Tag arena, so a nice respite from summer heat. Three, short, 3-D movies play repeatedly in this interactive theater where seats rumble and move; other features that make this theater “4-dimensional” are water sprays and temperature changes. (It’s a bit freaky if you haven’t experienced this kind of entertainment before.) My eight-year-old son closed his eyes through the entire Haunted Mine Ride; you actually feel as if you’re on a runaway mine cart, skirting huge boulders and avoiding hot lava (and dead people in the “Indian Burial Ground”). The Snow Ride, where you’re on a sled, being chased by a giant snowball, is more benign. My favorite is TurtleVision, where you travel in the tropics to Antarctica from the perspective of one sea turtle (this film is a little scary, with the giant snake attack and all).

Right now the Giant Swing is closed, and will re-open even better than ever by Memorial Day Weekend. It will be fitted with an arm (rather than the old cables) to swing four people about 1,300 feet in the air above the Colorado River. Again, my daughter loves this ride; I’m too chicken to go on it.

Add a kid-friendly mechanical bull, a climbing tower, bungee trampoline, simulated wagon ride and Giddy Up zero-G-force-drop ride, and your kids will be tuckered out (you too!) after a day at the Adventure Park!

Here’s the really cool part — all this fun can be had for just $39 per adult, $35 per child all summer long. That’s the cost of the Day Pass, which includes the above attractions. (Until the Giant Swing is back up and running, a Cave Tour is included; after the swing is operational, you’ll need to pay extra for any of the cave tours). This is an incredible bargain, I think, for the amount of “stuff” you can do here.

You can also just purchase a tram ride, and simply enjoy the great vistas from the deck at the Lookout Grille, which serves fast-food items and drinks (including wine and beer). When my kids were preschoolers, and were entertained solely by the tram ride and the giant sandbox (free) at the top, we’d wile away a whole afternoon cheaply, just by purchasing tram tickets!

While I’m sure the Adventure Park would rather you buy your lunch at the grill, I doubt you’ll get kicked out if you pack a few sandwiches or kid snacks to eat at the picnic tables at the top of the tram, not on the deck where restaurant meals are served. (Note that all food and drink — including sippy cups — are absolutely forbidden inside the caves.) And don’t try to smuggle a huge cooler up the gondola — be subtle about it! (There are lockers for storing backpacks while you go on the rides, so you can stash a small bag there.) Water is always free in the Lookout Grille. Drink lots; remember you’ll be at high altitude when you visit, so drink plenty!

Tons to do in the summer at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.

If you go with the Day Pass, there are more experiences, like mining for gems, the shooting gallery and Old Tyme Photos, that cost a bit extra; you can also pay “per ticket” for the different attractions instead of buying a daily pass. But the absolute best bang for your buck is the one-time daily fee.

And if you live in the area, consider the awesome $100 annual Thrill Pass, which covers tram rides and attractions over the course of a year (limited use in the summertime, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Go to the Adventure Park three times, and your annual pass is paid for.

If I haven’t convinced you to make a visit to Glenwood Springs Adventure Park the next time you’re in my neck of the woods, perhaps this silly video I made will. It’s of me and my daughter on the Canyon Flyer alpine coaster; naturally, there is shrieking. Wheeeeee!