Make the Most of the Mountains as an
Adventurous Family
Getting outside with kids is rarely hard for the reasons people expect. It’s the small stuff that gets you: where to park when the lot fills by 9am, whether the campground has water, what altitude does to a four year old at bedtime, whether the trail everybody raves about is realistic for short legs. This is where I write all of that down. Campground reviews, family hikes, packing lists, and the logistics that decide how a trip actually goes.
The Family Camping Packing List
It’s free, and it’s the one I actually use. Shelter, layers, first aid, kid gear, and the kitchen things that are easiest to forget. I print it, clip it to a clipboard, and check it off while I load the car.
Where To Start
I’ve lived in Breckenridge for over ten years, which mostly means I’ve already made the mistakes: the trailhead that fills by 8am, the campground with no potable water, the afternoon storm that rolls in at 2pm like clockwork. Everything I’ve written down since is below, sorted into where to camp, what to do, and what to sort out before you leave the house.
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Peak 8 vs. Peak 9 With Kids: Which Breckenridge Base To Start From
You’ve got a ski day planned with a little one, you pull up the trail map, and there are five peaks and four base areas. Every single one of them looks ready to welcome you onto the mountain. But how do you decide which base to start at? Let’s compare the peaks, specifically Peak 8…
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Rifle Gap State Park near Rifle, Colorado
Rifle Gap State Park sits about 10 miles north of I-70 near Rifle, with five campground loops lined up along the north shore of a big reservoir. We camped here in the height of summer, and it was a bit of a mixed bag. Here is our honest review of Rifle Gap State Park camping,…
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Breckenridge in November With Kids: The Month Winter Starts
If you’re planning a trip to Breckenridge in November with kids, the first thing to know is that you’re really choosing between two different trips. The first three weeks are quiet, cheap by Breckenridge standards, and a little unpredictable, with a mountain that’s just starting to spin lifts. Thanksgiving week is a different animal entirely,…
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Steamboat Lake State Park near Clark, Colorado
Steamboat Lake State Park sits about 27 miles north of Steamboat Springs, tucked below Hahns Peak with calm water, a surprisingly sandy shoreline, and mountains in every direction. We’ve camped here twice now, both times on the Yarrow Loop of the Sunrise Vista campground, once in early June as summer was arriving and once in…
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Breckenridge in October With Kids: What To Do, What’s Closed, and Where To Drive
Maybe your kids have a fall break coming up and the trip went from “someday” to “next week” faster than you planned, or maybe you found a lodging deal and booked it before anyone could talk you out of it. Either way, you’re looking at Breckenridge in October with kids, and you’re wondering whether a…
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Indoor Activities for Kids in Breckenridge & Summit County
Every family that comes to the mountains in winter eventually gets the day. Maybe it’s snowing too hard to drive. Maybe it’s five degrees with wind. Maybe somebody’s got a runny nose, or somebody woke up at 5:15, or you skied two days in a row and the thought of getting everyone back into snow…
