Things to Do in Ken Caryl

Fifty horses roam the prairies and Rocky Mountain foothills of Chatfield Stables, and dedicated trainers call to each of them by name, having known many of them since they were lanky and awkward foals. Trainers organize an extensive schedule of programs and activities to ensure that all these horses receive healthy amounts of play and exercise. Programs include horse camps for riders as young as seven years old, with activities such as grooming, saddling, and riding. The training team also leads riding and horsemanship lessons, along with leisurely trail rides through miles of forest trails, which follow the Platte River where riders can attempt to test their newfound abilities on river-dwelling seahorses.

At Lollipop Park, kids ricocheting around the bounce house don't have to set foot on solid ground until they're good and ready. That's because the indoor amusement park doesn't impose a time limit—on rides or the length of birthday parties. Kids ages 10 and younger are free to stay on the miniature Ferris wheel for dozens of ascents or whirl around the carousel until they figure out which horse is the fastest. Of course, these are just two of the rides in the park's collection. Spinning teacups, a tiny train, and suspended swings all thrill their riders, and entry wristbands entitle everyone to unlimited go-rounds.

For more than 30 years, Lollipop Park has served as a beacon of relaxed fun, and its longstanding commitment to young smiles is evident in the thousands of grateful letters on display from children's charities that have received contributions from the park. A snack bar divvies out pizza and drinks for lunch breaks, while a lollipop stand harkens back to the golden age of carnivals.

SwimLabs Swim School’s instructors have two priorities: teaching kids and adults how to swim and helping competitive swimmers optimize their strokes. In addition to CPR and first-aid certifications backed by years of experience, the instructors are aided by swimming-pool technology. Their private and small-group lessons take place in Endless Pools with adjustable currents, each about 10’x16’ and heated to 90–92 degrees to prevent polar-bear infestations. The custom currents can give beginner students a boost or challenge advanced swimmers with more forceful resistance waves. As swimmers paddle against the current, the staff records their strokes with Dartfish video technology. They then analyze the results together, comparing the swimmer’s form to a video of proper technique.

Amid the crisp, thinning mountain air steeped in the aroma of pine trees, a single-track trail winds through a dense evergreen forest past sweeping views of the valley below. In 2005, wilderness enthusiast Stefan Van der Steen founded Denver Adventures as a means of introducing others to scenes such as this by immersing them in the great outdoors through adventures such as ziplines, hiking treks, and rafting excursions. Stefan and his team of knowledgeable guides lead groups to an elevation of 8,000 feet for zipline tours on an Association for Challenge Course Technology–certified course, where riders reach speeds up to 50 miles per hour past Colorado’s naturally blurry trees.

Denver Adventures also leads hiking, snowshoeing, and mountain-biking treks through the uneven terrain, gauging participants' skill throughout to determine whether they can traverse a steep uphill climb or do a Superman seat grab over a row of sleeping bears. Making use of all the wilderness has to offer, guides also take explorers on rafting trips through canyons and past gold mines, or train them to navigate vertical routes using top-rope techniques during five-hour rock-climbing excursions.

Owner Jennifer Schroeder began crafting her own all-natural products in high school and, one career later, now heads a team of skincare mavens who give kitchen chemists the tools to create their own spa experiences. Demonstration lectures form a compact introduction to a single process and leave students with a product sample to take home and touch up aging portraits of great-great-grandparents, and workshops plunge all hands into the fundamentals of gel-based anti-aging serums, exfoliating sugar scrubs, or herbal soaps. The small-group classes focus on practicable skills and include recipes for home use, enabling perpetual plant-based pampering.