Families will find no shortage of fun for all ages in Denver, with zoos, theme parks, interactive museums, dinosaurs and much more. Listed below are just a few of those options. For those bringing their children to SC17, do not forget about our extremely affordable and flexible childcare options onsite in the convention center.
Denver Zoo, located in City Park, spans over 75 acres and is home to over 4,000 animals including rare amur leopards, okapi, black rhinoceros, elephants, vampire bats, orangutan, Komodo dragons and more.
Opened in June 2012, the Toyota Elephant Passage transports visitors to Asia where they will walk through exhibits featuring elephants, tapirs, rhinos and much more, while learning about conservation and sustainability efforts taking place around the world.
The Edge, a new tiger exhibit, debuted in March 2017, bringing guests closer than ever to the Zoo’s Amur tigers. The expansive, open space, located on almost a full acre on the southeastern edge of the park, offers several unique ways to safely connect with these magnificent creatures and to see them from multiple perspectives in yards that mimic their native habitat. denverzoo.org
DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE
Exciting minds of all ages, Denver Museum of Nature and Science lets kids explore fossils and dinosaurs, the mysteries of space at Gates Planetarium, Egyptian mummies, the riddles of the human body at Expedition Health and a slew of other hands-on exhibits. The museum recently nearly doubled its exhibition space, allowing for even more touring shows throughout the year.
CHILDRENS MUSEUM OF DENVER
, creative and fully interactive, this engaging museum for the younger set is chock-full of myriad exhibits, playscapes and hands-on activities. Kids can shop in a makeshift grocery store and even play the part of the cashier, or brush up on their science quotient in the brand new Bubble laboratory. cmdenver.org
HISTORY COLORADO CENTER
The History Colorado Center opened in 2012 as an experiential museum that makes history fun and interactive. Soar off the world’s first ski jump in Steamboat Springs; don a headlamp and descend into a mine; or push a “Jules Verne-like Time Machine” over the Rockies. Whether you spend time with Chief Yellow Wolf, Kit Carson or Barney Ford, expect history like you’ve never seen, heard or experienced it before.
DOWNTOWN AQUARIUM
Oceanic inspiration comes in all guises at this visually intoxicating aquarium, but the main draw is the 500 species of fish and marine life swimming in more than one million gallons of water. The exhibits, which traverse through a coral lagoon, Indonesian rainforests, North American wilderness, Sumatran tiger habitats, shipwrecks and wharfs, are engaging and exotic. Kids can feed the stingrays, swim with the sharks, pan for gold, become a marine biologist for a day, or even spend the night in the aquarium.
BUTTERFLY PAVILION & INSECT CENTER
Located in Westminster, a 15-minute drive from downtown Denver, this stand-alone insect zoo is the perfect indoor refuge in which to interact with live invertebrates fluttering around a lush rainforest, or to hold Rosie, a Chilean Rose Hair tarantula, in the palm of your hand. The Wings Over the Tropics conservatory is home to more than 1,200 flitting butterflies, moths and skippers, shipped from farms as far away as Kenya and Ecuador.
COLORADO RAILROAD MUSEUM
Lose track of time year-round at the Depot Museum and 15-acre railyard featuring over 100 engines, cabooses and coaches and the garden railway, renowned library and roundhouse restoration facility with working turntable. Special events and train rides on a vintage steam locomotive throughout the year.
