Oftentimes the best travel finds are purely serendipitous. Take, for example, my family’s recent drive from our mountain home to the Colorado Springs airport. We had to stop about halfway through our little Colorado road trip to eat a picnic lunch, and we randomly pulled off I-70 at the Dillon/Silverthorne Exit 205. A couple miles’ drive east on Highway 6 (then a right on Lake Dillon Drive) brought us to Lake Dillon, its marina area and the most phenomenal playground for kids of all ages. We reveled in pretty vistas of majestic snowcapped peaks and tiny white sailboats on the water. Gorgeous! The park is at more than 9,000 feet in elevation, so I confidently call it the best high-altitude playground in the United States.
Not only are the mountain and lake views fabulous, but there are plenty of picnic tables (and grills) for eating al fresco, loads of parking, clean-ish bathrooms and a paved recreation path that runs along Lake Dillon (also known as the Dillon Reservoir).
But the real boon is the top-notch playground equipment manufactured by KOMPAN. Moms who are lucky enough to have some of these playsets at their local parks know what I’m talking about when I say that my kids can be entertained for hours on the spinning wheels, nifty climbing walls, steep slides and other brightly colored structures that are as fun to look at as they are to play on. At this particular park, a giant structure that housed a twisting, covered slide, as well as swings, is designed for kids ages 6 and up; a smaller structure is sized for toddlers and preschoolers.
If you’re looking for an excellent rest area for kids to expend a ton of energy on a road trip through the Western half of Colorado, I’d absolutely recommend a stop here. (And if you don’t pack your lunch, check out the Arapahoe Cafe up the street; the colorful umbrellas and flower boxes are inviting for outdoor dining in the summertime.) Here are just a few more photos of the nifty play equipment and the park with mountain views from all corners.
