I am not going to lie, I wanted to make it to Disneyland really bad this summer. When it was clear that it wasn’t going to happen, I went back to the drawing board to see what fun family vacations we could find in Colorado. I wanted something that was incredibly kid friendly, but not so kid friendly that my husband and I wouldn’t enjoy ourselves. That’s when I stumbled across Jellystone Park Larkspur, CO.
Now I don’t know if I would call Jellystone Park the Disneyland of Colorado, but my kids had a blast and it was worth every single penny! I will more than likely go back every summer as well. So let me just tell you all the amazing things Jellystone Park Larkspur, CO has to offer!
Before I get started, here is the official Jellystone Park at Larkspur, CO website in case you need prices or need to book your trip!
What is Jellystone Park?
Jellystone Park is a campground with tons of amenities and activities to do. They have a ton of locations scattered throughout the US and each one has different activities. What if you don’t camp? Don’t worry, they got ya covered. They also have cabins that you can rent out as well.
I can’t speak for every Jellystone out there since I’ve only been to the one in Larkspur. So I will focus on that one. If you are in Colorado, or planning a trip to Colorado, there are two locations here. Larkspur and Estes Park. For us, Jellystone is the perfect weekend get away but it could also be an amazing stop on a long road trip as well! I would recommend staying for two days though. Just to let the kids have all the fun!
What to do in Jellystone Parks?
I want to say one more time, I am only talking about Larkspur, CO because I know some of the other states do not have these amenities!
Splash Park and Pools
This is the big event! This is what sold me on staying here. They have a huge splash park for the kids (pictured above!). My son was scared for some reason but my daughter loved it! They will allow you to go down the slides with your kids if they are scared. If slides aren’t your kids thing, they have water guns, splash buckets and some other water shenanigans.
If you kids are like my son and aren’t into the splash park, there is a pool in the same area where they can swim. The majority of the pool is under three feet so it’s perfect for kids. There are also basketball hoops near the deeper end for older kids!
When you want to get away from the big crowds but still keep cool, you can head over to the other pool they have. We didn’t spend much time here because Lotus really wanted to play at the splash park. This pool is by the adult beverage cart though! So if you are needing some adult drinks, take your kids to this pool!
Mini Golf
Right by the splash pad they have mini golf with 18 different holes. My husband and kids were all over this and it’s actually the first thing we did (partially because the pool was already closed). I never once saw the mini golf overly crowded.
Playgrounds
Scattered through out the park were playgrounds for the kiddos. We didn’t spend much time here because the pool is life for my kids. But if you have kids who need a break from the pool, the playground is a great choice!
In addition to playgrounds, they also have little play stations set up throughout the park. I’m not sure another way to describe them. By our camp site there was a big red train they could play on and a tower they could climb to see the view!
Jump Pad
This thing was pretty cool! It was like a bouncy house, but without the house. Just the bottom pad portion. The kids could have jumped for hours!!!!! Even a ton of adults were jumping as well. Me? I almost fell asleep on it!
Endless Crafts
There were so many crafts planned that the kids could have done. Since this was our first time and it took all the strength I had to pull my kids out of the water, we had no time for crafts! But we did go check out the recreation center where the crafts are held and the kids would totally have had a blast doing them. Also, if you’re an early riser, arts and crafts would be the perfect activity to do before the pools open at ten.
Arcade
Also inside the recreation center is the arcade. It’s actually not that big but it kept the kids entertained for a while. I will say, I only loaded a game card for $20 and it gave us so many credits we ended up giving the end of the card to another family.
Mini Bowling
When you are in the arcade, you will see the mini bowling as well. There are four lanes and it is first come first service. I will say, it is more like an arcade game than actual bowling. My husband wanted to play really bad but we didn’t want to wait to play.
Gem Mining
I was so excited to do the gem mining! This activity is a little different than I thought it was going to be. It’s a totally do it on your own one. If you head to the camp store, you can buy your bag of rocks and then you just head to the gem mining area to pan the gems out! We got some pretty cool rocks and crystals in our bags! My husband and son thought it was pretty lame but Lotus and I loved it!
So Many Other Activities
There were so many other activities to do that I didn’t list above. The whole weekend was themed Christmas in July and had activities themed around that. There really was just so much to do that we couldn’t do it all. Next time we go, I’m definitely going to pull the activities off the website first and then plan everything out.
Tips When Visiting Jellystone Park Larkspur, CO
While this vacation really was laid back, it can easily get overwhelming because you want to do all the things! Here are some tips I have if you do visit Jellystone Park and things we will do differently the next time we go!
Get the Golf Cart
At Jellystone, they offer golf cart rentals. I’m a pretty strong walker so I decided against it to save some money. I really wish I would have rented one when I was booking the trip! The whole campground is pretty big and having a golf cart would make it so much easier. Plus if you are going to drive through the campground, there is very limited parking for cars, it’s mainly just for the golf carts.
I would highly suggest that you rent the golf carts when purchasing the trip because by the time we got there on Friday afternoon, all golf carts had been rented out and we couldn’t get one. It was huge bummer and it was so hard to fit my husband’s truck every where.
Plan your to do’s ahead of time
Like I said before, next time we go I will print off a list of activities offered that weekend and make a plan of what we want to do. It was a little overwhelming to decide what we wanted to do and what we wanted the kids to experience since all they wanted to do was stay in the pool. Just having a game plan would have made the trip a little easier.
Stayed in the cabins
I want to start by saying there is absolutely nothing wrong with the campsites, just from personal preference I would stay in the cabins next time. We live maybe an hour away and I would have rather just stay in a cabins then hauling the camper down there. Now if we are on a long road trip and we decide to stop at a Jelleystone Park, then we totally camp.
I want to make it incredibly clear though, the camping spots at Jellystone Park Larkspur, CO were perfect! They were clean, well maintained, and there was easy access to tall the hook ups. This is just a personal preference that we had.
We really did have such an amazing time at Jellystone Park Larkspur, CO! I hope you stay here on your next family vacation! Let me know if you have ever stayed at a Jellystone in the comments!