Are you looking for an affordable and fun family vacation in Colorado? Look no further than our adventures at YMCA of the Rockies’ two gorgeous locations in Granby and Estes Park, and the iconic National Park that connects them.

Camp Chief Ouray

Last week, my daughter Hadley attended her third year at Camp Chief Ouray (CCO) for kids ages  7-17 outside of Granby, Colo. To say she looks forward to spending the week making new friends, horseback riding, hiking, crafting and canoeing in one of Colorado’s most gorgeous locations is an understatement. Her week at CCO is the highlight of her entire year. It’s not just the fun activities she enjoys but as Colorado’s longest-running overnight camp in Colorado, CCO is heaped in traditions–from all-camp games to Vespers to camp cheers to racing into the field during the final night’s dance and rocking out to Rusted Root’s “Send Me On My Way.”

Oh, and sunsets like this don’t hurt, either. 

Prior to their final sendoff, families gathered around the campfire and each cabin shares their “Camp Magic” for the week. Responses ranged from touching to hilarious. “Human Pac-Man and Apache Boot Camp.” “Friendship and stomping ants.” Mysterious mouse attacks and winning the Golden Plunger.” “Playing in Pole Creek.” “Sleeping with the squirrels.” My daughter’s cabin’s contribution was “Tooting during Devos [nightly cabin devotionals] and squishy cats,” which is particularly impressive because our cat, Fat Kitty, wasn’t even there and he somehow he still made camp memorable for the girls. My all-time favorite Camp Magic was from a group of 10-year-old boys: “Raiding cabins and being rejected by girls at the dance.”

Hadley’s favorite moment was late one night when she swears the heavens were opened to reveal the Milky Way’s glorious Big and Little Dippers, the Gemini twins, and the seven sisters of the Pleiades. Now, that’s some true camp magic.

YMCA of the Rockies Snow Mountain Ranch

I’ve been to both of YMCA of the Rockies’ two locations in Granby and Estes Park but never back-to-back. On the final day of camp, my son Bode and I drove to Snow Mountain Ranch and checked into Indian Peaks Lodge, with a bird’s eye view of Camp Chief Ouray. Rest assured, we did not stalk Hadley;  we had a few hours before picking her up and we played hard. We started with the zipline and I informed Bode he had to climb a 30-foot pole or ladder to ride the 600-foot zip line!  ($10; must be 8 or older). He nervously asked, “We’re attached climbing up, right?” “Bode, have I ever made you do anything unsafe?” His response summed up our entire mother-son dynamic: “That’s debatable.”

From there, we canoed Gaylord Reservoir ($5) located on-property. We followed a mother duck and her ducklings, spied on a beaver dam and did not capsize. Guess which one I enjoyed (not doing) the most?

After retrieving Hadley, we tie-dyed shirts at the craft center, did archery, mourned we weren’t staying longer to delve into the expansive summer programming schedule and ended our adventures with their infamous Summer Tubing Hill that opened last summer. Free for YMCA of the Rockies guests, we relished barreling down the Snowflex® tubing slope with a cool spray mist, followed by the magic carpet whisking us to the top again.

YMCA of the Rockies Estes Park

Snow Mountain Ranch and Estes Park share an iconic neighbor: Rocky Mountain National Park.  Trail Ridge Road (the highest continuous paved road in the U.S.) connects the two and is only open during the summer months. We followed the itinerary How to do Rocky Mountain National Park in One Day and had a fabulous day at play before arriving in Estes Park.

The 860-acre Estes Park Center borders Rocky Mountain National Park on three sides and was like entering another world. Juxtaposed against Snow Mountain Ranch’s 5,100-acre spread with sweeping views of the Continental Divide, Estes Park Center seems like a small, intimate non-stop party.  When I asked Hadley which she preferred, it was a draw. “I think Snow Mountain Ranch is  more about outdoorsy stuff and everything is much more spread out because it’s bigger. At Estes Park, it’s nice you can walk to all the buildings and more people seem to be doing regular sports.”

Both locations have epic hiking, mountain biking, day camp, pools, activities (archery, zip lines, craft centers, volleyball, mini golf) and horseback riding. But Hadley was correct–everywhere we looked, families were playing sports. And, apparently, nose picking.

After 27-hole miniature golf, we were cutting across the field when three fun staffers stopped us with an invitation to play football. Hadley balked. If she had a bucket list, learning to play football was at the bottom of it. Bode and I consented and my reluctant daughter was soon embroiled in a heated 3-on-3 game (it helped that two of the counselors were cute college-aged guys). By the end, she was not only receiving like a champ but had taken over as quarterback.

While Hadley delved into the Mootz Family Craft and Design Center (arguably one of the best craft centers we’ve ever seen), Bode fell in love with Gaga Ball.

Unfamiliar? It’s like murder ball but with more carnage.

That night after our all-you-can-eat buffet-style dining at the Aspen Dining Room cafeteria, we’d planned to do the Astronomy Walk but I was recovering from a cold and I. Was. Done.  Disappointed at the prospect of spending the rest of our evening in our room, I suggested the kids play across the street at the playground as I kicked my feet up on the balcony and read a book.

It was, just like the entire weekend, the best of both worlds.