The 5 Best Places for Family Entertainment Around Summit County

Keeping an entire family entertained can require a little creativity, particularly when ages and interests vary. Summit County makes the task easier with outdoor recreation, hands-on art, live theater, historic attractions and Colorado adventures that encourage families to spend time together. Some activities offer an introduction to the region’s history and landscape, while others invite children and adults to create, explore or simply play. The Best of Summit recognizes the local organizations and attractions that give families memorable ways to experience the High Country.

Frisco Adventure Park || Town of Frisco

Frisco Adventure Park changes with the seasons, giving families reasons to return throughout the year. Winter brings a lift-assisted tubing hill, a beginner ski and snowboard hill, traditional sledding and horse-drawn sleigh rides, while the neighboring Nordic Center provides cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. When the snow disappears, the focus shifts to a bike park with dirt jumps, a pump track, slopestyle and dual-slalom courses. Families can also use a 28,000-square-foot skate park, play the Peak One Disc Golf Course or explore miles of hiking and biking trails throughout the Peninsula Recreation Area. Most of the park’s summer activities are free. A 4,000-square-foot Day Lodge gives visitors another place to gather and provides restrooms, light snacks and beverages, making the Adventure Park a year-round base for active family outings in Frisco.

Country Boy Mine

Country Boy Mine combines hands-on entertainment with a piece of Breckenridge’s mining history that dates to 1887. The mine sits in French Gulch, where gold discoveries helped drive the area’s early development, and families can travel 1,000 feet into its original workings during a guided tour. The experience explores what life was like for Colorado miners more than a century ago before visitors return above ground to try gold panning in Eureka Creek. There is more to do outside the tunnel. Families can embark on an outdoor treasure hunt using a map and metal detector or take a monster truck wagon ride that combines mountain scenery, mining history and gold panning. The Tomlinson families began restoring the collapsed mine and surrounding site in 1991, transforming a remnant of Summit County’s mining era into a place where visitors can engage directly with that history.

Theatre SilCo

Theatre SilCo approaches family entertainment through storytelling, performance and participation. The professional theater company produces plays and musicals in Silverthorne while also maintaining educational programs that introduce young people to the performing arts. Its classes have included options such as School’s Out Camp and Broadway Bootcamp, giving children opportunities to develop theatrical skills rather than experiencing theater solely from the audience. Theatre SilCo’s educational work extends further through the Vivo Dual Language Theatre Program, an after-school initiative offered to participants at no cost. That combination of professional productions, youth classes and educational programming creates several points of entry for families. Parents and children can attend live performances together, while younger participants can also explore acting, movement and other aspects of theater through structured programs of their own.

Performance Tours Rafting

Performance Tours Rafting has taken families and other adventurers onto Colorado rivers since Kevin and Mary Jo Foley founded the company in Breckenridge in 1986. Still family-owned and operated four decades later, the outfitter offers trips for a range of experience levels, from mild scenic floats suitable for children as young as 4 to moderate and challenging whitewater. Its destinations include the Blue River, Arkansas River, Browns Canyon National Monument and Royal Gorge, with half-day and full-day options depending on the trip. Families looking for a gentler introduction can choose routes such as the Upper Colorado River or Bear Creek, while older and more experienced participants can tackle bigger rapids. Guide preparation plays a central role in the operation: Performance Tours doubles Colorado’s minimum training-hour requirement, and many guides hold additional certifications in areas such as swiftwater rescue, wilderness first response and advanced first aid.

Ready Paint Fire!

Ready Paint Fire! gives families an indoor creative outlet where everyone can choose a project that matches their interests. The Breckenridge studio offers pottery painting, canvas painting and mosaics, with walk-ins welcome and projects designed for a range of ages. Its Candle Bar provides another hands-on option, guiding participants through selecting fragrances, melting wax and pouring their own candles during an experience that lasts about 75 minutes. Children’s birthday parties can take over a private room with space for up to 12 kids, and the studio can customize art options around different party themes. Families can also bring projects back to a vacation home through take-home painting kits. Beyond making art, visitors can browse paintings, ceramics, jewelry, candles, woodwork and other pieces from more than 20 Colorado artists and makers, extending the experience from personal creativity to the work of artists around the state.

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