3 kids - Ages 6, 4, and 3
We did Colorado Springs last year and a couple of years ago too. Everyone had a good time. Tons to do in the area for reasonable prices, so keeping the budget in mind would be nice too.

I'm not completely opposed to going back but I'd like to change it up. Looking to go around July 4th for about a week. We live near San Antonio but I don't mind driving or flying.



TIA

Is there stuff to do with little kids? I was thinking maybe it might be for slightly older kids. Our oldest will start 2nd grade in the fall.

I've never been but I've heard it's fun.

When my two kids were about 6 and 4 we started going out two weeks every year and tent camped in most every state and national park in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona as well as Beaver's Bend State Pk in OK.

It was a great family outing swimming, fishing, hiking and just sitting around the campfire at night. We also did go to Disney Land, Knox berry farm, and Galveston every year, but all of us, the camping trips were the best and the best for family. Wouldn't trade those memories for anything.

Great family vacations and experiences just don't have to cost a lot of money.

Somethings are probably geared towards older kids. I really like Silver Dollar City but not sure how many little kid rides they would have. You def would need a double stroller as it's pretty hilly unlike Texas.

I know they have an aquarium but we haven't been there. Grand Country has an indoor water park (similar to Great Wolf). WonderWorks museum might have some stuff - I mostly paid attention to the older kid stuff. Fritz's adventure, butterfly place. Lots of miniature golf.

Yogi Bear Park in Burleson might be great for that age too. Onsite water park, daily activities that would be good for that age. We got a cabin and it was nice and spacious for our family.

Red River NM has jeeps, horses, atv's, fishing. Might be crowded on the 4th

A nice beach resort is always good for kids. We went to Hawaii or the Caribbean every year when my son was young. Still do, actually…just hit em differently now.

Took our then three yr olds to Branson couple summers back. Not a good trip for them. Silver dollar city was good but everything else in town is typical go kart/putt putt crap. Not worth going that far to do putt putt.

Go to AI in Mexico or Colorado or Destin/beach.

I just took a 3 and 5 year old to Gatlinburg and GSMNP.

Tons of kid friendly stuff. Not horrifically expensive. Spend a day or two in the park. Picnic, drive Cades Cove Loop and go up to Clingman's Dome.

Spend the rest of the time at the fun stuff. They have an indoor snow park that was amazing. For kids that don't see much snow in a year, it's a steal at twice the price. Go up to Anakeesta and do the theme park thing. Ober Gatlinburg is under construction so there's not much to do.

Fly into Knoxville or Asheville. If going to Knoxville, they have a great zoo. In fact, you could hit Chattanooga for a couple days, spend a day in Knoxville, and four days in Gatlinburg and have a blast. We went last week and saw nine bears in the park. Kiddos loved it.

We did the Smokey Mountains one year in June and it was amazing. Vrbo in Townsend and drove to the park and surrounding areas. Did Dollywood one day. We drove it there with one overnight but I warriored the way back. Had a blast though. Highly recommend if you are looking for beautiful scenery mixed with some kid friendly stuff. I would minimize my time in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge.

Black Hills SD

Destin

We're going to table rock lake this summer for our third time in 4-5 years. We always have a good time. My kids are a bit older, 7/8, but we rent a boat a few days, raft one of the rivers, hit up a cave.. then there are plenty of museum and activity type things to do in Branson or SDC, but we actually haven't done any of it yet, other than wife and kids did the titanic museum on one of my golf days.

Someone above said 'not worth driving that far for putt putt'.. there is a lot more to do in that area than putt putt.

Bump.

We are looking to add another summer family trip to our calendar and are considering Colorado Springs. What time of year did y'all go and where did y'all stay?