Denver in March?

[glitzy07]

Anyone here live in the Denver area? My family is considering planning a spring break trip to Denver in early to mid-March and I’m wondering if that’s a terrible idea. lol

We live in MN, so it’s definitely not the “escape winter” kind of spring break I would hope for. But we’re a hockey family and my son really wants to see the MN Wild play the Colorado Avalanche in their arena, and they happen to play there on the first day of our spring break. And then our oldest son is a snowboarder, so I was thinking we could plan a day at a ski resort if they’re still open then?

I’d love any recommendations for other things to do in the area around that time of year! There would be five of us: two adults and three boys (17, 10, 8). Essentially I’m trying to figure out if the destination would be worth it at that time of year for all of us versus somewhere else. We could stay anywhere with an indoor pool and my 8yo would be satisfied.

TIA!

[mrspez07]

You can get a huge snow storm or 70+ degrees here in March. They always say it’s our snowiest month, but it wasn’t last year, so it’s a bit of a gamble.
Most resorts stay open, if snow is decent until April 1st, many have leases with forest service until around then. Snow could be great or slushy, see above.

You could do Av’s game, nuggets game, meow wolf, art museum, nature and science museum. We also have other smaller museums in the suburbs as well. There are also your typical bouncy/rock climbing/ type places you could add to the list. If weather is nice, a hike in the foothills is good.
Day trip to Boulder, Golden, Fort Collins are all good options too.
Everything will still be brown and not greening up much yet, it’s not as pretty as other times of the year, unless we get fresh snow. Snow does melt here, so it could be cold and sunny and feel nice or have a fresh snow and be gone the next day.

[steamboat185]

March is tricky in Denver. It can be lovely or we could have 20 plus inches of snow. Last March was pretty dry, but my in-laws have gotten stuck here with canceled flights in early/mid March a few times. If you want to ski March is typically the best month for good snow.

Personally I feel like Denver has very few cool indoor attractions that are really special to Denver. Yes we have museums, but they aren’t that amazing. (Meow Wolf is really cool). Most of the unique stuff is outside, but if the weather is nice definitely check out Red Rocks and Dinosaur ridge.

[doctoranda]

Maybe also a visit to a hot springs? I second Meow Wolf. Snowmobiling could be a fun activity OR a sleigh ride in Winterpark in a big horse drawn sleigh. Ice skating on Evergreen lake is really nice too. An escape room can be fun if you want to be outdoors. We have done family friendly ones. Punchbowl Social should be fun with the kids too for some food and games. A walking tour might be fun too or visit the U.S. mint.

[isabel]

Ditto others. Never know what you’re gonna get.

Meow Wolf is a cool indoor option for something to do. You can visit Red Rocks and hike if it’s nice enough. The ski resorts will be packed for most of the month, but that’s a good option too if you want to ski.

Lots of great restaurant options downtown and throughout the city.

[ksun]

Like everyone has said, there is absolutely no way to predict what you're going to get.

A Basin stays open til June so I think you're safe with hitting the slopes.

[lynn07]

Dec 8, 2023 10:14:55 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

You can get a huge snow storm or 70+ degrees here in March. They always say it’s our snowiest month, but it wasn’t last year, so it’s a bit of a gamble.
Most resorts stay open, if snow is decent until April 1st, many have leases with forest service until around then. Snow could be great or slushy, see above.

You could do Av’s game, nuggets game, meow wolf, art museum, nature and science museum. We also have other smaller museums in the suburbs as well. There are also your typical bouncy/rock climbing/ type places you could add to the list. If weather is nice, a hike in the foothills is good.
Day trip to Boulder, Golden, Fort Collins are all good options too.
Everything will still be brown and not greening up much yet, it’s not as pretty as other times of the year, unless we get fresh snow. Snow does melt here, so it could be cold and sunny and feel nice or have a fresh snow and be gone the next day.

All of these are great recs. If you didn’t want to commit to more than a day of snowboarding, you could do Loveland because it is closest to the city. Another option would be to do two days in Winter Park - go snowboarding one day and then go tubing at Fraser Tubing Hill one day. Just don’t go up to the mountains on a weekend if you can avoid it.

As far as hotels, it depends on what area you want to stay. There’s a few great ones downtown, in RiNo, and in Cherry Creek North. You could also drive down to Colorado Springs and stay at the Broadmoor for a couple of days. It is beautiful and has an awesome indoor pool, you could go hiking at Garden of the Gods or seven falls, or take the cog railway up Pikes Peak for the feeling of being on a 14er without having to hike it!

ETA: a great museum to add on to the list that everyone forgets about - History Colorado! Super interactive and lots of great facts about CO’s past.

[glitzy07]

Thank you everyone! It sounds a lot like Denver is just as unpredictable as Minnesota is at that time of year. I’ll have to talk to my family and see what we want to do, but I really appreciate all of the recommendations!