Colorado is world famous for its natural beauty, and there are TONS of fun things to do in Denver that are artistic, scenic, or historic, but sometimes, what you’re really looking for is a big ball of man-made fun.
Boondocks in the northern Denver Metro area is a family amusement park with go carts, bumper boats, video games, and miniature golf all in one location. Unlike Denver’s indoor amusement park, Funtastic Fun, most of the good stuff at Boondocks is outside, but with 300 days of sunshine per year, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
There are some really great things to like about Boondocks, especially for families with children looking for a way to have a good time for the whole family, including Mom and Dad, and not just by watching the kiddos have fun either.
The first thing about Boondocks that makes it a fun place to go in the Denver area for families is that it has go-carts. Of course, lots of place have go karts. What makes Boondocks fun for family groups is that it has different types of go carts. There are little kiddie go carts that the kids can drive on their own. They go slower around a small track, but that is no downside to a four-year old who gets to drive their own go cart all by themselves!
Of course, slow moving go carts are only so much fun for children and their parents. What would be really fun would be if parents and kids could go on a go cart together around the regular full-speed track.
Can I get an amen?
Boondocks has two-seater go carts for adults and kids to ride together. They go out on the regular track with the regular go carts, so if you have one child who is old enough to drive a full-sized go cart by themselves, but another kid who isn’t big enough to steer a go kart on their own, they can still go out and race together with Mom or Dad in the driver’s seat.
If Go Carts aren’t your thing, there is other fun stuff to do at Boondocks. During the warmer summer months, they have two-person boats, perfect for parent with child, that not only motor around the little water lagoon, they also have water guns on the front that you can use to squirt other riders with.
Unfortunately, there is not a no-squirt zone, so you just have to get over it and get a little wet, or skip this ride.
One important boat ride squirt tip: Don’t just pick your favorite color boat. Watch the other riders and note which boats have a squirter that fires on a low trajectory. Nothing is worse that being squeezed up against another boat getting soaked while your water jet fires harmlessly over their head!
The miniature golf course at Boondocks gets a mixed review. While the two full-length 18-hole putt-putt golf courses give you plenty of play and plenty of length, they actually get pretty boring after a while. Its seems that Boondocks decided that windmills and waterfalls and all the things that make mini-golf great are best looked at instead of played on.
The windmill that you see from the I-25 highway is indeed part of the mini-golf course, but it doesn’t have anything to do with it. You don’t hit a ball past the spinning blades, or even bank a shot off of its sides. In fact, there are no tricks to Boondocks putt-putt course. It’s just AstroTurf with a spot to put your ball down and then a hole. Sometimes there is a curve or a little hill, sometimes not, but there isn’t ever anything unique or interactive.
If you remember the days of jumping your ball over water ramps, or a swinging cowboy arm going back and forth in front of the hole, save your money for a different miniature golf course. If you just want to putt the ball without any challenges or distractions, Boondocks mini-golf is for you.
Inside Boondocks is a decent collection of video games. They aren’t cheap and the cavernous room is really loud with the games turned up so you can hear them and the music turned open so you can hear it over the games. Don’t expect Grandma or Grandpa to hang out here and Mom and Dad probably won’t be huge fans either unless they find a fun game to play.
In all, Boondocks gets recommended for what it has outside.