Adventure Park Sweeps Locals’ Choice Awards

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is the local favorite! It finished in first place in four Locals’ Choice Award categories–Best Attraction, Best Family Entertainment, Best Place for a Kid’s Birthday and Best Tourist Spot—and took third for Best Entertainment Venue, Best Live Music Spot and Best Place to Take Out-of-Town Guests.

The Locals’ Choice Awards are a big deal in a small town like Glenwood Springs. The annual contest, sponsored by local newspaper, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent (GSPI), is an opportunity for area-wide residents to give a shout out to their favorite hometown businesses, people and places. Of the seven voting categories, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park cleaned up in Arts & Entertainment winning four first place and three third place awards.

2019 GSPI Locals’ Choice Awards Final Results

Best Attraction—First Place

Glenwood Caverns recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Opening the caves in 1999 for tours after more than 80 years of being closed to the public was a major achievement and success. Since then, the Park has added a new gondola, award-winning thrill rides, family-friendly attractions, restaurants, shopping, a full lineup of summer entertainment as well as special events throughout the year.
Ride the Glenwood Gondola to a mountain of fun!

Best Family Entertainment—First Place

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is first and foremost a destination for families. Cavern tours are designed to be entertaining and educational. Rides range from mellow to adrenaline-pumping. A 4-D theater, laser tag arena and panning for gems sluice box provide active, engaging fun for many ages. On the entertainment side, the Harmony Sisters make regular weekly appearances to connect with kids in the audience for fun sing-a-longs. As the seasons change Octoberfest and Winter on the Mountain enchant kids of all ages with season-appropriate games, music and entertainment. It’s no wonder Glenwood Caverns is the local’s choice for best family fun!

Best Place for a Kid’s Birthday—First Place

Nobody does birthday parties like Glenwood Caverns! Put a smile on your child’s face and make memories that will last a lifetime. The Park’s birthday packages include food and cave tours, but ride packages are targeted to specific age groups. For example, if you have a group of youngsters only interested in the Park’s tamer attractions, choose the Buckaroo Package; the Wrangler Package offers unlimited rides, as does the Outlaw Package created for adults with larger food portions. The Park’s event planner can help you tailor packages to meet your group’s needs.

 

The vaccine is good news for the travel industry

Best Tourist Spot—First Place

Like the town’s hot springs attractions, Glenwood Caverns is similarly an integral part of a Glenwood Springs experience and a big reason people come to visit. Over the course of a season, the Adventure Park hosts people from all over the globe—Japan to India; South America to Europe; and from all 50 states! The rides, cave tours and music are the big draw, but the Glenwood Gondola ride to the Park’s entrance and the expansive views of the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys make the Adventure Park a Glenwood Springs destination not to be missed no matter where you’re from.

Best Entertainment Venue—Third Place

The main stage in the Plaza at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is the setting for live music all summer long. A large open area in front of the stage is perfect for kicking up heels or busting a groove to the music. For those who just want take in the ambiance, there’s ample seating at covered picnic tables. Enjoy food and drinks, including beer and cocktails, while you listen to local bands and visiting artists from around the state and region.

Best Live Music Spot (Music on the Mountain & Friday Afternoon Club)—Third Place

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park offers live mountaintop music six days per week! Music on the Mountain are the biggest shows with the most diverse lineup. Concerts take place weekends through the fall in on the main stage in the Plaza. Friday Afternoon Club, which includes a free gondola ride with an ad from that day’s Post Independent, and the new Two for Tuesdays feature artists in a more intimate setting in the Lookout Grille. Monday through Thursday, popular local singer Rodrigo Arreguin strums his way through a range of tunes. Gondola rides for Music on the Mountain are free with the donation of a canned food item for the LiftUp food pantry. For other events, regular admission rates apply for Glenwood Gondola rides to the Park.

Best Place to Take Out of Town Guests—Third Place

See Best Tourist Spot for all the great reasons to bring your favorite people to one of Glenwood’s favorite places!

A winner in seven categories, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is the Local’s Choice!

Media Buzz: Glenwood Caverns Named A Winner (Twice)

Even while closed for the winter season for the installation of its new, highly anticipated Glenwood Gondola which is scheduled to open to the public on March 16, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park continues to fascinate all kinds of people from natural history buffs to thrill-seeking daredevils.

Fairy Caves Edge Out Powell Expedition by a Slim Margin

First, Rocky Mountain PBS  sponsored a contest asking viewers to choose a topic for an episode of Colorado Experience, a documentary show dedicated to preserving and celebrating the people, events and places that shaped Colorado. In a hotly contested vote-off, viewers chose the Historic Fairy Caves in Glenwood Springs. Out of 4,700 votes cast, a record-breaking number, the Fairy Caves came out on top, beating out six other episodes with 1,646 votes and inching by second place finisher the Powell Expedition by a mere six votes!

The Fairy Caves are the historic portion of Glenwood Caverns; the newer section is called Kings Row and the Park offers tours of both.  Loaded with fantastical cave formations, the Fairy Caves have dazzled visitors to Glenwood Springs since they opened to the public in 1897. In fact, children today are as charmed as the tots from a century ago when they receive a “cave fairy kiss”— a drop of water falling from the cave ceiling. A highlight of the Fairy Cave tour is the historic lighting section called History Lane, which is illuminated with replica Edison and Marconi-style light bulbs. There are ticketing options that include just a gondola pass and cave tour or a complete FunDay Pass, the best-value, which bundles the Glenwood Gondola, cave tours and admission to all of the Park’s rides and attractions.

Update: Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park & Glenwood Gondola Now Open!

After being closed for four and a half months for the construction of the new Glenwood Gondola, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park reopened just in time for spring break visitors. Beginning Saturday, March 16, the park’s winter attractions will be open—the Alpine Coaster, both walking cave tours, the laser tag arena and 4D Motion Theater. The Lookout Grille and General Store gift shop will be open as well. An exciting ride on its own, the opening of the state-of-the-art Glenwood Gondola, ushers in a new era for Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. Stay tuned for more information about it in upcoming posts.

Glenwood Caverns honored with four Locals’ Choice Awards

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park was honored with four Post Independent Locals’ Choice Awards, announced on June 17 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, at Strawberry Days! We’re thrilled to be recognized as a favorite destination among the members of the community. The awards received were:

Best Local Attraction  (Gold)

Best Place for Family Fun (Gold)
Best Place to View the Sunset (Gold)
Best Live Music Venue (Bronze)

“I continue to be honored by the recognition that our park gets from our locals!” says Nancy Heard, General Manager at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.  “I realize that our cave and location atop the mountain helps position us for Best Attraction and Best Place to View a Sunset, but I’m so proud of our staff who take the guest service experience to a higher level and make us the Best Place for Family Fun.”

“I walked through the park yesterday and saw so many busy people readying the park for the day. Once our guests arrived, they greeted them with a warm welcome and a genuine ‘how can I help?’ I was very proud,” Heard says.

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and Iron Mountain Hot Springs staff receive 2016 Post Independent Locals’ Choice Awards

In addition to the Locals’ Choice Awards, the park’s cave was honored last spring with a 10Best Award from USA TODAY. Nominees were chosen by a panel of cave experts, and then the public voted online for their favorites. The 10Best Award highlighted the “crown jewel” of the park, the cave tours. Although the thrill rides have received a lot of attention, the cave is still the top attraction and the reason that Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park exists. This was the third time the park has been recognized by USA TODAY. Previously, the cave was named one of the Top 10 Places to Go Underground and the Alpine Coaster was chosen as one of the 10Best Roller-coaster Rides of Your Life.

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park also received a 2016 Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor gives a Certificate of Excellence to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers. It it the fourth year in a row that the park has received the TripAdvisor honor.

“Our Mission Statement is to ‘Make People Smile.’ This mission was created by our owners, Steve and Jeanne Beckley. It couldn’t be any simpler and certainly couldn’t be more genuine. The mission has passed the test of time and continues to be embraced by our management and staff, which is the reason we continue to get recognized,” says Heard.

Thank you to all who make Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park what it is; from the hard-working employees to the guests exploring the caves and screaming along the thrill rides to the community who recognizes the park’s mission! Come visit us and see why we’re the place to be for family fun, amazing views and awesome adventure!

We want to make you smile in 2021

Testimonials for the Wild Tour at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park

Wonder what it’s like to take a Wild Tour at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park? Watch these testimonials from students and a teacher at the Denver Academy!

The Wild Tour at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park takes you deep inside Glenwood Caverns in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, for an on-your-belly caving adventure. Guide Lorie Sheader shows you what the Wild Tour is all about. Call 800-530-1635, ext. 0, for information and reservations.

Glenwood Caverns and the Historic Fairy Caves are part of Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Located on top of Iron Mountain at an elevation of 7,100 feet, the park offers walking and wild cave tours, thrill rides, mountaintop dining, scenic gondola rides and lots of kid-friendly attractions.

2011 Local’s Choice Winners: Two Golds

There was standing room only Thursday evening, June 30th, when a packed crowd gathered at the Glenwood Masonic Lodge for the Glenwood Springs Post Independent 2011 Local’s Choice Awards Celebration. This year, in addition to food and drinks and other merriment, the announcements were followed by entertaining skits performed by the Glenwood Vaudeville Revue.

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park brought home two gold medals this year:
Best Locals’ Attraction
Best Place for a Children’s Birthday Party

THANK YOU to all our fans for helping us bring home the Gold!

Adventure Park Philanthropic Business of the Year

Glenwood Springs Chamber Names Adventure Park Philanthropic Business of the Year

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park was named Philanthropic Small Business of the Year at the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association’s Annual Gala on April 21, 2011. Chris Ehlers was on hand to accept the award.

Giving back to the families in its community has been part of Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park’s philosophy since Steve and Jeanne Beckley opened the caves to the public in 1999, and 2010 was no exception. In fact, the park ramped up its philanthropic efforts in recognition of the number of area families affected by the downturn in the economy.

In July, the Adventure Park hosted the kick-off party for YouthZone’s 20th Annual Kiss-n-Squeal Fundraiser. Approximately 150 people showed up to enjoy free tram rides and “pig out” at the fajita dinner buffet, and many took the opportunity to try out the park’s attractions. The park, a founding member of the Glenwood Springs based YouthZone Foundation, donated the dinner and a percentage of the day’s proceeds for a total contribution of nearly $4,000.

The park also supported nearly 500 organizations and events during 2010 through the donation of passes for fundraising. These recipients ranged from school groups and sports teams to non-profit organizations and fundraising events for local individuals battling the costs of medical expenses. If you attended a charitable event in the valley, odds are that passes to the Adventure Park were on the silent auction table or awarded as prizes.

The park’s biggest impact on the community, however, was helping to stock the LIFT-UP food pantry. Through the Music on the Mountain series, which began in the fall of 2009 with two concerts and expanded to seven during 2010, the park collected 5,787 items for LIFT-UP, including canned food, jars of peanut butter and packages of pasta. Guests were able to enjoy a free tram ride and live music in exchange for the donation of at least one food item for the food pantry. Due to the popularity of the series, the Adventure Park is expanding the Music on the Mountain to include nine events in Glenwood Springs during 2011 and hopes to collect even more food for the community.