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Fun family vacations for under a grand
It really is fun (and affordable) to stay at the YMCA
 YMCA of the Rockies Once considered a bare-bones budget choice, YMCA family camps have made key upgrades and now appeal to the wider net of parents seeking vacations that are active, outdoorsy and unplugged. |
Think you know the YMCA? Surely you have danced to the Village People disco anthem. You may even belong to your local community center, and make regular use of its gym, swimming pool, and afterschool kids’ programs. But you probably never imagined that the good old Y might also be the best-kept open secret in family vacations.
Each summer, the YMCA runs over 2,000 day camps and some 339 sleepover camps for boys and girls. Much lesser known are the handful of lodge-and cabin-based YMCA camps that offer family vacations all summer long. Each has an enviable location bordering a national park, state park, or national forest, so guests are guaranteed a daily eyeful of breathtakingly gorgeous scenery. And, as you might expect from the YMCA, the focus is on active diversions, from hiking, biking, and fishing to ropes courses and tug-of-war competitions. Best of all, prices at these not-for-profit camps are downright affordable, with lodging sometimes starting at less than $700 a week for a family of four.
Once considered a bare-bones budget choice, YMCA family camps have made key upgrades and now appeal to the wider net of parents seeking vacations that are active, outdoorsy, and unplugged. “Bookings dramatically increased after 9/11, and most camps fill completely months—and in some case years—in advance,” reports Gary Forster, a spokesperson for YMCA of the USA. The formula works because it’s so darn simple: Start with a phenomenal outdoor setting, provide endless opportunities for fun recreation, and serve it up at a bargain price.
Take the YMCA of the Rockies, for instance. It owns and operates two distinct year-round family camps that together comprise nearly 6,000 acres in the majestic Colorado Rockies. Both locations feature lodge-and-cabin complexes complete with raw-timber porches, free-roaming elk and deer, and craggy vistas that stretch as far as the eye can see. Last year, the YMCA of the Rockies welcomed over a quarter of a million guests. Forster says that families are lured by the “smorgasbord of activities for parents to do with their kids, for kids to do with camp counselors, and for adults to do with adults.” At both locations, the family programming and array of recreational pursuits is flexible enough to appeal to different ages, interests, and personalities. Still, each location has its own identity.
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Six times more expansive than Estes Park Center, the 5,100-acre Snow Mountain Ranch, near Winter Park, promises and delivers enormous fun. Outside magazine named it the No. 1 place for affordable family adventure travel and it’s a particularly terrific place for thrill-seeking tweens and teens. Adrenaline-loving kids 12 and up can take the high challenge course, navigating through a series of obstacles 30 feet in the air while strapped into a harness. Kids 10 and up can whip over a meadow along a 300-foot zipline. Other popular activities include hiking, canoeing, fly-fishing, mountain biking, archery, and horseback riding. There are also tennis and basketball courts, a 22-foot climbing wall, horseshoe pitch, 18-hole mini golf and disk golf courses, craft center, and indoor pool. After exercising in the mountain air, you’ll be hungry. Snow Mountain Ranch has you covered with three all-you-can-eat buffets served daily in the Schlessman Commons, or you can grab a light meal or snack at the Buckboard Grill.
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