Berthoud with kids: the inclusive playground, the bike park, three storytimes a week

Berthoud has rebuilt most of its parks in the last few years, and the result is a town where a family can fill a day without leaving the grid. This is what there is, sorted by the day you are having.

A warm day: Town Park and the water feature

Berthoud Town Park, at 7th and Mountain, is the oldest park in town and the newest playground: 12,000 square feet, fully inclusive, beside a 6,000-square-foot natural-stone water-play feature that runs in the warm months. Two pavilions for the picnic, and on Saturdays the market is on the lawn.

On the north side, Waggener Farm Park has a farm-themed playground with a tractor and a playhouse, a wavy scooter path, a full basketball court, a skate park and fields. Pioneer Park on Indiana Avenue has a playground, a roller-hockey rink and bocce courts. Bein Park, beside the high school, has a log-cabin-themed playground, a fitness trail, and the fenced town dog park, with small-dog and large-dog sections, if the dog came too.

Bikes: the bike park

The Berthoud Bike Park on Meadowlark Drive opened in late summer 2023: twenty acres with two jump and flow lines, a dual-slalom track, a mile of cross-country trail, a bicycle playground for small riders and a 20,000-square-foot pump track. Dawn to dusk, free. The Trailhead Cafe next door does breakfast and sandwiches afterwards.

A rainy day: the rec center, the arcade, the library

The Berthoud Recreation Center at Waggener Farm Park opened in November 2021 with a three-lane lap pool, a two-storey water slide, a gym and a climbing wall. Day passes for anyone; weekdays from 5 am, Saturday from 7, Sunday from 11.

B-Rad’s Arcade at the east end of Mountain Avenue has pinball, classic cabinets, air hockey and snacks, and is the accepted rainy-afternoon plan.

The Berthoud Community Library on Welch Avenue runs storytimes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, with a baby storytime, a toddler storytime and a pre-K one on the calendar, plus kids’ art and science programmes. Open until 8 on Wednesday and Thursday, until 6 the other weekdays, Saturday to 4; closed Sunday. The events page has this week’s.

A Saturday downtown

Start with breakfast burritos at Cocina & Cantina or the diner counter at Cornerstone Cafe, then the mural walk along Mountain Avenue and its side streets, which is free and short enough for small legs. Marley & Moose is the children’s shop on the main block. The Pioneer Museum at the east end, built around the 1893 Bimson blacksmith shop, is open Wednesday to Saturday 1 to 4 for $5. Fickel Park, with the bear sculpture and picnic tables, is the picnic stop.

Classes and camps

The Wildfire Arts Center on Massachusetts Avenue runs classes and open studio for children, a youth street-art programme, summer camps and birthday parties.

A winter day

Pioneer Park’s roller-hockey rink is outdoors all year, and the rec center’s pool does not care what the weather is doing.

Further out: the water

Berthoud Reservoir has a flat 1.2-mile loop with fishing and paddle-craft access, free, dogs on leash. Carter Lake, ten minutes north-west, has a swim beach from Memorial Day, camping and boat ramps; Larimer County charges an entrance permit.