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Winter on the Mountain at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park begins this weekend

Winter on the Mountain kicks off this weekend at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. A new feature this year is the North Pole gathering area for kids to meet Santa and warm up.
Chelsea Self/Post Independent

Sometimes holiday cheer shows up a little sooner than the day after Thanksgiving. 

The Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is beginning the holiday season early by lighting the mountain up bright through the holidays.

Ride up the mountain to visit Santa, follow the tunnel of lights to the fairy caves, speed down the alpine coaster, and then cozy up to the fire pits to enjoy cocoa and s’mores as the sun sets and the lights illuminate the park



The Adventure Park will open this weekend with the festive decorations to get the community into the holiday spirit. 

Winter on the Mountain kicks off this weekend at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. A new feature this year is the North Pole gathering area for kids to meet Santa and warm up.
Chelsea Self/Post Independent

Every aspect is built to bring holiday joy like fresh baked cookies, a musical Christmas tree with dancing lights that plays holiday heaters like the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and heartwarming goodies that keep you warm on the coldest nights.



“If you come up in the morning, the visitor center smells of fresh baked cookies for the holidays,” said Bob Stepniewski, the events coordinator setting the scene. 

The staff definitely decked the park with all of the holiday cheer, hanging hundreds of thousands of lights and fun details like a blowup Santa climbing face-first into a chimney. 

“In the afternoon, as the sun goes down, the fire pits come up, and we have all kinds of hot specialty drinks and s’mores around the fire,” he said. 

Mount Sopris looms in the background of a popular selfie spot at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, which is all decked out for Winter on the Mountain.
Chelsea Self/Post Independent

Hanging and finishing the final touches showed that the staff worked hard to create an enjoyable holiday getaway. Kate Henion, marketing and sales manager for the Adventure Park, said it was a full staff effort. 

“The newest things this year are the North Pole and the tunnel of lights, and then we just added a few more specialty drinks and things like that,” Henion said. “So, those are the two big highlights, and things we’re most proud of. The tunnel of lights is just really cool, and it leads down into the fairy caves because, as we mentioned before, we have a few rides open, and then the caves are open all winter long, as well.”

Some other, slightly old, must-see new attractions are the two elemental trolls Chantico the Defender of Fire and Halvor Flowston the Protector of the Cave. 

Some rides will still be open on the wintery days if the weather permits it. They include the gondola, the Alpine Coaster, 4D motion theater, laser tag, and the caves.  

Bring a $25 City Market gift card, and get four free gondola tickets. The City Market card will be donated to Lift Up. The Gondola Giving deal will end on Dec. 31. Santa will be meeting with little ones to talk wishlists every Saturday until Dec. 17 and one bonus day on Sunday, Dec.17. 

Ticket information and menus are online.

Winter on the Mountain kicks off this weekend at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. A new feature this year is the North Pole gathering area for kids to meet Santa and warm up.
Chelsea Self/Post Independent

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