FAQs

If your 5-year-old has finished kindergarten, they are eligible to join our camps! This is the only pre-requisite. In order to register your post-kindergartner child for camp, contact camps@dinoridge.org and we will assist you.

Our camps have tons of field trips, guest speakers, activities, and crafts. For camps with an 8-11- or 11-13-year recommendation, there will be activities with moderate to advanced reading and writing depending on the ages present. For camps with a 5–10-year recommendation, moderate reading and writing activities are provided for older children and are not required for younger children. We are inclusive of all learning types and levels at our camps! All children, regarding reading/writing level, will have a blast while they learn new science concepts and make friends.

We provide aftercare for all camp sessions, but do not offer before care. You will be able to sign up as needed for aftercare up to the first day of your camp session, so please don’t miss out on a spot if you’re unsure you’ll need the add-on! Register before camps fill up with the comfort of knowing you can add a single day or the full week of aftercare if you need it closer to the start of the session.

Full week: $60 add-on
Single day: $20/day – paid on the day as needed in our gift shop.

Yes! Dinosaur Ridge is a childcare facility licensed by the State of Colorado. We are regulated by the State and follow all guidelines during our camp programs. A copy of our Childcare License and Inspection can be made available upon request at camps@dinoridge.org.

Summer Camp Location

Dinosaur Ridge Main Visitor Center
16831 W. Alameda Parkway
Morrison, CO 80465

Winter/Spring Break Camp Location

Martin G. Lockley Discovery Center
17681 W. Alameda Parkway
Golden, CO 80401

You can register for a full camp at any time and be added to the waitlist for that session. ACTIVE does place you on the list in the order in which you register. Payment is not taken until you are registered for a camp session.

If there is a cancellation, ACTIVE will automatically send an email to the first person on the waitlist. The email will contain within it a link to either register for the spot or remove yourself from the waitlist. That invitation is automatic and will expire 24 hours after it’s sent! After registering for ACTIVE, please make sure you mark their emails as “NOT JUNK” and keep tabs on your spam/junk folder to ensure you don’t miss out on an awesome opportunity.

In 2023, we were maxed at 300 camp openings. This left us with 180 potentials campers on our waitlists, with some sessions being 30-40 kids long! For 2024, we’re expanding our camps in several huge ways. This will feature doubling the sessions, having slightly smaller groups, and a total capacity for 440 campers!

We heard you, and we’ve had some very generous donors that are helping us to build and create a whole new camp area at our Main Visitor Center to run two camp sessions simultaneously.

Because your camper(s) are under Dinosaur Ridge care during the camp day, we need paperwork to ensure their safety and comply with Child Care Licensing.

In addition to the information completed during ACTIVE online registration, we need the following forms that can be uploaded easily to your Active account. These forms can be filled out and then uploaded online:

• General Health Appraisal Form: Does not need to be completed by a doctor. We only require the top of form to be completed by a parent/guardian.
• CDPHE Immunization Form: or exemption form with proper signatures

These are the optional forms you may need to obtain from your doctor:

• Medication Paperwork: If your child will be bringing ANY medication to camp, please provide the Medication Authorization paperwork. The forms that are needed are downloadable through ACTIVE as supplemental documents.
• Asthma/Anaphylaxis Care Plan: If your child has an allergy or asthma condition that requires them to bring an Epi Pen, inhaler, or any other type of medication for these conditions, please provide their care plan as well as the accompanying medication and their proper forms).
• All paperwork requires current non-expired dates, a doctor’s signature, original prescription containers/boxes/bottles, and instructions that match the paperwork. If any of these are missing, we aren’t able to take the medication OR YOUR CAMPER for the session until they are provided/updated.
• Please do not toss their meds, Epi Pen, or Inhaler into their backpack at the start of the day! All medications must be checked in to Dinosaur Ridge staff at the start of each week, or each day if you take the medication home at the end of each day.

If your child wants to stay involved with Dinosaur Ridge beyond their camper years, they might want to become a Summer Camp Jr. Counselor! Jr. Counselors will gain experience working in a Summer Camp setting with Dinosaur Ridge professional Camp Leaders and Directors.

Jr. Counselors will spend the camp week (M-F, 8:30am-3pm) outdoors assisting Camp Leaders with a group of campers as they explore nature. Jr. Counselors must be at least 14 years old and can volunteer up to 2 weeks of camp.

Learn more and apply to be a Jr. Counselor.

While we appreciate how hard it is for certain kids (and some parents) to be apart for their first camp session, we ask that you don’t linger around the Dinosaur Ridge Visitor Center or camp area for any of the camp days. Dinosaur Ridge is an active place that is open to the public and runs daily tours with large vans and school buses. Our outdoor camp areas are secure and closed off to the public, but there are up to 800 to 1,000 people a day through our Visitor Center in the summer months. Slipping away from the group could be very dangerous for the child if they see and make their way to their parent/guardian.

Please plan to leave shortly after drop off for all the camp days!

Cancellation Policy

• Full refunds are available through March 31, 2024.
• April 1-15: refunds will be full minus the $100 deposit (per registration).
• April 16-30: 50% refunds are available.
• May 1 and after: No refunds are available, but funds can be placed into your ACTIVE family account for future Dinosaur Ridge camps.

There are no recommended/required special COVID requirements this year. If this changes, we will provide notice on our Camps page.

We do not have special requirements for peanuts or tree nuts. Dinosaur Ridge Summer Camp does not provide snacks/lunches for the children on a daily basis and we push the narrative of “no sharing food” and “please only eat what came with you from home”.

To combat allergy concerns, if a child or children with a peanut or tree nut allergy are present at camp, snack and lunch times will have a “nutter butter table”, where any campers with any kind of nut or peanut butter will move to eat their lunch. This helps to not single out the camper with the allergy, but also to protect them by keeping away any potential issues.

Please do notify Dinosaur Ridge staff if your child has any type of severe reaction to simply touching or smelling peanuts/tree nuts. In the event that a severe risk is present, we may enact restrictions on foods that families can send to camp for that week. Please keep an eye on your email before any camp sessions to see if any such requirements have changed!

We do have scholarships available for our camp sessions! Please read and fill out our scholarship request form.

If you have any questions, please contact us at camps@dinoridge.org.