Peak pleasure: The tony town of Aspen is a (rich) kids heaven on earth

Two kids, boys about 10 years old, walk past the bar to the hostess stand of a popular restaurant in Aspen, Colo.“We’d like a table for two,” one says.

The waitress doesn’t blink; she leads them to a booth.The mountain town of Aspen isn’t just a gnarly spot of X Games sports, or a seventh home location for the world’s most rapaciously successful accumulators of capital (the median price of a single-family home hovers around $13 million).It’s also become a playground for . . .

children.Very rich children, yes, but that isn’t their fault.The pretty, pedestrian-friendly downtown, girt by gingerbread houses, is just five blocks across from Main Street to the gondola up Ajax (officially Aspen Mountain), and only about three times as wide.

Cafes swell with families around Wagner Park Playground in the heart of the town’s pedestrian mall.Its curvaceous, wooden climbing structures were completed last fall, inspired by the city’s namesake trembling tree.

But practically every inch of this at times ostentatious little town, once known for countercultural figures like Hunter S.Thompson, is kid heaven.Strollers are like supercars, and sometimes made by the same brands.

Bigger kids can roam freely (armed with dad’s credit card) in this supremely safe and privileged space.Scooter-friendly streets, ice cream and shaved ice stands, a diverse restaurant scene and a bijou movie theater add to pre-adolescent interest.Best of all, a concentration of 5-star hotels — like Little Nell, Jerome, St.

Regis and the newly opened White Elephant pamper juveniles with all-seasons programming and concierge services that are special to the 8,000-foot elevation.“Aspen is truly a year-round escape that’s perfect for family adventure,” said Whytney Rawls, the travel adviser founder of the Amara Escapes.“Whether you’re an adventurer, a grand resort connoisseur, or looking for that Western feel we all dream of when visiting the spectacular Colorado Rockies, t...