Echo Basin Resort

This park is 12 miles from Mesa Verde NP and 26 miles from downtown Durango. It is 4 miles off Hwy 160 on a curvy but paved road. The entrance looks like you’ve arrived at nirvana (log cabin office, landscaped stone entrance with grass and flowers, big Ponderosa pines and mountains in the distance.). They do, however, tuck the RVs into tight spots in the back, so your morning view is of vehicles and campers. And they have landscaped with artificial turf everywhere😩! The bathhouse is old, cramped and - from our experience- always busy (2 showers and toilets per gender). They have an on-site restaurant that we did not try, and a pool that was deserted on a busy Labor Day weekend.
It was nice to have a level site with FHU, but not all sites are created equal. We’d try for site 64, 63, 42, or 40 for some semblance of a view.
We enjoyed exploring the little town of Mancos, but think we’ll chose to stay in Durango next time.

This place is run down to say the least. Bathrooms and showers had broken doors and dirty shower curtains. Camp spots for RVs were right on top of each other. Astroturf strips at each campsite were worn and ragged (and weird). We were told quiet hours were strict but the wedding rehearsal party on a Friday was still raging at 1:30am and we could clearly hear it from our camper windows. The wedding on Saturday wasn’t much better. I did not find the ladies working the office to be friendly.

Pros: location between Cortez and Durango was good for adventures in Durango and visiting Mesa Verde. Pool was clean. Happy hour drinks at the restaurant were nice.

I would definitely look elsewhere before staying here again.

Echo Basin is the best of all worlds. Managed very by a friendly crew of very professional folks, this park is a hidden gem sitting equal distances from Cortez and Durango, Colorado. Family-friendly, dog-friendly, quiet, scenic, and just far enough off the beaten path to shake the city off your feet, it has everything you want in an RV park. The spots are level gravel, full hook-ups (sewer, water, and stable 30/50 power), good Wi-Fi, close a few Cell Towers (we had Verizon and ATT SIMS doing okay), and enough open sky to get that Starlink cooking. Each has its own picnic area, firepit set up, and the pull-thru we had was easy to get in and out of. A good road system through a tree-covered park (with a speed limit of 7-3/4 mph) allows you to tow just about any sized rig into Echo Basin with plenty of room to park your tow vehicle at your spot. This is the perfect place to take your kids or grandkids. It includes a good-sized pool, a horse-ride ranch nearby, and easy access to San Juan National Forest (about 10 minutes away) with driving, biking, and hiking access (free entry). If sightseeing is your jam, Manco art galleries and beautiful Mesa Verde National Park is only minutes away. But if you want to stretch yourself, try the Train to Silverton, take in the massive Ship Rock, step in four States at once at Four Corners, and even take an overnight trip to Moab, Utah -- ALL within driving distance of this place! Meanwhile, if you're a mountain biker (like me), Echo Basin is the epicenter of some of the best mountain biking in Colorado. First, you have Phil's World in Cortez (about 30 minutes away) which has to be a Top 10 mountain biking spot for any rider. But if you don't want to leave Echo Basin, the San Juan trail system in and around the mountains of Mancos/Cortez will provide you with MILES of single-track and fire road networks that include both easy and medium difficulty areas. Plus you're 30 minutes or so away from Durango with yet another portfolio of mountain biking trails to choose from. But wait! There's more! Echo Basin includes a decent coin-operated laundry room, a trading post for odds and ins, and their own restaurant that makes the best BBQ ribs this side of Texas. Don't have an RV? No problem! Echo Basin has several cabins you can rent too, a huge reception building for weddings, a practice 2-3 hole golf course, pickle-ball courts, and even a few ponds. Special events seem to pop up here every week, all the neighbors have cows and horses to spot on your walks, and you might even get to see deer and elk walk right through the park during your visit. It really does have everything you need to enjoy Southwest Colorado outdoors with your family. Overall, Echo Basin is a secret hideaway for any RV camper who is into hiking or mountain biking and the perfect setting for kids to get away from their screens and get some dirt on their feet. I would recommend this park over any RV park within 50 miles -- hands down! If you are looking for a great place outside of the Durango area consider Echo Basin Resort. You will enjoy every minute of it!

So we've heard rave reviews of this campground and decided to book a stay here while we were visiting Durango and Mesa Verde for the week in early May 2023. Perhaps it is because it's early in the season, but this campground did not meet all the hype we were hearing about it in reviews. In our opinion, it seemed the owners had given up their standards and focusing their attention on the RV park instead of the other things they seem to have their hands in.

Yes, the campground is nestled in a secluded area with great mountain views and an abnormal amount of artificial turf; however, the campground seemed spastic in it's layout and offerings. There seems to be full time resident RVers living at this campground, along with random cabins here and there intermingled with RV sites. Not to mention the horse stable in the back of the property with all kinds of heavy equipment operating throughout the day. Oh, did I mention this is a wedding venue as well...Yeah, they hold 2-3 weddings a week here during the busy season and amenities for RVers are closed to focus on the wedding. There is a very dated bar and restaurant here that serves limited, but good food. Laundry and shower facilities are available, but again very out dated (not to mention the two pieces of gym equipment in the laundry facility...couldn't help be wonder what scrap yard they got those pieces of equipment from). The shower stall is a cramped 2' x 2' with no care to overall facility cleanliness and sadly only warm to semi hot water. Finally, the wifi on the campground we found to be very unreliable and extremely slow. Verizon cellular service was 2 bars LTE for us. Sites are close together, but ample room for our rig and tow vehicle.

I certainly do not mean to paint a bad picture of this campground, but I think the owners would do well to focus their attention on their RV guests and bring the grounds up to date.

EBR is beautiful— spacious RV sites in the pines. Good Verizon reception, reliable WiFi, terrific owners/hosts. In the foothills well off the highway, this resort feels like coming home. Tom, the owner is a welcoming and super guy. The dining room and bar is rustic and inviting and the Caroline makes you feel Ike family. We loved it here and will come back again and again. On of the best places we’ve ever stayed and we have stayed in a lot!

We stayed at Echo Basin for 2 weeks and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The views of the surrounding mountains are spectacular. The grounds are clean and well kept. The pool was closed for the season so we didn't get to use it, but we did visit the on-site bar/grill. We were expecting mediocre bland food, but the food was REALLY good. The people making the food really know what they're doing. The staff was very friendly. The sites aren't crowded together. We stayed in one of the spots that has 50 amps and full hookups. Everything worked as expected. We'll definitely return to this park the next time we're in the area. Highly recommend.