Vallecito Resort

I first went to this RV park as a workcamper in late April 2017. While the gig didn't work out for me, I returned at the end of August and stayed until the park closed on Oct. 1. This year (2018) I will be staying here from about mid-June until the weather turns chilly sometime in September.

The park is on 22 wooded acres; a mix of RV sites and park models. There are also several cabins for rent. No pool -- but a huge hot tub! Showers were a bit semall for my liking, but were always very clean with plenty of hot water! Laundry facilities (2) were also very clean and there is a huge table for folding! The camp store offers a variety of necessities and clothing with the Vallecito logo on them at reasonable prices.

This is a great location for boaters, kayakers and fisherman -- very close to the marina on Vallecito Lake and there are plenty of hiking trails nearby as well.

For the most part, this park is quiet and offers an absolutely gorgeous view of the Milky Way! While I was not there during some kind of motorcycle week, I did hear that the noise of all those Harleys going up and down County Rd. 501 was very annoying. Fortunately, most of those people stayed elsewhere, but had to pass by on their way to and from Durango.

Beginning Memorial Day Weekend, Friday nights are PIZZA NIGHTS! Dave Lipsea (owner/manager) makes the BEST brick-oven baked pizza I've ever eaten with a big variety of toppings available. You just place your order before a certain time on Friday and choose the time you want to pick it up whether you wish to eat in the large pavilion or take it back to your site.

There are also numerous breakfasts and pot-luck dinners throughout the season, together with other planned group activities. There is a large lending library in a separate building and a selection of movies on DVDs at the office (free - honor system).

The biggest drawback here is the lack of park-wide WiFi and cell phone signal. There is a spot over by the dam everyone calls the Phone Booth! There are a number of chairs in that location so you can sit down and make your calls. This lack of "modern" convenience would be problematic for those who are addicted to their phones.

I do not know the nightly rate, but they DO accept Passport America and offer a special at the very beginning and end of the season. Monthly rates are $650 plus electricity; Seasonal Rates (May 1 - Sept. 30) are $1,595 - $2,095 depending on the size you require. I was able to negotiate a very good rate for a 4-month stay this year and was lucky to get a spot! This park fills up fast and has quite a large number of folks who come there every summer!

This is nice clean RV park very quiet with very friendly neighbors. Only real down side is there is absolutely no Verizon or T-Mobile service, and the park WiFi is only available at the entrance(office and pavilion). Not sure about the other carriers, so if internet is a necessity, this may not be the park for you.

Vallecita is an alpine resort offering a mix of RV spots, cottages, and converted RV cabins, and while the layout rambles, it’s surprisingly easy to navigate and big rig friendly. Many of the RV spots are occupied by seasonal residents, and along with the cabin folks, many of these campers return year after year. Nearly everyone we met was extremely friendly, the camp hosts were super helpful, and the owner is great to work with and did everything to make our stay ideal.
The spacing between sites is pretty average for a commercial park, but the camping feels more natural due to the presence of lots and lots of trees, well cared for grounds, and a sort-of neighborhood feel to the whole place. Our site was long and level, and our utilities were easy to reach and worked perfectly during our stay. While some of the activities were limited due to Covid, the park usually hosts a number of social events and offers many common areas, including an outdoor pavilion, grills, playground, dog run, and laundry. There is plenty of room to walk a dog or move around outside, and while the park was often full during our stay, it was never loud and/or crazy.
This park provides the best WiFi we’ve ever used in an RV park, but it’s only available near to the office/store, which offers nice outdoor seating, and the large outdoor pavilion. The office store stocks all sorts of helpful items (ice, wood, soda, ice cream, etc) and they fill propane. Cell service/internet is a bit tricky, and while some areas of the park get some, others get zero. Our site had zero service without our booster, but we had really good service (streaming was fine) with the booster.
This CG location is beautiful and close to more of what makes Colorado so popular, 2 reservoirs (Vallecita and Lemon), tons of hiking, and all sorts of picturesque scenery. It’s a 25 minute drive into Durango, and visits to Silverton and Mesa Verde are also reasonable. We appreciated their reasonable seasonal and monthly rates (which they will prorate beyond 30 days), and that we were able to receive packages during our stay. We enjoyed our time at Vallecita and would definitely stay again.

We stayed here for a week in August and have already decided to come back again. The weather is perfect, the people are friendly, the location wildlife is new and fun, the nearby outdoor attractions are the best!

We got to play in the Vallecito Creek, go fishing in the Vallecito Reservoir, and go hiking in parts of the San Juan National forest.

Attractions include horseback riding (call ahead and keep calling as they’re not very good at answering the phone or calling people back), renting boats, kayaks, and John boats. You’re also very close to Durango, CO where there is a literal TON of things to do.

This park is mostly retirees, but they were lovely with our two teenagers and small child. Pets are welcome, but please, keep them on a leash!

Laundry facilities are clean, and bathrooms are available with showers and are very clean as well.

We have Verizon and there was ZERO cell service at our site, but they have a hotspot set up near the office.

The weather turned cold and rainy and we needed to do laundry. This was a perfect 1/2 price Passport America stopover. Friendly office staff, Amazon deliveries without issue. Laundry was clean with 4 washers and 4 dryers, reasonably priced. Showers were small, a little dated but acceptable. No cell service at our site using the 3 main carriers. We had to walk to the entrance pavilion to access Wifi. Other sites may allow internet.

The local chainsaw carvings as tribute to those who help fight the fire that devastated the area years ago was amazing. The water table of the lake was down but the area was still lovely.

I have been coming to Vallecito every summer since 2017 because I fell in love with the area and the sense of community here. However, the park was sold in 2021 and since then, it has gone completely downhill -- just one year after I bought a vacation home here. The management company clearly does NOT care about the summer residents here and we have been avoided, lied to and intimidated by the on-site manager. We believe that the new owners simply want us to abandon our summer homes and go away. They currently have our hands tied -- apparently we can't sell without having them removed from the park UNLESS they meet certain criteria and inquiries as to WHAT these criteria are have so far received no response. We also have NO IDEA what the rates will be for next season and with no rent control laws in the state of Colorado, we have no clue as to what is coming. No real amenities here, either. No cell service. Park WiFi is a joke. The camp store is completely empty and the place looks like a dump from the road. I am totally distraught and disgusted! DO NOT STAY HERE! The park is 13 miles from Bayfield and 20 miles to Durango -- not exactly convenient.

DYNAMIC PRICING
When you've been camping for over 10 years and have been on the road for 10 weeks this summer, you're bound to run into clunkers now and then. This was our clunker.

We booked our stay in April, knowing most campgrounds fill up fast for summer. We had a buddy joining us to hike, so just before our check-in I happened to go back to the website thinking there's no way a site is available. To my surprise, not only was it available but instead of the $54 rate for a back in site, it's now listed as $41. Naturally I asked about it when we checked in and was immediately met with a spiel about dynamic pricing and Priceline and the guy in the hotel room next to you could be paying more, or less, you don't know.

Wow. OK. We'll, I don't use Priceline to book travel. If I buy I $1,000 plane ticket and the price goes down, I know I'll get that lower fare with no change fees. If the price of a hotel room goes down (which happened on this summer trip) the massive corporate entity allows for that adjustment with no penalty. The corporate entity behind Vallecito has different customer care views, however.

When I checked back in a couple days later as instructed, I was told no, dynamic pricing stands, it's like Priceline (this is a well-rehearsed line). I 100% feel for the customer facing office staff who have to deliver the message determined by some suits who probably rarely set foot on site. When I explained it would have been helpful to know this before booking, I'll be sure to note it in my review so other campers know. The response: "We will not be threatened by reviews." Another practiced line and it was simply a statement, not a threat.

Our reward for planning and booking months out is paying $78 (plus tax) more than the last minute shopper. Unless we want to cancel, forfeit our deposit, then rebook at the lower rate.

HOT TUB
When I asked about the hot tub…"it's gone". Right, so the brochure you give out when checking in and on your website, when will those be updated? "It's not on the website". It is, it's part of how we made our decision to stay here. There are lots of options in the area, we needed six nights and preferred electric though it's not critical. When we saw the hot tub (we're in the area so hubby can hike four 14ers in two days), paying a little more for a soak when he's done was worth it. Until it wasn't. After looking at the website to prove me wrong (sorry, it STILL shows a hot tub on the website map), they said the hot tub was just removed. That made me laugh, we might have different definitions of "just" because we're camped right across from where it should be and there are no signs of a hot tub having been "just" removed (see photos). And when new brochures are printed it will reflect no hot tub, she said. I suppose the two seconds it would take to X out Hot Tub on the brochure is too much effort?

CAMPGROUND
Aside from those issues, the campground is fine. Beautiful tall pine trees, wide interior roads, level sites, a lot of fivers and RVs. You can't sit in front of your rig without being in the business of a couple neighbors, but that's pretty typical. It sits right on the road, but traffic dies down at night. Vallecito Reservoir is five minutes away (though you can't enjoy it without a day use fee - even with park pass). A number of sites have trailer/park models that are 40-50 years old, I'm sure corporate will be taking care of those in due time. The campers are a friendly bunch, and many seem to know each other. Two laundry rooms onsite (no change machine), showers. It's not a peaceful environment - TVs cranked up for a couple hours in the evening, a dog barking here and there, lawn tools, power tools, we heard it all. We didn't rely on their internet and had enough VZW throughput to be usable.

SUMMARY
Beautiful part of Colorado, nice campground. If you're on the right side of the dynamic pricing game it might work for you. Many sites available during our six nights here, so you might not have to book ahead. We encouraged our friend to stay somewhere else, as we will do next time we pass through.

Last year 5/2021 we were faced with new owners and management out of FL. So we arrived May 1st to new management. Understanding it takes time to iron out the bugs well it went from bad to worst. This is my 5th year and was a 5 month seasonal rate.
Thinking this management group would follow along what works. Well that didn't happen. 05/2022 I was met with you got to remove cargo and camper every year no seasonal with massive monthly rates increase 2023. My cargo trailer was my lively hood. management didn't even care to ask This park is showing a strain on daily and weekly's with not many. It is differently not working. It looks like a and mutt run operations.
Of course I will not be staying there in 2023 as no seasonal and it will cost me over 1k a month plus electric and have to have wifi brought in for my site. I don't have that kind of extra money for this. I'm in and area outer circle near a open sewer system. I put up with it so I can have my cargo trailer and camper together. Also my area has very little gravel and red dirt and when it rains run through my lot. The activities was part of what we look forward to. Not this year. We use to have music groups once a week because of donations. Well we had 11 paid for and management cut back to 5. This was heard from the organizer.
So if you do decide to stay try and over look the entrance ways that are rope off and barrels. Total trashy look. They look closed.
Going to Show Low Waltner's rv resort in 2023 where they have a personal touch and are very welcoming. As of posting this review Sept. they came out with seasonal rates and I was not notified. The park pick and chooses who they want.

After I wrote all of this

upon arriving at Vallecito RV Resort we pulled behind a golf cart that was blocking the driveway (which we assumed was there to escort us to our reserved site) not shutting the truck off, so we weren't parked, went into the office to register. Immediately we were told(not even saying hello first) we were blocking the firelane and move our truck and rig and drive around the building to the other side. I informed the"old Lady" the driveway was blocked by golf cart- she then went outside and yelled at them to move it! I then went went out and drove around the building and parked on the other side as told..(she hasn't said hello) She told us we were early and that would be an extra $35 charge for being early (it was almost 2pm- check-in was 3pm). She then said she had sent an e-mail informing of time to check in- I told her we were in the mountains and had without cell service for 3 days.. I asked where I could or park to wait - She said I don't care where you go - Go out in the street!! A young girl in the office said she was aware there was no cell phone service in the mountains and that the site was ready and available. The "old lady" abruptly handed me site number and before I could say Thank-you yells out to me"You're welcome.. Stay away from here unless you like aggravation!

Upon arriving at Vallecito R V resort we pulled behind a golf cart that was blocking driveway which we assumed was there to escort us to our reserved site. Not shutting the truck off so we weren't parked we went into the office to register. Immediately we were told(not even saying hello) we were blocking the fire lane & today to move our truck and rig .I enforced the mean lady that golf cart was blocking the driveway she then went out and told them to move it! I then drove around building and parked on side as told( she still hasn't said hello) .She told us we were early and that would be an extra$35 charge for being early- she then said she sent email enforcing of time to check k in. I told her we were in mountain's and had no cell service for 3 days. Check in was 3pm and we were there around 2pm.i asked her where I could park to wait she said " I don't care Go out in the street"! A young girl in the office said she was aware there was no cell service in mts and that the site was ready (just a pull through site with electric and water) the old lady handed me a site number and before I could say thank you she yells out to me "you're welcome" stay away from here unless you like aggravation!!!