Best Glamping near Alamosa, CO

The Alamosa KOA was chosen by our family because we like to have the option for swimming at the end of a hard day of play in the National Parks. We made our reservation for our site in March, a mere three months before our mid-week, June 7 arrival.

This KOA has a nice sized heated, outdoor pool with reasonable hours, closing around 8:00 PM. The pool temperature was warm enough for even the adults to slip right into it. There is also a fantastic playground with updated equipment, including an elevated tunnel system that ends with safety slides. When you have a small child who loves to play, especially a special needs child, this is a big deal! Other amenities include showers and laundry facilities (we did not use either but they looked nice). Wi-Fi is advertised, and the signal is available, but was not even fast or reliable enough to load photos from Instagram or Twitter. Streaming would be out of the question, but it would probably suffice for checking email.

One of the more unique benefits offered at this KOA include on-site Hunt Brothers Pizza and breadsticks. Not only can you get hot, fresh pizza here, made to order, but they will deliver it to your site! In addition, they deliver wood and ice. This site also offers a weekend pancake breakfast (seasonal).

The RV sites were leveled very well, and they have both 30-amp and 50-amp sites available. There are small shade trees scattered throughout the camping area, but they are still quite young and small. I read some previous reviews that felt the sites were too close together. Although there was little privacy, we have certainly had less room between sites than we had in Alamosa. Perhaps with slide-outs it might be more compact, but our little Starcraft fit in just fine. In addition to RV sites, there are tent sites and camping cabins available.

Our take-away from Alamosa KOA: The view from the campsite and the kindness and helpfulness of the hosts, the Martin family, make this a return-trip campground for sure! Any questions for us about this site? Leave them in the comments below!

Just going to start by saying that camping is not why people come here -- it’s for the waters!  The spa offers numerous pools and tubs at varying temperatures so you can find your joyful spot– be sure to check out the cold plunge pool as well. 

The RV spots are on one side of the large parking lot, with the hook up spaces in the middle, with non-electric spots running around two of the outside sides. We were in one of these spots because we run completely on solar to save money. There are zero trees around the lot so sunshine was plentiful. 

The bathrooms were clean, modern and nice, as was the small, shared kitchen where we could do dishes. In addition to camping the resort offers hotel rooms, private yurts, tipis, conference rooms and other hotel services. In addition to the soaking being included in the price, so was a buffet style breakfast and dinner. The food was delicious, and veggie/ organic friendly. The whole experience was very reasonably priced and relaxing!

There’s a lot of hiking nearby, in the mountains to the north, west and east- but definitely a drive away. We didn’t check out the walking path in the spa, but they did offer yoga classes in the yurt as well as private massages services and a host of other spa treatments. 

There aren’t a lot of nearby towns that offer larger grocery stores, Crestone has a small co-op grocery as does Buena Vista, so if you are planning on cooking for yourself, come prepared.

Joyful Journey is a lovely little hot springs in the middle of the San Luis Valley. The Sangre de Christo Mountains tower in the distance and on a moonlit night, they positively glow from the farthest pool. The water in these springs have trace amounts of lithium which makes them even more relaxing than others I've tried.

The springs is popular and can be a bit crowded, so be sure to reserve your spot ahead of time. Bring your own towels, as they can't always keep up with demand and flip flops are also a must for the showers. However, camping lets you stay a bit later than other folks and being able to wonder across the parking lot to the campground after a good soak instead of driving is a huge draw.

Since the campground as its just an extension of the parking lot there is room for large rigs. It features all the all the basics with a clean and close shower house, electrical hookups and grills. The nightly fee includes access to the pools and continental breakfast in the morning. Pets are allowed for an additional fee.

There are also yurts, teepees and motel rooms available to rent.