Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Cortez, CO

This is a great campsite. We came across it leaving Cortez and realized that we were losing daylight. It was about 40 minutes from Cortez and we were lucky to find it. There are about 30 sites with sand beds, covered tables, and fire pits. Truly a beautiful spot for $15/night. It was very safe and you could hear the coyotes at night. The grounds and bathrooms were clean and there were paths leading to the restrooms from each campsite. Unfortunately, we arrived on a full moon night so couldn’t stargaze but it would be incredible! Keep in mind, this is a first come first serve campground so I’d suggest arriving earlier especially no moon nights during peak season.

Don’t let the dilapidated mobile home near the entrance scare you away. This place is super well maintained. Every site is well thought out and has great hookups. I thought a plug water and sewer was pretty uniform. Our site had a pedestal with 20/30/50 amp and then another with 30 20 feet further into the site. Lots of shade. The sites along the south edge of the property have amazing views of the Cortez valley and Sleeping Ute Mountain. Really nice communal fire pit, dog park and some trails too. Some sites have a beautiful brick fire ring too.

The Cortex/Mesa Verde KOA in Cortez, Colorado, was the best campground we stayed at (out of 10) on our #9parks12days road trip in June 2016. Not only was the site itself updated, it was the FIRST KOA we stayed at that had usable Wi-Fi - as in video streaming capabilities! When traveling with kids, this is such a HUGE amenity.

This campground has an updated playground, heated (seasonal) swimming pool, a 1-mile walking trail, dog park, and even tepees in addition to cabins for overnight camping. Not to mention, the campground is located a mere 15 minutes from the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park. Other highlights: newer laundry facilities, of which we made use, and awesome mountain and mesa views right from your site.

Don't expect a ton of privacy - sites are very close together. The family next to ours had an outdoor living room set up that pretty much took the entire space between our RVs. However, the grounds were well-kept, and there was plenty of space to remove yourself from other people throughout the facility.

My family and I stayed here for 3 nights in late July in a 34-foot travel trailer. We made reservations over the phone and found the customer service to be exemplary (I called at the last minute to both cancel and then later to re-instate my reservation when we had car trouble on the way). When we arrived the check-in process was straight forward and easy. The roads are gravel but well-graded and the majority of the sites are pull-thru. We had no trouble getting into ours, however, we found rather quickly that sites are extremely close together. Our back-side neighbors had to move their picnic table back in order to accommodate our driver-side slide (the distance between our extended slide and their trailer is about 8 feet. But... we all made it work. There is a 10 pm lights-out policy to cut down on light pollution and see the stars. And the people who camped next to us were considerate. 

The campground has lots of amenities. A log cabin (rec center) with pool, video games, TV with DVD library, books, and board games. Laundry with decent pricing. Mini-golf ($3 per person). A nice pool and hot tub. A dog park with agility obstacles. Nice playground. Wifi signal is strong with decent bandwidth (they discourage streaming). Next door is a horseriding stables ($40 an hour, $25 for a half hour); the horses come up to the fence and love to be petted. The store in the office is small but has the basic amenities. Groceries can be purchased in Cortez, a 15-minute drive away. And, of course, Mesa Verde National Park is right across the road, less than 5 minutes to the visitor center.  The only downside (besides the tightness of the spaces) is that dumpster was very full and near to overflowing. 

Overall we enjoyed our stay here, and thought the location to the park and local area was perfect. Would recommend and definitely stay here again.

Cortez RV Park is a very nice park, with clean bathrooms & showers; community room with TV, microwave, & pool table; laundry room; good Internet service; outdoor pool (not open in late May); dog park; graveled sites with hookups & some shade trees; great views of the surrounding mountains & mesas; just 8 miles from Mesa Verde; located far enough from Hwy 160 to not hear much road noise, but close enough to drive or walk to shopping or restaurants; multi-level park with tent camping on lower grassy level next to small creek; & cabins & teepees for rent.

We didn’t use all the amenities, but enjoyed the ones we did.

Our only complaint was with the parent company, Rjourney. We called to get rates while 10 minutes east of town on a Friday afternoon, & was quoted ~$30 per night. The invoice showed a $15 lock-in fee to hold a specific site, increasing the rate to $45 + tax. When I called Rjourney, they admitted that was an error & credited my card for the $15.

We decided to stay an additional night & head into Mesa Verde for the day. The on-site office told us the rate would be $46 for Saturday night. When I questioned the increase, he said they use “dynamic pricing”, which can change anytime. I called Rjourney later that afternoon, & they confirmed that their pricing can change, despite the fact that the park was far from being full, so we didn’t understand the increase.

Loved loved loved our stay here! Tucked away from the highway and far enough from any big city, you want nature and stars at night? This is the place! We backed up to a huge green field. The gentleman that helped us back our 42 foot rig into our site gave PERFECT directions, telling my husband which was to turn our wheel which make this a first try back in. The owner was the kindest man we enjoyed getting to know. No dog park, but a large open field we're allowed to utilize, letting the pups off leash. They LOVED it! Mesa Verde NP with the cliff dwellings are a short drive away, perfect day trip. We should have stayed here a whole week!