With all the years that I have been enjoying the outdoors, I have come to the realization that there are essentially two types of camping
- staying in a place of natural beauty unto itself, to enjoy the location where you set up your tent or parked your trailer
- staying in a location that is a place to set up your tent or park your trailer, as a base of operations from which to travel to nearby natural beauty or wonder.
Ancient Cedars RV park probably falls into the second category, although it offers amenities and features that are superior to lots of other RV parks, KOAs, and the like. For one thing, just about every site has a beautiful view of Mesa Verde National Park's celebrated geography... as a matter of fact, you really can't get much closer to the park without camping inside of it. One minute drive from Ancient Cedars and you're in the park!
Despite being pretty close to our neighbors, our site had full hook ups, shade from a well-placed tree, a picnic table, and enough room to set up our trailer and park our truck. Easy pull through sites for all sized trailers and campers. Larger sites for humongous rolling houses and such did not have trees, but those would just get in your way, right?
The front desk staff was extremely kind and friendly, the price was not astronomical, and we were not packed in like sardines, as we have been at a few other private RV park locations. The swimming pool, hot tub, and 18 hole miniature golf course were all enjoyed by the kids, as well as the game room with foosball, a billiards table, and a few other things. The front office area has a small mini mart for those essentials you forgot, and code entry restrooms and showers.
The park is next to a horse property, and at night, the friendly horses come over to the fence to the delight of kids and grown ups alike. I also thought it was thoughtful that one of the rules is all external lights on campers need to be turned off at night, so visitors can enjoy the dark sky and view of the stars. At least, when the monsoon clouds aren't blocking the view.
Overall, this was a great last stop on our month-long cross country road trip. Worth checking out, and hope to visit again. read more