During our 2 family vacation to Grand Canyon we stayed at 2 campgrounds and 2 Walmarts.
On the way from MN to AZ we called in advance to 2 walmarts before and after the Avon, CO walmart because we were unsure of our arrival time. We ended up in Avon and noticed no overnight parking signs. I went in and asked about the signs and the manager said not to worry about the signs just stay in the back. The overnight visit worked out perfectly.
Next we stayed for 5 nights at the Grand Canyon Trailer Park. They have full hookups and the campground was very nice. They do not allow recreational fires of any kind which is a bit of a downer, but it didn't inhibit our fun. The bus service comes right to the campground and takes you all around the park. One thing of note, once you pay to get into the park all the bus rides are free. We didn't understand that at first. The shower house was quite a ways from our camper, but it was more a problem for the other family who was in a pop up. Overall Grand Canyon Trailer Park was an excellent decision for grand canyon camping.
On the way home we wanted to stop in Cortez and go to Mesa Verde. Unfortunately, we pulled into the KOA around 5:30pm and missed all of the Mesa Verde tours. This was supposed to be an extravagant overnight stay for us. We were supposed to be able to enjoy the amenities of a KOA for the expense it is. It was nothing of the sort. It just about nailed the head for me ever to set foot in another KOA due to the manager/owner of this KOA. I do not recommend!!!
-Anti-Children policy charged $5 per child beyond the already exorbitant price of $60 for an overnight stay. We ended up paying $5/hr for the site and we were unable to use the pool which was our main reason for getting the reservation.
-Pool closes at 8pm, basically we were double penalized for arriving late. Why would you close a pool before dark?
-When asking about the child policy, the owner acted as though we were trying to pull something over on him, when we had no idea there was any extra per child fee.
-Owner/Manager was condescending and lacked basic customer service skills when faced with conflict.
When I logged my complaint to KOA corporate they told me that the pool hours and per child charges are not corporate driven, they are per franchisee.
Needless to say, if you need to stay in Cortez and you have children, I dont recommend KOA. If you often go to KOA and dont mind the extra cost to know what you are getting, go for it, just hope that you dont have any problems, because the owner will get you steaming mad in no time flat.
Our next stop was at Walmart in North Platte, NE. Again the manager was very nice and there was a ton of RVs and Trucker parked overnight. It was a warm evening and we were fortunate that the noise levels were low enough to sleep with all the windows open.
Overall we had a great time on the vacation. One highlight that stuck out was our visit to Slide Rock park south of Grand Canyon about 1 hour. It is a natural rock slide and has a 12-15 foot cliff to jump off into a natural pool below. Lots of fun to be had there.
I hope this review helps someone planning their southwest vacation in the future.
