Spruce Lake RV Resort, Estes Park, CO

Perhaps my expectations were a little too high for this place - I mean, I had just come from a week of camping that cost $63 (granted without hook-ups) in a virtual secret garden and the next week cost a whopping $478.  For nearly $500/week one expects a lot.  Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations or our needs.

Let's talk about the biggest problem - no cell, data or WiFi.  How is it that such a touristy place has a huge hole in the Verizon service?  Oh, and by the way, the Verizon coverage map for Estes Park shows solid coverage - I know this because I checked before making reservations.  The most crazy thing is that our phones showed 4G and 3-4 bars but we could barely make a phone call.  The first day Husband spend two hours on the phone with Verizon tech support.  Ultimately they admitted this is a "known problem" and that it was unlikely it would be fixed during the time we were in the area.  We also went to the Verizon store and were fed a line of BS having to do with how crowded the town was - the nonsense about that is that the most crowded part of town had excellent service, it just dropped off on the east part of town.  While Verizon is not the fault of Spruce Lake RV Resort, their shitty WiFi is.  Being in such a dead zone for Verizon it seems they would realize they need to step up the WiFi, but it was useless.  We could connect but it was slower than dial-up...we were getting around 56Kbps.  Husband could not work on the connection and neither could I. 

The second issue with this park is that it seemed they gave us a site too small for our rig.  We were parked along the very edge of the park.  The boundary fence lined the road.  We had a hell of a time backing the rig into the site without hitting the fence.  We went back and forth and back and forth trying to angle it in with the truck at approximately 90 degrees from the trailer.  Eventually we got it, but it was very difficult and I really don't think it had anything to do with our abilities, rather that the space was not deep enough for a 35' trailer.  The width of the site was adequate.  There was plenty of space to park the truck next to the trailer.  The other down side of the site was being under the power lines.  I wondered if that interfered with the WiFi...it certainly interfered with the view.

The park was packed - one morning after our neighbor behind us left I took a picture behind the rig to show how busy it was.

The third issue was with the town - Estes Park is overrated and a total tourist trap.  There were masses of people wandering the downtown each day.  The traffic was a nightmare and we wouldn't have had to deal with it, except that we had to commute to the library so that Husband could work.  With only one vehicle we had to all get up early and drive him to McDonald's where he could connect until the library opened.  Each day proceeded differently, but we got into a routine with going to McDonald's each morning.  Oh, and by the way this McDonald's is insanely busy.  Sometime there were no tables available and we would have to have the kids patrol the store and grab a table when a party got up to leave. 

Spruce Lake has a pool, but it is lack luster when compared to what we are used to in Arizona.  The biggest problem is that there is no bathroom nearby.  You have to walk your five-year-old to the middle of the campground to the public restrooms...so that just means the pool is full of urine.  After one day of swimming we didn't go back.

One positive was that there was a playground and there were lots of kids to play with.  The kids loved the playground and right next to the playground was the lake and a view of the Rocky Mountains.  I mean, that is why we were there!  So the best part of the park was the view from a bench next to the playground.

There was a small laundry room at the park, with an emphasis on small - I usually take pictures of the facilities, but there were always people in the room and I didn't want to put anyone on the spot.  Anyhow, it was crowded and inadequate for the size of the park.  The toilets and showers seemed clean, though I didn't use the showers. 

Closer to downtown I found a little pocket park near an residential area where the Verizon service was good.  On a couple of occasions I worked there while the kids played on the playground.  Husband said the library was nice except for one overzealous librarian.  However, the inconvenience posed by having to leave Husband downtown was disappointing.  A couple of days the kids and I went into the Rocky Mountain park in the AM and then came back and met Husband for lunch before heading back to the park for the afternoon.  More on Rocky Mountain National Park in the next post(s)!

Here is my summary:

Pros:

• 10 minutes from the entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park
• Good view by the lake
• Full hook-ups & wide level site
• Playground and pool enjoyed by kids

Cons:

• Overpriced.  We paid the Good Sam weekly rate plus additional person fees per day.  
• Crowded
• Avoid Estes Park if you can - too touristy
• Terrible WiFi and in a dead zone for Verizon
• Small crowded laundry room
• too short of site for our rig
• no bathroom by the pool?  why do this?
• Working from home was not possible