Colorado’s newest mountain, Echo Mountain, boasts being the “newest, closest, cheapest” mountain. Of course, you can almost tally the number of runs on your hands. Near Idaho Springs, Echo Mountain is easily the closest mountain to Denver at a mere 35 miles. A full-day pass is $39 and they are selling a season pass for $279. Loveland, by comparison, is the next closest at 53 miles west of Denver, season passes for $359 and at least a thousand more acres of terrain. I’ve never visited Echo Mountain so if you have, let us know how it stacks up by leaving a comment.
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7 replies on “Echo Mountain cheapest for good reason”
Echo’s deal is the $129 season pass. Nothing else is close. It has a nice intermediate hill that’s great for improving riders and skiers. No real green runs or true extreme areas but some trees. If you live close and don’t have a season pass elsewhere it’s the best deal by far. They have lights and are open up till 9 p.m. So for the price of two lift tickets else where you can take off early from work and get in some runs before dinner or take the family up after school for a nice evening on the snow. FYI, even though it’s only 40 miles from Denver because the last 12 are up Hwy 103, it takes about as long to get there as it does to get to Loveland assuming no traffic delays on I70.
Hey David, thanks for all the great information. I agree, the season pass is a good deal (the site now says $149) and perhaps I discounted the slope a bit too soon. Thanks for the comment!
[…] Denver’s closest parks. But, the mountain recently discounted its season pass. From reader, David: “Echo’s deal is the [$149] season pass. Nothing else is close. It has a nice intermediate […]
I went on Echo today – it was my first time snowboarding, and while the price is definitely right (equipment, lift-ticket and lessons were $55 for my first time), I have to say it doesn’t really have any beginner runs. We went straight from the bunny hill to an intermediate run in less than an hour and I think it would have been better to learn at a place that actually had green hills. It may not be the best place for beginners.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Ann. We’ll keep that in mind!
I realise this story is form last season, but I work at Echo and I would like to take a second to shamelessly promote it. Every season we have been working very hard to improve our services for all of our customer demographics. It is true that we don’t have a lot of free riding terrain or even a green run, but if you are a beginner we have two smaller learning areas with gentler slopes and small lifts to offer you a convenient place to work on your skills. We also have a great ski & ride staff to provide lessons. If you want to free ride, you can do that at Echo but to be honest you will be left longing for the longer runs of larger resorts. However, if you love to hit the park we have it all. This year we have a lot of great features already, many boxes and rails of all shapes and sizes from great sponsors like Neff, Sims, Monster, Burton and Never Summer. We just finally got enough snow to make two 15 foot jumps in our jump line with at least a few more to follow as the snow continues to gather. Given enough snow we will try to do a half pipe as well. If you are a first timer or someone who loves the park, Echo is a great option because of its location and pricing. If you just want to take a huge epic free ride you may want to go somewhere else. But either way you you simply will never beat the convenience or the price of riding at Echo!
Thanks for offering your perspective. I keep wanting to give Echo a shot and see what its all about. Perhaps we’ll make our way up there in the near future…