Since the beginning of time, humans have worked to find ways get their blood pumping and feel the wind blowing across their faces. Eventually, we transitioned from running from saber tooth tigers to sitting on an inner tube sliding down a hill. It was pretty much a straight line from one thing to the next. That's what led us here - snow tubing!
Echo Mountain’s snow tubing hill is here to give you a taste of the thrills of snow sports that everyone can enjoy! But before you jump in your 4WD vehicle and make the short drive to Echo, here’s everything you need to know to make the most of your tubing experience.
Tickets & Reservations
Just like any big hill, there's only so many people that can fit on it before it starts to feel uncomfortable, and we want you to maximize the time you have with friends new and old. As as result, we have a set capacity on the tubing hill at any one time, and we sell those spots online at least 2 hours in advance of a given timeslot. This helps us plan for exactly who is coming and when and make sure we don't have too many people at once.
You can check out our Tubing Rules & Requirements, Recommendations, Pricing, and Availability after reading through our Tubing page, then clicking through to our webstore to make your reservation!
Streamline Your Check-In: Digital Waiver + Early Arrival
To make your visit as smooth as possible, you can save some time and hassle by signing our Digital Waiver! This way, you don't have to do it at Check In. Afterall, it's no fun using a pen and paper in the cold! Another way to ensure you can squeeze every last minute out of your experience is to arrive and check in with our Ticket Office 30 minutes in advance of your reservation time. This might even leave some time for you to grab a cup of hot chocolate and take a couple pre-tube selfies!
Tubing Hill Operations Are Weather-Dependent
Like so much of what we do at Echo, our tubing hill operations are highly weather-dependent and recent snowfall, temperatures and wind all factor into how the hill runs on any given day. On warm and sunny days (the kind we enjoy more often than not at Echo!) the hill runs smooth and fast and we may have to further limit capacity at times to ensure that the bottom of the hill remains safe and uncrowded. On snowy days, expect that the tubes will run a little slower.
In the event that our tubing lanes are completely snowed-in or if wind speeds mean we cannot open safely, we will contact you via email to reschedule, refund or discuss other options as far in advance as possible.
Thankfully, this doesn’t happen often, but it’s important to ensure that your Contact Information is accurate when making your reservation. At a minimum, we'll send you a weather-related closure email, but if you've created an Account during checkout, we'll also be able to call you on the phone! If it's expected to snow, or is already snowing, be sure to check your email before you head up to ensure nothing has changed with your reservation.
Our Rules Are Few, But They Apply To You!
Nobody wants their day complicated by pages of rules and red tape so we’ve made ours as simple as possible to keep your tubing experience safe and worry-free.
- We have no age limit for tubing but we strictly enforce a minimum rider height of 36 inches.
- Secondly, follow all instructions given by our Lift & Lane Operators by making sure the previous rider has exited the lane before dropping in.
- All tubes are single-occupant only and we cannot allow children to ride in parent’s arms or laps.
- If you’d like to share your lane, you can group up by holding each others' leashes for a bobsled-like experience that would make the cast of "Cool Runnings" jealous!
- Finally, exit your lane immediately upon reaching the bottom and look uphill for other tubers before crossing lanes.
- Running and jumping between lanes is not allowed and could result in injury to yourself and others!
Getting Here
Located just 50 minutes from downtown Denver and 20 minutes from Evergreen, Echo Mountain is Denver’s closest snow tubing experience. Echo is perched high above historic Idaho Springs and is accessed by a stunningly-picturesque drive on Squaw Pass road.
Like all mountain drives, this can be challenging during periods of adverse weather and guests should expect that the roads could be snow-covered or icy. This means you should allow for extra time ahead of your reservation. For this reason it is essential that visitors have 4WD/AWD and tires that are compliant with CDOT’s winter traction law.
If you are visiting in a rental car, it is especially important to check that the vehicle you’re renting is compliant. If you’re not comfortable driving in winter conditions, or if you’d just like to kick back while someone else takes the wheel, we have partnered with Ride Experiences shuttles to offer a stress-free ride to Echo that leaves from the Jeffco-Golden Light Rail station. For directions and more information on transportation options visit our Getting Here page!
What To Wear
We recommend all tubing guests wear waterproof jackets and pants, appropriately warm underlayers, sturdy shoes or boots, and gloves to stay warm and dry.
If it's not snowing or hasn't recently snowed, even tennis shoes can do just fine. Similarly, if it's not a terribly cold or windy day, many of our guests just wear a warm jacket, hat and gloves, and skip the snow pants as if you're staying on your tube (as you should), you shouldn't be spending much, if any, time sitting in the snow! You can check for the weather forecasts here.
We also require that all visitors and staff wear a mask at all times.
While You’re Here
As we all know, 2020 has been the bump in the snow nobody asked for but that we got anyway. One thing that's dramatically different for us this year is that currently all our indoor facilities are closed. The good news is you can still savor a delicious range of Grab-And-Go food and beverage offerings from our acclaimed Brothers' Grille and 2 Mile Pie pizza truck, but be prepared to enjoy them on our outdoor deck overlooking the ski slope. Seating is limited, and we ask guests be considerate of others by allowing other guests to use tables after finishing a meal. Another great option that we're big fans of is eating in the comfort of your own vehicle. It may not bring the great sense of community and joy that our Lodge and restaurant normally does, but people are making the best of it by turning it into a tailgating-like experience!
For more information and to check out our menu visit our Food + Drink page.
Don’t forget to add fries. Trust me.
Feeling Ready?!
So there we have it - a solid run down on what you need to know to enjoy a great day of tubing at Echo Mountain.
This season will be a little different, but if we all work together and do our part to keep one another safe, we can make it a memorable one for all the right reasons!
We can’t wait to see your smiling faces on the tubing hill soon! Hoots, hollers and air high fives highly encouraged.