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Tico Time River Resort, located between Durango and Farmington along the banks of the Animas River, offers a variety of camping, outdoor adventures and live music. Long-term owner Robert Holmes hopes the resort becomes one of the premier attractions in the Four Corners./Photo by Jonathan Romeo
Getting freako at Tico One man’s dream for an (almost) anything goes river resort by Jonathan Romeo
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ou may have seen the brochures hyping high-adrenaline adventures. Or maybe you have seen the ads for concerts and music festivals galore. And you, like many people around town, may be asking, “What is Tico Time River Resort?” But perhaps the more fitting question is: what isn’t Tico Time River Resort? Nestled about halfway between Durango and Farmington, just on the New Mexico side of the border off U.S. Highway 550, Tico Time is a topsy-turvy mix of adventure park, campground, live music venue, basecamp for the outdoors and lounge chair mecca – a sort of free-for-all summer camp for adults and kids alike. In sum, pretty much anything owner Robert Holmes, 39, wants it to be. “Already there’s nowhere like it in the world,” Holmes said. “And we’re just getting started.”
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Holmes and his wife, Jenny, started buying the property along the Animas River destined to become Tico Time around 2018. Almost immediately, the resort began taking on a life of its own. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, hamstrung live music and events in 2020. So this year, Tico Time is busting out of the gates, hosting a blitz of concerts and music festivals, magic shows and fireworks displays, hoping to become one of the go-to destinations in the Four Corners. “Tico Time is a Costa Rican cruise ship landed in the desert along the Animas River,” said longtime Durango local Rasta Stevie, who helps book shows. “We have one of the most amazing event centers anywhere in the world that’s pure freedom, and it’s the chance of a lifetime.” Well, that got out of hand The original idea for Tico Time, Holmes said, was a modest RV park and campground, with room for long-term tiny homes, equidistant between the San Juan Mountains to the north and the deserts of New Mexico to the south.
Having moved with his parents from San Diego to Durango in 1994 when he was 12 years old, Holmes (who also runs a local traffic control company) knew the advantages of Tico Time’s location. He and his wife started to accumulate properties on both sides of the Animas River and now own nearly 100 acres. But not long after the first RV sites and a sand volleyball court were built, Holmes had the idea to install a zip line and 60-foot adventure tower. And thus forever changed the direction of Tico Time. Admittedly, Holmes said once he starts a project, it’s not uncommon for it to snowball into something larger than first intended. “This was supposed to be a side project,” Holmes joked. “But then it turned into this overwhelming venture. I’m super ambitious but then get in over my head.” Ready, set, action “You guys want to see a flip?” Holmes asked an excitable group of kids waiting in line for Tico Time’s water slide last week. Looking more like a retired lifeguard – shirtless, red4
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