While visiting from Durango, Colo., Mike Sheehan, left, and his son Conor walk up to the towering, half-round formation of Echo Amphitheater in August 2015. The popular camping spot north of Abiquiú Lake is undergoing a major renovation, closing in May for six months of work. Luis Sánchez Saturno/New Mexican file photo
Visiting from Durango, Colo., Mike Sheehan, left, and his son Conor look into Echo Amphitheater in 2015. The towering, half-round amphitheater lets everyday visitors, musicians and yodelers delight in creating echoes. Luis Sánchez Saturno/New Mexican file photo
While visiting from Durango, Colo., Mike Sheehan, left, and his son Conor walk up to the towering, half-round formation of Echo Amphitheater in August 2015. The popular camping spot north of Abiquiú Lake is undergoing a major renovation, closing in May for six months of work. Luis Sánchez Saturno/New Mexican file photo
Echo Amphitheater, a natural feature near Abiquiú, is getting a much-needed makeover.
The popular attraction off U.S. 84 has a picnic shelter, an eight-site campground and a short trail to the towering, half-round amphitheater where everyday visitors, musicians and yodelers have been known to delight in creating echoes.
The area closed earlier in May for six months of construction to address deferred maintenance and add new features, such as electric hookups at every campsite — improvements intended to usher in “a new era” for the recreation area, Carson National Forest District Ranger Angie Krall wrote in a news release.
“The big picture for us is really improving the visitor experience,” Carson National Forest spokesman Zach Behrens said. “Things were becoming dilapidated and less welcoming; they’d lost their shine. ... The bathrooms just plain stopped working,” he added.
Visiting from Durango, Colo., Mike Sheehan, left, and his son Conor look into Echo Amphitheater in 2015. The towering, half-round amphitheater lets everyday visitors, musicians and yodelers delight in creating echoes. Luis Sánchez Saturno/New Mexican file photo
Luis Sánchez Saturno/New Mexican file photo
Two bathrooms at the site were already replaced during a first phase of construction last year. In the ongoing second phase, estimated to cost $688,000, the Albuquerque-based contractor Construction Technology & Management will improve the road; replace campfire rings, picnic tables and an informational kiosk; install new fencing to prevent people from hiking off trail; and add a potable water fill station.
Improvements will also mitigate flooding of the campgrounds, which has been a problem during monsoon season, Behrens said.
Both phases of construction have been funded through the Legacy Restoration Fund established by the Great American Outdoors Act, which was signed into law by former President Donald Trump in 2020.
The legislation represented a “major investment” in federal outdoor management agencies to target deferred maintenance projects, Behrens said. The Great American Outdoors Act allocated 15% of the total maintenance funds, or $285 million per year through the upcoming fiscal year 2025, to the Forest Service.
In Carson National Forest, that money will also fund improvements to Canjilon Lakes campground and day-use areas, El Rito Campground and La Bobita Campground.
Fees to visit Echo Amphitheater also increased this year to fund continued maintenance of the site, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
The fee for day use increased from $2 to $5, while camping fees increased from a range of $10 to $40 to $20 to $50, depending on the site.
All campsites are currently first come, first served, but Forest Service leaders plan to enable online reservations for the group shelter in the future, Behrens said.
