After 30 Years, Ute Mountain Casino ‘Still the One’

After 30 years of gaming, The Ute Mountain Casino in Towaoc is still the one for a mountain of fun. You’re watching the Local News Network, brought to you by the Lor Foundation of Montezuma County, and The Law Firm of Downs, McDonough, Cowan & Foley, serving Southwest Colorado. I’m Wendy Graham Settle. The Ute Mountain Casino and Hotel was the area’s first Indian-owned casino, and remains the largest in the Four Corners region, with a full scale casino, a 90-room hotel, restaurant, RV park and truck stop. Those firsts are among the reasons the casino will celebrate its 30th anniversary as still the one for a mountain of fun this year.

Still the one, I mean, that’s our marketing department. You’ll hear the tune on the radio, on TV, on streaming, but still the one. We’ve been here for 30 years and we’re still the one for the casino. We’re still the one for the food, still delicious. And to relax in our hotel, we’re still the one, I believe our rooms are great and comparable to anything in this region.

While casino officials are in the planning stages for the official celebration in September, they promise that events to come will match the momentousness of the occasion.

It’s a great accomplishment. It’s a great accomplishment for the Towaoc community, the tribal community, as well as the entire enterprise, and we have quite the campus here. So it’s evolved into what it is today, which is one of the largest truck stops, one of the largest casinos in the region, largest bingo in the region.

Gaming on the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation began in a single bingo parlor in the Ute Mountain Pottery Shop. The casino opened in 1992 and the hotel in 2004. The property has undergone a series of multimillion dollar renovations and updates over the years. And most recently, it added a sports book room and will open a new snack bar. The casino boasts 700 of the latest themed slot machines, electronic craps and roulette games, and blackjack tables with in-person dealers. It employs about 500 people, a hundred more than before it was forced to close for five months in March, 2020 from the pandemic.

We added to our sanitation teams. We have COVID compliance people that are welcoming our guests and taking care of them. And now that we’re going into looser restrictions, we’re not lettin’ any of them go. They’ve been with us through the entire pandemic, so we’re situating them in other departments and other areas. And we’re also looking at creatin’ some new departments that will even bolster our hospitality here.

Officials are working up to the Big September Bash, with weekly $30,000 drawings, slot tournaments, and the return of its big 4th of July Celebration, with fireworks, carnival, live music by The Night Breeze and a concert with the Troubadours, a George Stait tribute band. In the meantime, you can stay on top of casino events at utemountaincasino.com. Thank you for watching this edition of the Local News Network. I’m Wendy Graham Settle.

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