Denver CO

[nitedmn]

I may be moving from Wisconsin (5 minutes from Lake Wisconsin) to the Denver CO area. Can anyone recommend any good lakes/rivers in the area for recreational boating?

 

[nitedmn]

Re: Denver CO

Wow... Does no one in this area own a boat????

 

[Fugly]

Re: Denver CO

A lot of the boating lakes in CO are state parks. Check out http://parks.state.co.us/Boating/BoatableWaters/. I live in the SW Denver metro area and do most of my boating at Chatfield State Park. In the mountains I go to Dillon Reservoir which is owned by Denver Water. Many of the lakes in CO are going to be smaller than Lake Wisconsin. Some other lakes to check out on the web are Horsetooth Reservoir up by Fort Collins, John Martin Reservoir by La Junta (about 3 hours SE of Denver), Blue Mesa Reservoir by Montrose, and Cherry Creek Reservoir in SE Denver, to name a few. Since a lot of the boatable lakes in CO are state parks it pays to buy the annual parks pass which is $55. Let me know if you have any questions.

This is a good resource for CO: http://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Lakes-Reservoirs-Outdoor-Books/dp/0930657004

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Denver CO

From the looks of all the boats in Nebraska with Colorado registration, I'd say a big portion go to Nebraska...in fact, about half of the boats on MaConoughay are Co. reg boats. Tons of Denverites in NE....

 

[ruf1967]

Re: Denver CO

I used to live in Aurora, CO for eleven years. Good luck to you fighting the summer crowds as there is only two lakes large enough to handle rec boating in the metro area. Cherry Creek Res. and Chatfield. If you go on holiday weekends, get up early, put in and get a picnic spot or suffer the lines at the launch ramps and no picnic spot. Forget about fishing those weekends because every rookie jet ski, cruiser, sailboat, sailboard, kiteboard, off shore powerboat, ski boat, and rowboat owner will be on the water along with you. And they don't care if you are drifting or anchored. They'll pass within 50ft going full throttle and politely wave. At least they wave. Cherry Creek is in the southern part of Aurora and Chatfield sits on the SW corner of the metroplex. Other lakes I've been to: Boyd lake, N. Sterling Resevoir (good hybrid stripers), Jackson Lake, Pueble Res (very nice), John Marting Res (good for bass). Thunderstorms like to develop along the continental divide and move east gaining intensity depending on the daytime heating, like clockwork staring in June. If you head out early in the morning, you can probably get in some good boating before the storms roll in during the mid afternoon. Go to this website: http://parks.state.co.us/

 

[nitedmn]

Re: Denver CO

Thanks for the info.

I'm actually going to be living and working within walking distance of Cherry Creek state park (Work on the West side and live on the East side). It appeared on the maps that the lake there would be big enough for my boat but I wasn't sure.

As for holiday weekends... I wouldn't put my boat on the water in Lake Wisconsin during those weekends either. Just as many, if not more, idiots there as there are in CO.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Denver CO

If you do any over-night stays on a resevoir, you might be surprised to find your boat high & dry in the morning. Resevoirs can drop several feet overnight (irrigation draw down) so you are advised to anchor in deeper water.