Lake Pueblo State Park

Lake Pueblo State Park is a state park located in Pueblo County, Colorado. It includes 60 miles (97 km) of shoreline and 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land. Activities it offers include two full-service marinas, recreational fishing, hiking, camping and swimming at a special swim beach.[1]

Lake Pueblo State Park
Lake Pueblo and the dam.
Map showing the location of Lake Pueblo State Park
Map showing the location of Lake Pueblo State Park
LocationPueblo County, Colorado, USA
Nearest cityPueblo, CO
Coordinates38.2547°N 104.7323°W / 38.2547; -104.7323 (Lake Pueblo State Park)
Area10,279 acres (41.60 km2)
Established1975
Governing bodyColorado Parks and Wildlife

Lake Pueblo

Lake Pueblo (also known as Pueblo Reservoir) has a maximum depth of 135 feet (41 m) and is impounded by Pueblo Dam.[2]

Lake Pueblo is host to many water recreation activities including sailing, motor-boating, waterskiing, wakeboarding, wakesurfing, river tubing and prime fishing. [3]

History

Pueblo Dam was constructed from 1970–1975 across the Arkansas River in Pueblo County as part of the Bureau of Reclamation's Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. While the primary purpose of the reservoir is to provide supplemental water for agricultural, municipal, and industrial uses, water from Pueblo also helps enhance recreation, fish and wildlife. Additionally, and unlike most reservoirs Reclamation constructed in Colorado, the Pueblo Dam provides for flood control because the Arkansas River has a history of flooding roughly every ten years, the most notable of which was in 1921.

In addition to the reservoir, the Park also encompasses the Lake Pueblo Fish Hatchery and Rock Canyon Swim Beach, located just downstream of Pueblo Dam along the shoreline of the Arkansas River. Today, Lake Pueblo serves as the Fry–Ark's primary storage vessel for the lower Arkansas Valley.[4] The Lake is able to store a total of 357,678 acre-feet (441,189,000 m3) of water when at full capacity. Levels in 2009 were reported as a total of 234,347 in active acre-feet storage of water.[5][6]

Wildlife

The land surrounding the reservoir is very diverse. Mammals commonly sited or observed at the park include mule deer, coyote, cottontail rabbit, red fox, gray fox, beaver, raccoon, skunk, prairie dogs, and badger. It also plays home to many different reptile species bull snakes, rattlesnakes, sagebrush lizards, coach whips, and box turtles. It is notable in that it also home to a rare species of serpent, the blackneck garter snake.[7]

Fishing

Fish here include smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, spotted bass, walleye, crappie, bluegill, wiper, channel catfish, flathead catfish, blue catfish, rainbow trout, common carp, gizzard shad, and white suckers. Lake Pueblo is also the home of one of Colorado Department of Wildlife's hatcheries.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Lake Pueblo State Park". Colorado State Parks. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
  2. "Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado". Mountain Wayfarer. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  3. "Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Lake Pueblo". Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  4. "History of Lake Pueblo". Colorado State Parks. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  5. "Fryingpan–Arkansas Project". Fryingpan-Arkansas Project-Colorado. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  6. "Fryingpan-Arkansas Project". USBR.gov. U.S. Department of the Interior – Bureau of Reclamation. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
  7. "Wildlife at Lake Pueblo". Colorado Dept. of Natural Resources. Retrieved May 20, 2009.
  8. "Top Colorado Pueblo Fishing". Sport Fish Colorado. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
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