21 Colorado State Parks you must visit at least once

1. John Martin Reservoir State ParkFun fact: The park promotes itself as a seasonal home for two endangered birds: the least tern and the piping plover. The shorebirds nest here in the spring and summer.Location: 30703 County Road 24, Hasty, 81044Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Courtesy Photo)

2. Paonia State ParkFun fact: See the park and catch one of the unique summer festivals in the artsy town of Paonia: Cherry Days, with parades, games and crafts; Mountain Harvest, with musical acts, poetry readings and a chili cook-off; or the BMW rally, with rides through the scenic area.Location: Somerset, 81434Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here (Ken Papaleo, Gazette File photo)

3. Cherry Creek State ParkFun fact: In the late 1850s, prospectors flocked to Cherry Creek and made it a center of the Pikes Peak Gold Rush.Location: 4201 South Parker Road, Aurora, 80014Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (File Photo)

4. Highline Lake State ParkFun fact: The park hosts the annual 18 Hours of Fruita, an intense endurance mountain biking race for solo and team riders that is part of the Fruita Fat Tire Festival, which starts April 27.Location: 1800 11.8 Road, Loma, 81524Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Ken Papaleo, File Photo)

5. Vega State ParkFun fact: In the Paleozoic era, a sea covered what is now the park’s land. Fossils of sea turtles have been found over the years.Location: 15247 N. 6/10 Road., Collbran, 81624Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Ken Papaleo, File Photo)

6. Mueller State ParkFun fact: The park is named for W.E. Mueller, who established the former Mueller Ranch that later was sold to Colorado State Parks and Wildlife.Location: 21045 Colorado 67 South, Divide, 80814Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (File Photo)

7. Trinidad Lake State ParkFun fact: Geologists are drawn to the park for its premier place along the K-T Boundary, the highly-sought layer of sediment storing before-and-after evidence of the dinosaur extinction.Location: 32610 Colorado 12, Trinidad 81082Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (File Photo)

8. North Sterling State ParkFun fact: Pioneers passed through the land that is now the park via the Overland Trail, which is believed to have been one of America’s busier roads in the late 19th century.Location: 24005 County Road 330, Sterling, 80751Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Courtesy Photo, Verdon Tomajko)

9. Lory State ParkFun fact: The park is named for Charles A. Lory, among the early settlers who came for agricultural interests. In 1909 he became president of Colorado Agricultural College, now Colorado State University.Location: 708 Lodgepole Drive, Bellvue, 80512Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (File Photo)

10. Lake Pueblo State ParkFun fact: The inventor of the chuck wagon, cattle driver Charles Goodnight, built a ranch along the Arkansas River for his wife in the mid-19th century. Pieces of it are now within the park.Location: 640 Pueblo Reservoir Road, Pueblo, 81005Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (File Photo)

11. Stagecoach State ParkFun fact: For the fourth year, the park will host the Tri The Boat triathlons special this summer. The two-day event features a half-Ironman race: a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and half-marathon run.Location: 25500 County Road 14, Oak Creek, 80467Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (File Photo)

12. Pearl Lake State ParkFun fact: The lake is named for M. Pearl Hartt, wife of John Kelly Hartt, regarded as a pioneer in sheep herding. His sheep summered in the area that is now the park.Location: 61105 County Road 129, Clark, 80428Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Courtesy Photo, Tye Eyden)

13. Harvey Gap State ParkFun fact: The park is named for John Harvey, a rancher who in 1882 started prospecting for coal in the area.Location: 5775 Colorado 325, Rifle, 81650Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Victor Schendel, File Photo)

14. San Luis State ParkFun fact: A legend is told about a Spanish priest who died on San Luis Lake after he and his group of gold seekers were attacked by Native Americans. The tale goes that the priest looked at the sun setting red over the mountains and whispered the name the range goes by now: “Sangre de Cristo” (blood of Christ).Location: 16393 Lane 6 North, Mosca, 81146Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Christopher Stark, File Photo)

15. Golden Gate Canyon State ParkFun fact: The park’s land was donated to Colorado Parks and Wildlife in 1977 by the Harmsens, the Golden family who invented Jolly Ranchers.Location: 92 Crawford Gulch Road, Golden, 80403Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (File Photo)

16. Ridgway State ParkFun fact: One campground is called Pa-Co-Chu-Puk, which is the Ute word for “water buffalo.”Location: 28555 U.S. 550, Ridgway 81432Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Ken Papaleo, File Photo)

17. James M. Robb-Colorado River State ParkFun fact: James M. Robb was a parks advocate who helped create the Colorado Riverfront Foundation, supporting trails that link users to waterways.Location: Visitor center at 595 Colorado 340, Fruita 81521Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Ken Papaleo, File Photo)

18. Eleven Mile State ParkFun fact: The Eleven Mile Canyon Dam, owned by the Denver Water Department, was completed in 1932, creating at the time Colorado’s largest artificial body of water.Location: 4229 County Road 92, Lake George, 80827Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Gazette File Photo)

19. Sweitzer Lake State ParkFun fact: With the intention of it becoming a recreation hub, the land making up the park was donated in 1953 by the Sweitzer family.Location: 1735 E Road, Delta 81416Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Ken Papaleo, File Photo)

20. Sylvan Lake State ParkFun fact: Unfamiliar with the adjective for which the park is named? From Merriam-Webster: “sylvan,” meaning “living or located in the woods or forest.”Location: 10200 Brush Creek Road, Eagle, 81631Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (File Photo)

21. Chatfield State ParkFun fact: Floods, some of them devastating, were common in the park’s surrounding area before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began building the Chatfield Dam in 1967.Location: 11500 N. Roxborough Park Road, Littleton 80125Check out Seth Boster’s profile of this park here. (Ken Papaleo, File Photo)

Colorado Springs Gazette

21 Colorado State Parks you must visit at least once

Seth Boster

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