Editor’s note: This article has been updated to emphasize Kestrel Pond not being a designated “swim beach.”

As the busy season ramps up at Colorado’s busiest state park, an area has opened to be a break from the noisy bustle.

“A place of more solitude compared to the main lake where powerboats, fishing boats and jet skis are common,” Lake Pueblo State Park Manager Joe Stadterman said in a news release.

That’s the idea for Kestrel Pond. For years it’s been known as the Rock Canyon Swim Beach, the open water off Rock Canyon Road below the dam. Also here is a sheltered pavilion for picnics, charcoal grills and restrooms.

“We wanted to find a new use for this area so we transitioned it to a more casual use,” Stadterman said. “Guests will find the gates are no longer closed and they are free to use it to swim, paddleboard, canoe or kayak on the pond.”

The key change is the “swim beach” designation, said Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Bill Vogrin. That designation has dropped two years after the CPW Commission relaxed rules on swimming, essentially viewing it as “unenforceable to stop people swimming in state waters,” Vogrin said.

A “swim beach” designation comes with an expectation for lifeguards and water quality checks. “That’s the reason we want people to know it’s not a swim beach anymore; we won’t be monitoring that anymore,” Vogrin said.

No fishing is allowed; anglers will have to go elsewhere across Lake Pueblo’s 5,400 surface acres. Motorized vessels, gas and electric, are banned from Kestrel Pond.

Spanning 10,000 acres along the Arkansas River with hundreds of campsites and two full-service marinas, Lake Pueblo is Colorado’s most-visited state park. The park reported about 2.9 million visitors last year.