Southern Arkansas Valley

Home to the charming towns of Salida and Buena Vista, the Southern Arkansas Valley hides a few pleasant paddleboard lakes in its surrounding mountains.  The lakes in this area are fairly small, but they can provide great half-day on the water to complement many of the other activities in this fun area of Colorado.  Two of the lakes--Cottonwood and O'Haver--are featured below.

Cottonwood Lake

Cottonwood Lake

Cottonwood Lake is about 7 miles west of Buena Vista on County Road 306 (Cottonwood Pass Road), then 3 miles south on County Road 344.  There is a national forest picnic area (fee site) on the east side of the lake, and a free boat launch for non-motorized crafts on the west side.  There is also a campground just beyond the lake.   

Vicinity Map

    Cottonwood Lake [key]   

    Scenery: 5

    Shoreline Interest: 2
    Use: Moderate
    Fee: None for boat launch
    Access: Gravel
    Full elev = 9552; natural
    Rec. info 
    Weather 

    O'Haver Lake [key] 
    Scenery: 4
    Shoreline Interest: 1
    Use: Mod-high
    Fee: $7/veh day use
    Access: Gravel
    Full elev = 9180; natural
    Rec. info 
    Weather 

Earthquake Lake

Earthquake Lake is just a few miles outside of Yellowstone National Park and is one of the most fascinating landforms in the region.  The lake, which did not exist prior to 1959, formed when a strong earthquake caused a hillside collapse that dammed the Madison River.  What remains today is a narrow lake in a steep valley with hundreds of drowned trees poking out of the water.

Earthquake Lake

Earthquake Lake parallels a segment of U.S. 287 just west of Hebgen Lake, about 30 minutes from West Yellowstone, MT.  The lake can be accessed from a primitive boat launch off of U.S. 287, about a half mile west of the Beaver Creek Campground.  The campground overlooks the lake, but there are no sites right at the water's edge.  The boat launch looks like it may have been the old highway that ran through the valley before the lake was formed.  This is probably the best place to put in because any roadside access further west would require scrambling down a steep embankment.

Vicinity Map

    Location Info: [key]    

    Scenery: 5
    Shoreline Interest: 4
    Use: Low-moderate
    Fee: None for day use
    Access: Paved
    Full elev: 6395; natural;

    minimal variation
    Rec. info 
    Weather 

The Sunken iPhone Treasure

As mentioned in our previous post on our favorite accessories, a waterproof phone case is one of the cheapest, yet most valuable accessories you can have.  We discovered the value of these the hard way, thanks to an act of foolishness, or carelessness, or clumsiness, or whatever you want to attribute it to... 

Gross Reservoir: vast, black, DEEP

Favorite SUP Accessories

This post does a quick tour (in no particular order) of some our favorite accessories that we've discovered for our stand-up-paddleboards.  We will likely add to this as we play around with more products!

  

As a quick note, our inflatable paddleboards are made by iRocker, so some of these specific accessories might not be compatible with every brand :(

Eleven Mile Reservoir

Eleven Mile Reservoir is an unique stand-up paddle spot that is best characterized by the large boulders and rocky outcrops that stand over its eastern shore.  It also sees its share of wind, so check the hourly forecast before heading out.  

Paddling through the enormous boulders

The reservoir is located a little more than an hour west of Colorado Springs, near the town of Lake George.  The trek from Denver--not nearly as direct--involves traveling south to the Springs then west on U.S. 24, or southwest on U.S. 285 then back east to the reservoir.  If neither of those drives sound appealing, a more scenic alternative connects Woodland Park and Pine via State Highway 67 and Jefferson County 126.  

Vicinity Map

    Location Info: [key]

    Open lakeshore with rock outcrops & boulders
    Scenery: 3
    Shoreline Interest: 5
    Use: Moderate-High
    Fee: $9/vehicle
    Access: Paved
    Full elev = 8597; Best near full 

    Water level
    Rec. map 
    Rec. info 
    Weather

Northern Summit County

The lower Blue River basin is home to a couple of good paddleboard spots that are less than an hour downvalley from Silverthorne.  This sprawling ranchlands of the valley and rugged peaks of the Gore Range can make this area feel much further removed from the Summit ski resort towns than it really is.  

Lower Cataract Lake

Green Mountain Reservoir is the other large reservoir in Summit County.  With plenty of space and much lower visibility than the more popular Lake Dillon, it can be a quieter getaway on busy summer weekends.  Although Green Mountain is large, there are a few little nooks that are great for paddleboarding when the water level is high.  Lower Cataract Lake is only a few miles west of Green Mountain but entirely different in character.  The picturesque surroundings of the Gore Range foothills and the distant roar of the waterfall beyond put in the top tier of scenic paddleboard lakes.  

Piney Lake

Piney Lake is a very photogenic destination about 45 minutes north of Vail.  Mt. Powell--the highest summit of the Gore Range--and lazily named Peak C form the rugged mountain backdrop behind Piney Lake.

Piney Lake

The shores of Piney Lake are part of the privately owned Piney River Ranch, but they are open to public access, with a $10/craft launch fee.  The ranch also rents paddleboards and canoes for $35/hr.  Piney lake is accessible starting June 21st when the access road is opened by the forest service.  The lake is accessed via Red Sandstone Road on the north side of Vail, about a mile west of the central Vail exit (176).  The route to the lake is well signed at all important junctions.  The last few miles of the dirt road have some rougher sections but can be easily navigated by most cars with slow and careful driving.  The Piney River Ranch website has more detailed information on access, parking and day use.  This is also a popular trailhead for hikers trekking up the Piney River Trail.  

Vicinity Map

    Location Info: [key]

    Scenery: 5
    Shoreline Interest: 3
    Use: Mod-High
    Fee: $10/craft
    Access: 2WD rough dirt
    Full elev = 9350; natural

    Rec map 

    Rec. info

    Weather