You gotta love State Parks. They are usually in good locations, have decent amenities, and charge only $24 a night (with 50 amp service)!
The park is billed as a “water sports haven”. We wholeheartedly concur! Boating,
water skiing, fishing, oh heck – skipping stones! This lake is a water lover’s
paradise. Just re-name it H2O State Park
(except that Pueblo Reservoir may object) – and it’ll fit.
There are over 74 million square feet of lake to enjoy – so
come ready to play. I saw boaters, jet
skis, fishermen (ok; fisher-people), and even a few rowing crews working out in
the early morning. The only thing missing was wind-surfers (and I’ll bet they
have a favorite launch as well).
Located approximately an hour north of Denver, Boyd Lake State Park
is easy to find. It has paved RV sites,
with up to 50 AMP service. There are no
“full hook ups” – but bathrooms and water are near every site. I cannot help but notice the plentiful
overflow parking for extra vehicles (and of course boats) just beyond the camp
sites.
This is a pretty clean place – but if you are not here to
“get out on the water” you may be a bit overwhelmed by the mass of those who
are. There are 148 pull-through sites,
and 95% will come to camp bright red sunburned at the end of the day.
I found that the bike
paths are extremely well maintained with a whole lotta miles and signage. The trail actually goes over 18 miles
(through the Colorado town of Loveland).
It is a loop – so EASY!
An hour in to my walk – and it is obvious that there are A
LOT of people who come to enjoy this oasis. (Later in the day this is
confirmed) The park boasts a beautiful sand beach, numerous boat launches, great
fishing coves, and hundreds of miles of shoreline. I notice specialty picnic areas, a marina, a
store, and probably 1,000+ parking spots.
This place looks well used.
After walking to the northern end of trail (the east side of
this state park is framed with private [think high $$$] housing), I turned
around to see what the “Visitor’s Center” had to offer. I sat on the (intentionally uncomfortable)
bench outside the front door to await the 9:00 opening. This small action (my sitting on the bench
outside the front door fifteen minutes prior to opening) caused a flurry of
activity. Water-bound Americans of all
stripes rushed to get into the physical line I’d created (which had shattered
their illusionary and virtual queue - established by their timed arrival in the
parking lot). This was going to be fun!
When the door actually opened (an efficient 2 minutes ahead
of schedule) I didn’t move a muscle.
This caused worried looks between the dozen folks who had been thusly
resenting my taking a spot ahead of them “in line”. I eased the tension by holding the door and
allowing them all to transact their business ahead of me. Hell, I was just coming to check the joint
out (hoping for a corny display case or two) and avail myself of the free
publications on the far wall. I even
looked at the maps adorning the unused space.
The short bit of advice – if you don’t need a boat permit – don’t bother
stopping (however, I must note that there is a large fossil door-stop I would
have loved to inspect if the act would not have caused a coronary by someone
“ahead” of me in line).
INTERESTING NOTE: I am writing this as an afternoon storm
drifts to the east. A friendly neighbor
issues a warning.
"Hey pal?"
“Yes?”
“I see you have a beer, there?” [Great – he wants one of my Heineken]
“Sure, do.” I smile…
“Well, last night the Ranger almost confiscated our
bottle. I guess you can’t have an open
container outside…”
“Really? Thanks!”
Welcome to the police state.
Apparently, my single bottle of Heineken is threatening the equilibrium
of a facility of full-sloshed boaters (to be sure the average blood alcohol
content would be pushing 3.0 after a day of imbibing on the water). Oh well, I guess I’ll just go inside. At least they’d need a warrant to seize my
beer there…well, for now at least…
I can hear the indignant response from the President of the
Benevolent State Park Ranger’s Association, “You have no idea the dangers we
face…EVERY DAY. Why, we stand between
chaos, anarchy, and public order. [please pledge to support our pay raise in
the upcoming state referendum]” The odd thing is, after nearly two full weeks
in Colorado State Parks, the biggest complaint I have is with the moronic teens
(and their equally moronic parents) who screeched at 6:30 this morning – a ½”
spider perhaps? Let’s save the
tax-payers a boat-load of $$ and self-administer the campground?
What a country. [See
our blog post "on freedom" from Nicaragua ]
RATING: ***
THE GOOD:
·
Boaters paradise
·
Easy in and out
·
Fantastic bike trail system
Great Sand Beach
Ample parking
·
THE BAD:
· Seriously packed campground– not really a place to enjoy solitude
·
THE UGLY:
No ugly here
WORTH COMING BACK? You bet, especially if you feel like fishing
or boating
RECOMMENDED? Yup (if you want to play on the water)
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