2016 Mtns & Mesas with covers

page 34
Mountains & Mesas
It is popular for fishing and has pedal boats available.
The nearby resort includes cabins, RV and
tent sites, a bath house, laundry, recreation room,
and a store.
Keep driving north along the highway and
eventually you’ll cross over Cuchara Pass and
begin dropping into Huerfano County. Keep driving,
but keep your eye out for CO RD 422 (a left
hand turn onto a dirt road) and drive up about 3.5
miles. Blue Lake will be on your right. There is a
campground, restrooms, and drinking water.
Fishing is a popular option, and there are several
trailheads nearby. Continue up the road for about
one mile and you’ll reach Bear Lake. There is another
campground, additional restrooms, and
drinking water is available. Camping, picnicking,
fishing, and parking require fees. There are more
trailheads nearby for hikers.
From here, head back out to Highway 12 and
continue north past the town of Cuchara and
drive in to the town of La Veta. Go through town
and out the north end, go five miles up Highway
12 and intersect with Highway 160. Turn east
(right) and drive for about eight miles. The entrance
to Lathrop State Park will be on the left
hand side, right across the highway from the regional
hospital.
Lathrop was Colorado’s first state park. At
the turn off the twentieth century, what were once
little more than prairie potholes west of Walsenburg
were developed into the reservoirs we today
know as Martin and Horseshoe Lakes. Over the
decades since, these lakes have become an increasingly
important recreation destination. Each lake
offers something different to outdoor recreationists.
Both lakes are nestled in piñon/juniper
woodland and both offer incredible views of the
Spanish Peaks, but their characters are markedly
different.
At 180 surface acres, Martin Lake is the larger
and far busier of the two locations. There, boaters
tear upon the water, whereas on Horseshoe fishing
boats putter along in a part of the park that is
slower, less busy and wilder. Boaters flock to Martin
Lake in the warm months to practice their
water-skiing skills, and jet skiers race around the
laid out boating course. On summer weekends
the Martin dock parking lot is full of boat trailers,
yet the lake is large enough to accommodate fishing
boats in areas where speed boats aren’t permitted.
Fishing is by far one of the most popular
activities at Martin Lake.
Excepting cold winter days when the lake surface
is frozen over, anglers can be found around
the shoreline attempting to hook on to one of any
of the twelve species that live there. Much of the
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