Created by a dam on the South Platte River in 1932, Eleven Mile Reservoir lies in the southeast corner of Colorado's South Park. Renowned for its fishing, most of the lake and the surrounding State Park stretch across flat, semiarid terrain while the reservoir's eastern end is lined by scenic granite outcrops at the base of the Puma Hills; indeed, some of the outcrops form islands in the reservoir.
Yesterday, my wife and I hiked the trail loops that run above the east shore of the lake, crossing Coyote Ridge and then winding through the hike-in campground on a peninsula of pine-fir-aspen woodlands and rock-walled coves. It was there that we enjoyed a picnic lunch, looking north across the reservoir which is backed (east to west) by the distant walls of the Tarryall Mountains, the Continental Divide, the southern end of the Tenmile Range, the Mosquito Range and, west of the Arkansas Valley, the high spine of the Collegiate Range; to our southwest, the massive bulk of Thirtynine Mile Mountain rose above the lake.
While boats may crowd the reservoir during the summer months, only the occasional fishing craft distrurbed the natural chorus of grasshoppers, golden-mantled ground squirrels, magpies, Steller's jays, mountain chickadees and western grebes; the latter, lounging on the calm blue waters, were joined by ring-billed gulls and small groups of common mergansers. The campgrounds, surely congested during the warmer months, were nearly empty as we hiked across the peninsula, reinforcing our conviction that off-season months are the best time to visit our National and State Parks. Blue skies, cool air and an early hint of aspen gold made our visit even more enjoyable.
