Category: Colorado News

AURORA, Colo. – Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Marine Evidence Recovery Team (MERT) was called out to Cherry Creek State Park Saturday evening for a recovery search of a 29-year-old male victim missing in the reservoir.

Due to the ongoing search, the reservoir will be closed to boating on Sunday. The rest of the park will remain open Sunday.

The man was on a tube being pulled behind a boat when he became separated from the tube and went missing in the water at approximately 6:45 p.m. The victim was not wearing a life jacket.

First responders from South Metro Fire Rescue and Park Rangers at Cherry Creek State Park began an immediate search using sonar of the area, which was approximately 300 yards east of the marina on the west end of the reservoir.

Unable to locate the victim in the first 90 minutes of the search, the rescue effort turned to a recovery mission and was turned over to CPW’s MERT program. Five members of the MERT team arrived on scene to begin their search in two vessels at 8:46 p.m.

The MERT Team utilizes underwater ROV’s (remote-operated vehicles), which uses sonar, lights, video cameras and a manipulator in searches. They searched the reservoir until 4 a.m. Sunday. 

South Metro Fire resumed searching the water at sunrise Sunday and the CPW resources will resume searching at 10 a.m.

The drowning comes nearly one year to the day of another one in the reservoir at Cherry Creek State Park. On May 2, 2021 a kayaker drowned near the East Shades parking area that is by the east boat ramp after being flipped over in the water. That drowning was classified as a survivable accident if a personal floatation device had been worn.

This is the second drowning in Colorado this year. The first was a 24-year-old male on Jan. 26 at Chipeta Lake south of Montrose. In 2021 there were 22 total drownings in Colorado, which was down from the 34 drownings in 2020. That 2020 figure is the highest number of drownings on record in the state.

STERLING, Colo. – The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission enacted Wednesday a pilot program for a timed entry reservation system for vehicles accessing Eldorado Canyon State Park on every Saturday, Sunday and federal or state holiday in a defined period between 2022-23.

This is the first timed entry system enacted at a Colorado state park. It was developed through a collaboration of local government partners as well as feedback from the public to help address concerns for both park users and local residents.

“We are really excited about this and it is the first state park that we have done this timed entry reservation system, sort of following up on Rocky Mountain National Park and some other parks throughout the nation,” CPW Northeast Region Manger Mark Leslie said at Wednesday’s commission meeting. “In May of last year, the Commission approved (the park’s) Visitor Use Management Plan and so we are moving forward implementing portions of that plan incrementally… This is just related to vehicles because when we’ve done surveys of that park, that seems to be what drives the frustration with the public is the number of vehicles.”

Park manager John Carson had previously said “our hope is the reservation system will reduce impacts to the community of Eldorado Springs, protect natural resources and maintain a safe, quality recreational experience for years to come. The proposed system will help visitors plan for their visit while managing their expectations of entry into the park.”

Reservations could begin as early as August running through Sept. 15 for 2022, with the exact starting date to be announced once it is determined. For 2023, reservations will be required May 15 through Sept. 15.

The entry reservations are required for vehicle access only on weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) and holidays during this period. Visitors without a vehicle reservation will still be able to access the park via the free shuttle service as long as they possess a valid Colorado state parks pass. Please visit Eldoshuttle.com for more information on the free shuttle service.

Reservation windows are from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and will be accepted in a two-hour entry window. 

Day use reservations are limited to one per person, per day. Each person is limited to a maximum of four reservations per month. The individual named on the reservation must be in the motor vehicle.

Entry reservations will be allocated free of charge. A valid Colorado state parks will be required to enter along with the reservation.

Park capacity is set for 200 vehicles. Staff will designate 90 percent of those spaces for the reservation system, with visitors having the opportunity to reserve them up to one month in advance. The remaining 10 percent will be made available for reservation the day prior beginning at 3 p.m.

The proposed timed entry reservation system would be implemented and distributed at CPWshop.com using Aspira, the reservation and licensing system CPW utilizes.

Park staff will evaluate the effectiveness of the timed entry reservation system at the conclusion of the 2023 pilot season.

Eldorado Canyon State Park reaches vehicle capacity on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays starting in April and lasting through October. Visitation has increased 118 percent since 2013, when the park welcomed 247,068 visitors compared to the 539,525 in 2021.

Visitors to the park come both from the local level, as well as outside of Colorado. Around 25 percent of visitors are residents of Boulder County, 50 percent come from the Denver metropolitan area while 25 percent of visitors come from outside of Colorado and internationally. 

To learn more about Eldorado Canyon State Park and its recreational opportunities, please visit us online by clicking here.