Standley Lake Regional Park — Attraction in Arvada

Quite a lot of people every time I go, and I personally prefer less people when I go out to enjoy nature. However the area that this gigantic Park is so massive that you really don't run into too many people too often, whether you stick to the paths or not. Its good for exersizing for sure, lots of ground to cover with plenty of hills, and beautiful scenery all the while! Love it here, but if its sunny, and you aren't a big fan of the sun, you may be a little miserable. Its difficult to find shade, although there are covered picnic areas. There's only a couple though and they're far and few between, and a little bit of a hike to get to each one of them. Getting down to the water's edge at least from the south side entrance is difficult. You have to jump down a 4 to 5 foot ledge to get to the "beach-area" and once you're down there, the challenge is getting back up! If you're fairly young and still in decent shape you should be able to do it. But not without a little bit of a struggle. Lots of prairie dogs, so watch where you're walking, or you may just twist your ankle stepping in a hole! There are porta potties for your convenience, and a map with brochures for your pleasure! Overall, a worth-while stop, at least once! If for no other reason, to take in the views, especially...

I was having a great time playing with my dog and his new squeaky balls. He is a big guy so swimming is wonderful exercise for him. There was another young lady about 15ft away playing with her dog too. As soon as that chick took off the female ranger cop rolls up with a much of restrictions. Bottom line being a) my boy can’t swim here b) I was ordered to hold his leash while playing fetch . The rational being that this is a source of drinking water for loads of pre ious people. What does a leash have to do with water clarity. So i obeyed the restrictions but she sat there in her boat with binoculars intimidating style. So decided to leave and get to the parking lot and there is a young male ranger with a ticket clipboard blocking my car. Now im starting to realize this might be profiling owing to my Veterans for Trump hat. Anyways I apologized for whatever and I like a typical irrational female he understood and let...

Opens at 7am. If you come on the north west entrance its a 7 dollar entrance fee but is well worth it as it seems less crowded. The plus side to this is you can pretty much drive up to the shore side and go fishing fairly quickly. On the south entrance (86th and simms)there seems to be more people, due to not there being a place to pay? But have a good half mile hike down to the lake. The water is clear enough to see schools of fish swimming near the shore line. In some spots its almost like a small personal beach for 3 to 5 people. The park rangers are fairly active checking fishing licenses and patrolling on boat. Also there is porta johns on site. I almost forgot to mention well there is fish here off shore it seems like its fairly shallow and need to be able to cast out to deeper waters to...