Aurora Reservoir — Attraction in Aurora

We came here on a Thursday Aug 4, 2023 and this was our first time here. It wasn't too busy at the gate, we drove to the swim area side and the right lane was to pay the fee and the left lane was for annual pass holders. What we didn't know was they don't accept the Colorado Parks & Wild Life pass here, at first the young man with glasses let us drive through then waved us down and shouted at us to wait then told us we needed to pay as they didn't accept that pass, instead of letting us just give him our card to pay he made us turn our car around to pay on the other side (this was around 11:45am) he of course smirked and probably laughed, but we didn't let his young negativity ruin our day and just turned our car around and paid.

We drove in and noticed parking is very limited and luckily it wasn't too busy. Restrooms were very clean. Bbq grills are only allowed on the pavement area not on the sand. The swimming area was not very fun as one side is considered the laps side where you must consistently swim or lifeguards will keep blowing their whistles at you and yell for you to keep swimming, then you have the "swimming side" for kids which isn't very deep at all so there's multiple of kids gathered in one area and if you have large floaties they can't really go anywhere since the swimming area is small and all you hear is lifeguards using their whistle and yelling at kids, we understand the smaller swim area is for safety, but they could at least expand the area on busier days if lifeguards are available. The sand is very soft and yes it's a little harder to wheel your things in, but the sand was perfect to build sand castles so bring the sand toys.

Grasshoppers are everywhere during this time so if your little ones don't like insects I recommend you don't go. When you go paddleboard the grasshoppers do jump on your board and hang out on your board with you. Paddleboaring here was peaceful since certain boats or jet skis aren't allowed. Rangers were very nice and greeted us all with smiles and good afternoons. It was cool that the Rangers went out on the boat to tell each individual about the storm coming in.

This will be our last time here as the swimming area is just too small, not worth the drive if you don't...

The water does not taste like old people. I've tasted many old people in my time and never once did it make me think of this reservoir. I would associate this taste to more of a middle aged man in his 40s that is starting to bald and has that sour taste of mid-life crisis creeping in. The after taste tells a story of how he hates his job but stays there so he can provide for his family. His main joy in life is going to the reservoir on the weekends and remembering when he used to row in college. He had big plans of joining the Olympic team before he tore his acl. But that's ok because he met his wife in college and made the best of things.

Other than the unique taste of the water this reservoir is awesome. The swimming area is small, but the beach is big enough to forget you're in a land locked state. The kayaking and paddle boards are great and there is plenty of water to explore. If you want to get a good spot then get there early, otherwise you may have to wait to get in.

If you plan on going a lot get the season pass, it pays for itself...

Upon arriving, my family had two choices: go to the beach near the parking lot by boat rentals, or to the over crowded, geese poop riddled beach. We made the choice to go to the closer beach. My siblings went out on a floaty. They weren't out too far. This is when a nice ranger came and said to stay waist deep. That was okay. We continued to play within the rules set. Then came the ranger that had gone mad with power. He told us to stay knee deep and to not let the floaties out of a small area where a bouy was in place. Then we followed his commands. Others weren't following his word. He then called in a boat to tell everyone you must be standing at all times and they dont allow pool toys. We asked him why we had to stand, and he said we might get ran over by the boats (Keep in mind that they are kayaks and paddle boards). It was not a...