Barr Lake State Park — Attraction in Four Corners States

I was out on the Barr Trail in Brighton, Colorado. I've been going there for four, maybe five years now, ever since I got my dog. I was walking on the trail where they load boats and continued onto the trail, like I usually do.

As I walked, I noticed two men off to the right wearing camouflaged gear. I immediately felt uneasy, so I turned back. As I was heading back, a flock of birds flew overhead, and suddenly, these men started shooting at them—right in my direction.

Terrified, I started running with my dog. Then, I heard another gunshot, this time coming from the trees right next to me. At this point, I was completely panicked. I called the Barr Trail phone line and reported that there was active shooting happening. The person on the line told me it was a hunting day. I asked, “Shouldn’t the trail be closed then?” That’s when I found out that the gate to the dam should have been closed—but it wasn’t.

They told me they would send someone out, so I waited for twenty minutes, but no one ever showed up. Meanwhile, I had to warn three people heading toward the dam that the gate should have been closed and that there was active hunting happening. I also asked the lady at the front desk if any of the trails were closed that day and she said no. I saw plenty of people out there on the trail too so I'm sure they...

Excellent. No idea why we’ve NEVER been here before!! It was 20 minutes from our door on 470! What?! Such a beautiful place! I grew up in the mountains and love walking in the trees and that’s sometimes a hard order to fill in the DM. But here you can walk in the trees AND be wowed by the incredible views of the Rockies. The nature center is awesome! We went to use the loo before we set out around the lake and ended up staying for about 30 minutes looking at the displays and especially matching names to the birds of prey to their faces. We live on the eastern edge of the bowl in SE Aurora and we have so many falcons and hawks that we don’t know the names of. So note we do! Very cool! And the Trak Chair Program?! I mean, WOW. Just blew our minds. My MIL had a stroke and was in a wheelchair for years. So many places were not accessible for her electric chair or just not accessible to a chair at all. She would have LOVED this program and this place!! I think this is amazing and would love to see it in action. What a wonderful, amazing, inclusive thing to implement. Wonderful job!!

We can’t wait to go back and...

Colorado natives and this was the first time visiting as a family to go fishing. I wish they would've had something posted on their website regarding the algae, because we wouldn't have spent the $ to get into the park...definitely made for a sub-par visit. The algae was quite invasive and smelled... which I know is really no fault of the park. We will probably try again next season, as long as the algae is managed. For bird watchers, I think it's a must. The park boasts over 371 species of birds, a natural preserve with lots of walking trails and great views of the Front Range mountains. They also have archery areas with what looked to be full-sized animal target options (we only drove past this area and saw targets from a distance). And of course, they allow boating too. We were pleasantly suprised at the fact the lake is so close to DIA, but we barely heard any air traffic. If you're looking to fish this summer season, I'd say try somewhere else (for now) just because of the algae issue...but I would recommend checking out Barr Lake out next...