Beaver Creek Reservoir
Rio Grande County, Colorado130 acresView mapDirections
Colorado WQCD publishes the water-quality measurements for Beaver Creek Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 19 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Beaver Creek Reservoir in Rio Grande County, Colorado has water-quality measurements published by Colorado WQCD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 36 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8.4 µg/L. Surface area: 130 acres.
Beaver Creek Reservoir is a 130-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Rio Grande County, Colorado with an estimated average depth of about 19 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, CDPHE, last sampled 2023-07-26. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Beaver Creek Reservoir covers about 130 acres in Rio Grande County. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Beaver Creek Reservoir on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
What Beaver Creek Reservoir is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Camping4 public campgrounds nearby
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Beaver Creek Reservoir is safe to swim in today is a call for the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Beaver Creek Reservoir
These are the measurements Colorado WQCD publishes for Beaver Creek Reservoir, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 6.2 ft. Phosphorus 36 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 8.4 µg/L. TSI 53.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6.2ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 36µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 8.4µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 53 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Beaver Creek Reservoir
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~19 ft est.
Surface area
130 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Colorado WQCD
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Colorado has not published bathymetry for Beaver Creek Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
46 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.6 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
8,816 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Recreation & Access
Public campgrounds near Beaver Creek Reservoir
- Upper Beaver Creek1.5 km
- Cross Creek2.1 km
- Lower Beaver Creek2.6 km
- Highway Springs3.5 km
Nearest public campgrounds in the USGS National Map inventory, within about 3 miles. An empty list means USGS records no campground that close, which is not the same as camping being unavailable. Where the source gives an official reservation link, it is used; the cabin and hotel search does not cover campsites. More camping lakes
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Beaver Creek Reservoir
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Beaver Creek Reservoir in Rio Grande County, Colorado — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Beaver Creek Reservoir are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Beaver Creek Reservoir
Prices for Oct 23–25, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Fishing Beaver Creek Reservoir
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2022–2023). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening2 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+24.5 µg/L/yr2 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-2.5 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Beaver Creek Reservoir is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Beaver Park (completed 1912), built primarily for recreation on the Beaver Creek; rockfill-type dam, 114 ft tall and 435 ft long.
- Surface area
- 130 ac
- Normal storage
- 4,746 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 9,394 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 47 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE (TAYLOR, MARGARET)
All listed purposes: Recreation;Other;Irrigation;Fish and Wildlife Pond.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID CO00763 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.15 km)
Nearby Lakes in Rio Grande County
Frequently asked questions about Beaver Creek Reservoir
Where is Beaver Creek Reservoir?
- Beaver Creek Reservoir is a lake in Rio Grande County, Colorado. Its water-quality measurements are published by Colorado WQCD and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Beaver Creek Reservoir?
- Beaver Creek Reservoir in Rio Grande County, Colorado has water-quality measurements published by Colorado WQCD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 36 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8.4 µg/L. Surface area: 130 acres.
Is Beaver Creek Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Beaver Creek Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Beaver Creek Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 19 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate. The lake covers 130 acres.
Can I fish at Beaver Creek Reservoir?
- Public access to Beaver Creek Reservoir is listed as yes on the lake record. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Colorado's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Are there campgrounds on Beaver Creek Reservoir?
- Beaver Creek Reservoir has 4 public campgrounds from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Upper Beaver Creek, Cross Creek, Lower Beaver Creek, Highway Springs. This is a location join, not a booking. Cabins and hotels are listed separately; campsite reservations use the official link when the source provides one.
Explore Beaver Creek Reservoir across LakeQuality
4 thermal springs within 22.5 mi, nearest Wagon Wheel Gap Hot Springs
Species activity outlook by water temperature and season
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Where this data comes from
18 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2022–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Colorado Dept. of Public Health & Environment-WQCD
21COL001_WQX18 samples · 2022–2023
Analytical methods
- Secchi disk depth measurement
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
- Nitrogen in Water by Pyrolysis Detection
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles