AURORA | You can drink it, wash your car with it or water your lawn with it. City officials now want you to have fun where it comes from.
“It’s another way of telling that story,” said Aurora water spokesman Greg Baker of a new city website that provides information on fishing, boating and camping available in and around the city’s 12 water storage facilities created as part of the Prairie Waters Project that began in 2006. “It helps explain the complexity of moving water from over 180 miles away.”
The new website gives a brief history of how the city acquired rights to most of the reservoirs, along with links to specific recreation provided by either the U.S. Forest Service or Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Directions to the reservoir are also included.
While most residents know about the fishing at Aurora Reservoir, they might not know that Buffalo Peaks Ranch, an Aurora-owned entity off of Colorado Highway 9 just south of Fairplay, is home to a thriving trout fishery. “We bought this ranch to preserve the banks of the South Platte River Basin and we wanted to preserve the fishing stream there,” he said.
When the city purchased the 1,840-acre ranch in 1985 it was a way to replace some loss to river access that resulted when Aurora completed the Spinney Mountain Reservoir, the main storage reserve for city water that comes from the Colorado and Arkansas rivers.
The ranch itself is a wealth of Americana. It was originally homesteaded by French immigrants Adolphe and Marie Guiraud in the 1860s and grew to be one of the oldest and most successful in Park county. In true American West form, the ranch twice served as the stopover for the famous Reynolds Gang in the midst of the group’s stagecoach robbing spree.
The City of Aurora is now working to bring a nature research study center to the area. In June, the city finalized a lease agreement with the Rocky Mountain Land library, which gave the organization control of 60 acres at the ranch for their more than 30,000-volume natural history collection.
“Buffalo Peaks Ranch is a wonderful site to explore and celebrate the natural and cultural history of the Rocky Mountain West,” said Jeff Lee, the library’s co-director. He said next spring he and his wife, who owns the library with him, will begin renovations on six to eight of the historic ranch buildings.
As part of the renovations, concrete stalls will be turned into maker spaces for art studios and research workspaces. There will also be residences where artists, writers and scientists can live and study for a few days or even a few months.
The city also owns more than 1,800 acres of land and water rights from Lake County that include the historic Hayden Ranch homestead near Leadville, as well as Twin Lakes and Turquoise Reservoir. The sites are ripe for summer fishing, boating and camping.
Baker added that one of his favorite Aurora-owned reservoirs is Jefferson Lake, which is about a two-hour drive from Aurora on U.S. 285. The small community of Jefferson, the town where the lake is located is surrounded on three sides by Pike National Forest in central Colorado.
“There are some great picnicking opportunities there,” Baker said. The nearby national forest offers nine campgrounds for RV and tent campers.
The Homestake Reservoir, located in southern Eagle County in the Colorado River basin and jointly owned by Aurora and Colorado Springs, is famous for its off-roading. The 3.8-mile Holy Cross City Jeep Road (FS 759) is one of the most difficult and popular hardcore trails in Colorado.
Aurora City Councilwoman Sally Mounier said she came up with the idea to promote Aurora-owned reservoirs after taking a tour of the city’s Prairie Waters project. Surrounded by cottonwoods and a sparkling stream, she wanted to share what she saw with residents. “We have really beautiful assets in the water department. I looked at what Denver did and decided we could do the same,” she said. Mounier said it will take a long time to build Aurora’s mountain park offerings to match Denver. She said she is currently in talks with the Aurora Boys and Girls club about how the city can provide camping facilities at the sites.
To learn more about The City of Aurora’s recreational opportunities associated with its water storage facilities, visit aurorawater.org