Grand County Lakes - Boating & Paddling Guide | Kara Mullane

The river was running low, so there was nothing to brace for. Just a slow float with one other person, our dogs and the canyon rising on both sides. We were out there the whole day, pulling over on small stretches of sand to let the dogs run, stopping to soak in the warmth of a natural hot spring. It was quiet, comfortable and completely removed from the noise of everyday life.

 That day on the Colorado was one of my favorite days of the summer, and it was not the only one that changed how I see this place.

I used to think paddleboarding was boring. Then I spent a few days on the lakes with girlfriends, the mountains reflected around us so cleanly it was hard to tell where the peaks stopped, and I finally understood it. The appeal is the quiet. You move slowly enough to absorb the peace of being completely surrounded by nature. And if the wind picks up and starts pushing against you, it turns into a real workout. I cannot get enough of it now.

The tiki boat was the other end of the spectrum. A birthday, music, wigs and the kind of views that make you wonder why every birthday isn't celebrated this way. We were having such a good time that we extended the rental rather than head back to shore. Somewhere in the middle of the afternoon a pirate pontoon went by, fully committed, and the people on board were having almost as much fun as we were. We watched it pass and agreed that the pirate boat is the next rental.

The water has a way of softening everything.

Maybe it's the gentle rhythm, the open space, or seeing these mountains from an entirely different angle. Whatever it is, I found a kind of solace out there that is hard to find anywhere else.

Here is the part that surprised me. I have lived in Colorado here for 15 years, and I spent most of that time thinking of Grand County as a place you experience on foot or on skis. The water was scenery. This summer it became the point.

We are a lake county that talks like a ski county

Grand Lake, Shadow Mountain Lake and Lake Granby sit together at the top of the county and go by the Three Lakes. Grand Lake is the largest and deepest natural lake in Colorado. Shadow Mountain connects to it directly, so you can idle from one into the other. Lake Granby is the big one, roughly 7,250 surface acres and 220 feet deep at its deepest, which makes it one of the largest bodies of water in the state and the reason Grand County has actual open water instead of a pond with a view.

Then there is everything people forget. Monarch Lake, 140 acres of no motors at all, ringed by a four mile trail and backed up against the Indian Peaks. Willow Creek Reservoir, non-motorized and non-trailered, which is a quiet way of saying you will have it mostly to yourself. Williams Fork, where the wind is reliable enough that people windsurf it. Wolford Mountain out past Kremmling. And the Colorado River itself, running the whole length of the county.

All of it is close. In roughly the time it takes to cross Denver in traffic, you can be on open water with mountains on every side.

Ways to get out there, including the ones I haven't tried

I want to be honest that I have done a fraction of this. That is sort of the point. Pick the one that sounds like your kind of day.

If you want to go fast. Lake Granby is the water for it. It is big enough and deep enough for skiing, wakeboarding and tubing, and the surface acreage means you are not carving circles in someone's fishing spot. Grand Lake allows ski boating too, though it is a fraction of the size and fills up on weekends. The catch worth knowing before you plan around it: the local marinas rent pontoons and fishing boats, not ski boats. If wakeboarding is the goal, you are trailering your own or going with someone who owns one. Ask around. People here are generous with a spare seat.

If you want to go slow. A pontoon is the most forgiving way to put eight or ten people on a lake and still hear each other talk. You do not need experience, you do not need to own anything, and half the fun is the cooler. This is the one I would recommend to anyone visiting for the first time.

If you want to paddle. Kayaks and paddleboards need no registration, no inspection and no ramp. You can carry one down to the water and be out in ten minutes. Early morning on Grand Lake is the version everyone photographs, glassy and still before the wind comes up. Monarch Lake is the version I would send you to if you want quiet, because motors are not allowed and the whole lake is a slow lap under the Indian Peaks.

If you want to sail. This is the county's best-kept fact. The Grand Lake Yacht Club has been here since 1902 and sits at 8,366 feet, which makes it the highest registered yacht club in the world. It has hosted the Lipton Cup regatta since a British tea merchant handed over a sterling trophy in 1913. There is a sailing regatta in the Rocky Mountains every summer and most people who live an hour away have never heard of it.

If you want to fish. Lake Granby is the state's premier lake trout fishery and the population is entirely self-sustaining, meaning nobody stocks it. There are also rainbows, browns, cutbow and kokanee. Guides operate out of the county year round and will put you on fish faster than a season of trial and error will.

If you want the river. A scenic float on the Upper Colorado near Kremmling is a half day, requires nothing of you athletically, and is the single best introduction to this landscape I can think of. Outfitters run it all summer. Some sections have hot springs along the bank.

If you want to end the day warm. Hot Sulphur Springs Resort and Spa has around twenty mineral pools open to the public, no reservation needed, right in the middle of the county. It stays open late into the evening, which is exactly when you want it after a cold day outside.

Where to rent, and what to know before you go

Call ahead on all of these. Hours and fleets shift by season, and the shoulder weeks are unpredictable.

On Grand Lake Grand Lake Marina and Boaters Choice has pontoons from 18 to 22 feet, Boston Whaler and Lund fishing boats, kayaks, canoes and paddleboards. Fuel and life jackets are included and the boats are pet friendly. Mountain Paddlers on the beach in front of Headwaters Marina has kayaks and paddleboards by the hour, walk up, first come first served. Rocky Mountain SUP rents paddleboards in town.

On Lake Granby Indian Peaks Marina has pontoons for up to twelve people, hourly or daily, plus a gas dock, a restaurant and a bar. Beacon Landing Marina, about five miles south of Grand Lake has pontoons in two, four, six and eight hour blocks, canoes, and pet friendly boats. Fall weekends sell out.

Before you launch anything with a motor You need a current registration, an aquatic nuisance species stamp, and a pre launch inspection. Inspection stations on Lake Granby run at Sunset Point and Stillwater from 6am, though Sunset Point closes for the season well before Stillwater does. Hand launched, human powered boats are exempt from all of it.

Passes and fees Monarch Lake and the rest of the Arapaho National Recreation Area require a pass, available online or at the fee station. Willow Creek runs on a small per vehicle day fee with three day, weekly and annual options, and the America the Beautiful pass is accepted.

And now it closes

That is the honest note to end on. The marinas wind down through September, the ramps come out, and the county turns its attention to snow. If you are reading this thinking you missed it, you did. This summer, anyway.

Which is exactly why I am writing it now.

The people who spent this July on a pontoon with their family did not decide that in July. They decided it in a quiet fall, when the summer lookers had gone home and there was time to actually think. That window is open right now. There are more homes for sale in Grand County than there have been in years, single family homes are taking a little longer to sell, and sellers are closing at roughly 96 to 98 percent of asking.

Buy in the quiet season and the water is yours by June.

A new view I came across after rafting on the Colorado. Some days this place does not look real. It looks painted.

If you are curious what a place near the lakes actually costs, or which side of the county fits how you would use it, I am easy to reach. And if you have a stretch of water up here that I should know about, tell me. I have a list going for next summer.

Kara Mullane lives and works in Winter Park, Colorado.