Elkhead Reservoir

By denver-gazette September 14, 2016 | updated 10 years ago

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Get Directions

Elkhead Reservoir is a 900-acre dragon-shaped lake on Elkhead Creek about ten miles northeast of Craig. The four-mile-long reservoir, surrounded by sagebrush-covered hills, was built in 1974 for water recreation, wildlife habitat, and as a secondary water source for Craig. The lake, the centerpiece of 2,200-acre Elkhead State Park, provides recreation for Moffat County. It’s a popular destination for sailboats, motorboats, canoes, and sailboards. Park facilities include a boat ramp, swimming at East Beach, picnic sites, and Bear’s Ears Campground by the dam. Other activities are hiking on lakeshore trails, birdwatching, horseback riding, waterskiing, jet skiing, and fishing. Hunting is allowed after Labor Day during established hunting seasons.

Pro Tips

Elkhead offers excellent fishing for northern pike, trout, and small-mouth bass. The bass and pike are non-native species that escape the reservoir and enter the Yampa River downstream where they eat four endangered fish species—the bonytail, humpback chub, Colorado pike minnow and razorback sucker. Wildlife biologists are erecting nets and fish screens to maintain the current fishery and also protect native fish.

The Bear’s Ears Campground has 16 basic campsites that overlook the reservoir, making it an ideal base camp for fishing, boating, and watching the sunset. Each site has a shade shelter, picnic table, and fire pit, but no hook-ups. Pay at a self-serve tube by cash or check. Make reservations through reserveamerica.com.

Elkhead Reservoir, northwestern Colorado’s largest lake, is good for birding. Look for waterfowl including ducks, loons, and grebes. The mudflats at low water attract migrating shorebirds, while the surrounding sagebrush terrain is home to thrashers, sparrows and raptors. Sharp-tailed grouse are spotted in willows east of the lake in fall and winter.

Winter is a great time to visit Elkhead Reservoir. After the lake freezes over, fishermen enjoy dropping a line through ice while snowshoers and cross-country skiers make tracks in the snow. Herds of elk and deer are often seen around the lake in winter.

Recommended season(s): Year-round.

—Stewart M. Green

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