June weekends have come with warnings.

“Summer is in full swing,” started one post on Lake Pueblo State Park’s Facebook page, “and we are still experiencing unprecedented/record-breaking visitation …”

Colorado’s most popular state park counted 365,593 guests in May, up nearly 30% from the same month in 2019. Last year, Lake Pueblo reported a record 2.46 million visitors.

“The park is on pace to easily beat that total,” Bill Vogrin, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s southeast region spokesman, wrote in an email.

That’s in line with increases throughout Colorado. At least 500,000 more visits have been logged at state parks through the first five months of 2020 compared with the same time frame last year. (Upon The Gazette’s request, not all of the 41 parks had complete data.)

The bulk of increases is coming across CPW’s northeast region, encompassing water destinations near the heart of Denver and a total 15 state parks, more than any other region. Those parks combined for 689,576 visitors in April (the latest monthly data available). That’s up 34% over last year.

“We’ve been seeing numbers on weekdays that we generally see on weekends or holidays,” said Jason Clay, spokesman for the northeast region.

Cherry Creek and Chatfield reservoirs, the go-to oases for motorboats, have regularly been reaching capacity. One Monday morning, Clay said, a line of cars was waiting to get into Roxborough State Park, the land of intriguing red rocks.

“It’s been no different for Staunton,” Clay said, referring to the park near Conifer. “I’ve just been hearing from their park manager that they’re getting slammed.”

Amid COVID-19 restrictions, reason for the swell has been clear to Vogrin.

“With no ballgames, youth sports, movies, restaurants, bars, gyms or other activities available, people turned to their state parks,” he said. “We’re glad to have them, but crowds do present challenges.”

That’s especially the case at Lake Pueblo, where Vogrin said gates came down due to capacity issues for the first time in the park’s history over Memorial Day weekend. That’s happened every weekend since, he said, and visitors have waited upward of an hour for a parking spot.

Vogrin said 10 park rangers have been tasked with patrolling an estimated 10,000 people over the past few weekends. “Large incidents,” as they’ve been described on the park’s Facebook page in capacity announcements, have included “some fighting,” Vogrin said, and “conflicts between customers due to crowded conditions.”

“Then there’s the aftermath,” he added. “We spend a great deal of time removing trash from the weekends. We’ve found a couch and a recliner on our shores and piles of other trash left behind by crowds.”

Across CPW’s southeast region — covering seven state parks including Lake Pueblo, Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs and Mueller in Teller County — visitation in May was up 19% over last year. (Data from Trinidad Lake was not yet available.)

If seeking Lake Pueblo on a weekend, the park is advising visitors arrive before 9 a.m. Vogrin recommended lesser-visited state parks such as Trinidad Lake, Lathrop in Walsenburg and John Martin Reservoir near La Junta.