Hayden Meadows Recreation Area

The Hayden Meadows Reservoir was built in the early 2000s on a portion of the historic Hayden Ranch to create storage for the Lake County Water Projects Enterprise (LCWPE) and to provide an accessible recreational fishery within Lake County’s open space. In addition, several miles of multi-use trails were constructed, including the Sawatch Range Trail, an interpretive nature loop around the reservoir, and the six-mile High Lonesome loop, which circles the valley bottom south of the reservoir with exceptional views of the Sawatch and Mosquito ranges. These assets were constructed with significant assistance from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) and the site is currently managed for recreation by Colorado Parks & Wildlife as part of the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (AHRA).