Eleven Mile and Spinney Mountain State Parks

A new fee structure starts tomorrow. Please use the link in the picture for more information.

Starting May 1, 2026- a new fee for Out-of-State license plates will go into effect at Colorado State Parks. Daily passes for Out-of-State vehicles will be $15/ pass.

With the news of Antero Reservoir being drained due to extreme drought conditions this year, we wanted to give our visitors a head up on what to expect.

Starting May 2nd, Denver Water will start moving water from Antero Reservoir down to Cheeseman Reservoir. This means that for the month of May and into June, we will see increased flows on the South Platte. This will make fishing on the river of Spinney Mountain SWA and State Park, the Dream Stream, and Eleven Mile Canyon, extremely difficult. Anglers can expect larger than normal flows and potentially off color water on the river. We anticipate the reservoirs should see no change in operations during this movement of water. After the water is moved downstream, we expect flows to be lower than normal due to the current drought conditions and caution should be exercised in regard to fishing and water temperatures.

Spinney Mountain Reservoir is still unlikely to have boat ramps available this year due to low water. Eleven Mile Reservoir is unlikely to see significant changes in elevation, and operations for ANS and boat ramps will continue as normal.

We anticipate a larger number of boaters at Eleven Mile this year, so please arrive early and be patient with our staff should we have to implement capacity protocols. While it’s out of our control what nature brings us, we are excited to see many of you this summer in South Park.

Your safety is our priority—on land and on water.
Life jackets save lives. Wear it every time

With opening day of Spinney being next week (April 3rd), we wanted to share the opening day procedures for everybody:

- Opening day, for health and safety reasons, nobody may start lining up on the roadways until 5:00am. If you need to purchase a daily pass, please make sure you have cash ($10 exact change) or a check upon arrival. If you have the KCW pass, please make sure the CPW logo is printed on the registration you will show to staff members. Staff will be working through the line checking fishing licenses and parks passes for all vehicles entering the park.

-Gates will open at 6:10am for shoreline and NON MOTORIZED, HAND LAUNCHED recreation ONLY. No motorized vessels will be allowed until April 6th.

- Boating hours are 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset daily. All users, including river users, must be OUT of the park by 1 hour after sunset. The park is closed during overnight hours to all activities.

- We are expecting large crowds, so please be patient with our staff and with each other as we get everything back up and running.

- As for the boat ramps, Spinney is starting very low on water. While ANS inspections will start on April 6th, it will be for hand launched vessels only. As of right now, we do not have a date for the opening of boat ramps, and it will depend on large amounts of weather in the coming weeks and months to get the boat ramps back into the water.

We are looking forward to another great season at Spinney!

Due to elevated fire danger, Park County has implemented a Stage II Fire Ban. All open campfires are strictly prohibited at Eleven Mile and Spinney Mountain State Parks until further notice.

We have two exciting announcements for the parks:

First, on April 3rd, Spinney Mountain State Park will open for the season for shoreline and hand launch, non motorized recreation only. Stay tuned for a later post for more details on opening day.

Second, on April 6th, ANS stations will open for the season, as will the Eleven Mile North Shore boat ramps. Spinney will transition to allowing hand launched, motorized recreation on this date as well. Spinney will remain hand launch until boat ramps are in the water; However, given current conditions and the water outlook in the South Platte Basin, we don't know when/if this will happen this season.

Our staff is looking forward to seeing everybody out here soon!

⭐️ We are hiring for the 2026 season! ⭐️
Do you enjoy protecting our great outdoors for future generations? We have the perfect opportunity to leave your mark on the park. We are hiring across all sections and can accommodate school schedules. Positions begin in March, April, and May. Click the link below to view position descriptions and submit an application.

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado/jobs/5186779/temporary-limited-commissioned-ranger-eleven-mile-spinney-mountain-state-parks

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado/jobs/5186754/temporary-seasonal-employee-eleven-mile-spinney-mountain-state-parks

TEMPORARY Limited Commissioned Ranger – Eleven Mile/Spinney Mountain State Parks THIS IS A TEMPORARY POSITION (7-9 MONTHS OR LESS)- PAY starting at $19.50 PER HOUREMPLOYMENT STARTS APRIL 2026 – Season varies, and positions start ending after October 31st, but the maximum length of positions is 9 months.To apply, please submit only your application (without attachments such as ...

As we near the end of the week we wanted to give a reminder that Friday, October 31, 1/2 hour after sunset both Eleven Mile Reservoir and Spinney Mountain Reservoir close to motorized boating for the year.

At that time, Spinney will remain open until 1 hour after sunset on November 15th to shoreline recreation only (including hand launched, non motorized vessels), at which point it will close until ice off in the spring.

Eleven Mile will remain open to hand launch, human powered vessels until ice on.

We will be closing the Spinney North Shore Boat Ramp on Thursday, September 18th, 1/2 hour after sunset, due to low water levels. We will continue to have the ANS station open until October 31st for hand launched vessels. The lake will remain open to shoreline recreation only starting November 1st to November 15th, when the park will close for the season.

North Shore Boat Ramp and the ANS station at Eleven Mile should remain open for the remainder of the boating season (October 31st).

A few quick updates:

- Starting this week, the park office will return to off season hours, Friday to Tuesday, 8am to 3pm
- The shower building, flush toilets and laundry facility are closed for the season.
- Water spigots will remain open until September 30th at 3pm.
- Witcher's Cove Boat Ramp is closed for the season. North Shore Ramp at Eleven Mile will remain open until October 31st, pending water levels.

We are monitoring the boat ramp at Spinney, and are anticipating switching to only hand launched vessels here in the next week or two due to declining water levels. Motorized hand launched vessels will be allowed until October 31st. We will post an update here and on the website when this closure happens.