Dam repair will close part of Colorado rec area

Portions of a Colorado mountain recreation area will be closed for eight months so crews can fix a dam built in the 1920s.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife, a division of the state Department of Natural Resources, is warning the public to expect heavy truck traffic and access restrictions at Tarryall Reservoir State Wildlife Area. Portions of the popular Tarryall Reservoir will be off-limits beginning April 29.

The partial closing of parts of the recreation site is to accommodate construction on the dam that created the reservoir. Construction on the dam was completed at the outset of the Great Depression 95 years ago.

“Starting April 29 through December 31, the parking lot near the intersection of Tarryall Road and Turner Gulch Road on the southeast side of the reservoir will be closed,” CPW announced. “Fishing downstream of the dam along Tarryall Creek will also be restricted during the project.”

Fishing on the reservoir itself will still be allowed, CPW clarified. Boating, as well.

The agency is just warning that the fishing may not be all that relaxing during the eight months of construction work. CPW warns that moments of solitude will likely be interrupted by the sound of construction and large trucks running back and forth.

Visitors will also still be able to enjoy the stunning scenery surrounding Tarryall Creek just south of the dam.

The state park authority says the work is necessary to continually extend the life of the arch dam creating the reservoir, now nearly a century old. The planned work is aimed at mitigating against erosion.

CPW says the construction project should also increase the volume of water that can be stored in the reservoir, an important consideration in the relatively arid landscape.

CPW’s schedule sees construction on the dam ending by December 31. The park will presumably fully reopen to the public afterward.

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