This is the Most Dangerous Lake in Colorado

Colorado is home to some unbelievable landscapes and hidden gems that make it one of the most beautiful places in the entire country.

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We’ve also got plenty of fantastic lakes that are perfect for swimming, boating, and fishing to boot. 

There’s places high up in the mountains like Pacific Tarn, which is the highest named lake in the entire country. While it’s a little difficult to get to, it’s an absolutely gorgeous hike to get there.

However, this year has marked a really unfortunate trend that has been going on in Colorado recently; drowning.

To start the year off, drownings in Colorado’s rivers and lakes were so far up in numbers that Colorado Parks and Wildlife were begging people to wear life jackets.

It begs the question: What is the most dangerous lake in Colorado?

Lake Pueblo Likely the Most Dangerous Lake in Colorado

Here’s the thing about finding the most dangerous lake in Colorado; it’s a really hard task and the answer isn’t entirely clear.

The Travel wanted to take a look to see which lakes have the most water-related deaths in the state between 2020 and 2024, and they came up with a couple of different places.

For one, Cherry Creek State Park in Aurora was a candidate, having three deaths between 2020 and 2022.

However, there has been none since.

Another one is Chatfield State Park, which saw 6 drownings in that four year stretch.

However, the lake that has taken the most lives in this timeframe is easily Lake Pueblo State Park. In particular, the only swim beach available there; Kestrel Pond.

Between 2020 and 2024, a whopping 15 people have lost their lives in that lake. That’s more than Cherry Creek and Chatfield combined.

With this being said, it’s worth noting that there is nothing inherently dangerous about Lake Pueblo State Park and Kestrel Pond. These deaths can likely be attributed to the fact it is a highly visited state park. 

Water-Related Deaths Had Been Rising in Colorado

Throughout the first part of last year, there was an incredibly concerning trend of people drowning for multiple different reasons.

It caused an outcry from CPW to have people wear life jackets, especially over the Fourth of July weekend.

Halfway through the year, 20 people had lost their lives in water-related deaths in the state, which was outpacing the year before’s number of 32. 

However, the record still sits at 42 in 2022, and fortunately, it would appear that that mark will not be surpassed this year, with a slowdown of these incidents happening.