OASIS: LIFE ABOUNDS AT BRIGHTON’S BARR LAKE

State park offers activities, education, wildlife and birds. Lots and lots of birds.

By Scott Taylor staylor@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Just east of Brighton, Barr Lake has one straightforward, official purpose: The lake’s nearly 2,000 acres are designed to hold irrigation water for Denver metro area farms and homes.

Fed by the Beebee Seep and the O’Brien Canal — both distributaries of the South Platte River as it continues on east — the lake drains into several other canals that lead into more northern reservoirs and farms.

But beyond the official job, there’s much more to the park. It’s home to a vast array of wildlife and birds, which brings in flocks of visitors, birdwatchers, photographers and flat-land hikers eager to test themselves on the 8.8mile trail that surrounds the lake.

“We’re busy all year round, but it’s always a different type of busy,” said Michelle Seubert, park manager for Barr Lake State Park. “In the winter months, December through February, we’re busy for bald eagles. They winter

SEE BARR LAKE, P5