PRAIRIE OASIS: LIFE ABOUNDS AT BRIGHTON’S BARR LAKE

Barr Lake

Variety

Barr Lake is a year-round home for birds of all varieties, from delicate songbirds and gatherings of geese and other fowl to swooping hawks, eagles and owls. More than 371 species of birds have been seen at Barr Lake,

And while squirrels are plentiful, so are rabbits, coyotes and foxes — with occasional visits from deer and elk.

“I saw an elk once,” Seubert said. “You know, the animals follow the water, and that’s why birds migrate. They follow the food which follows the water. That’s why we have so much variety here.”

And that variety has brought people.

The Bird Conservancy of the

Rockies is based here, researching the birds and their habitat and performing annual counts and bird banding opportunities.

The northern half of the lake is open to powered boating — 10 horsepower or less — and fishing from the shore is allowed in that section as well. Anglers catch perch, crappie, tiger muskie, bluegill, catfish, and bass that live there as well as fish stocked by Colorado Parks & Wildlife — walleyes, wipers and rainbow trout.

Doubling Demand

The 8.8-mile trail that circles the lake draws hikers and walkers, as well as bike riders and people on horseback.

“We get about 225,000 per year now,” Seubert said. “When I first started in 2008, it was about 84,000. So we’ve more than doubled.”

Barr Lake

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They’ve added rentable canoes, kayaks and paddleboards that can be used in the lake’s northern half, allow fall dove and duck hunting and welcome winter cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. They’ve added accessible walkways close to the visitor center and offer track chairs that can be borrowed. Like an electric wheelchair, using the same controls, it replaces the big wheels with trail-ready triangular tracks, able to handle most terrain.

That has the park’s management looking at their next improvements.

“When we look at our visitation trends, it’s changed over the years,” Seubert said. “For example, during COVID everybody bought a paddleboard or an inflatable canoe and they all bring them here. We have one bridge that people are supposed to walk over and drive over and there is so much congestion, we need to build a pedestrian bridge. So that’s our next challenge, preserving our natural resources while meeting the needs of our visitors and keeping them safe.”

In addition to the boat ramp, Seubert said the park is looking at alternative camping in covered wagons.