The White River National Forest has crafted a plan for developing and managing a new recreation area at the publicly owned Sweetwater Lake.
“This is an opportunity to do something a little different than we’ve seen around the state,” said Mark Lehman, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife manager of the property, at an April 4 presentation of the proposal in Gypsum.
It’s been about two-and-a-half years since Gov. Jared Polis stood atop a bluff overlooking Sweetwater Lake in Garfield County and announced a unique partnership between Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Forest Service that had “saved the lake” and created the state’s 43rd state park. The 488-acre property had been owned over the previous decades by developers who envisioned a private resort, luxury homes and even a water-bottling operation. The Forest Service took over the property next to the Flat Tops Wilderness in the summer of 2021 using an $8.5 million grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and additional support from The Conservation Fund and the Eagle Valley Land Trust.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife will manage a total of 832 acres around the lake for the Forest Service under a 20-year permit. The Forest Service is reviewing the development and management plan under guidelines in the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.
The plan calls for possibly restoring historic structures around the lake but notes existing buildings “that are in a state of severe deferred maintenance” and do not meet various regulations will be torn down. The plan calls for construction of a new lodge with administrative and visitor services and limited food service “such as a small coffee or pie shop.”
Scott Fitzwilliams, the supervisor of the White River National Forest, said at the April 4 meeting that the design of any new construction would “have an authentic feeling that reflects a lot of what you see around the Flat Tops.”
“Not a kitschy Western facade,” he said. “We think we can improve quite a bit on what’s there architecturally … where visitors can get that feeling that is authentic and different. It’s not going to be your average place.”
The Forest Service proposal calls for 15 to 20 new campsites, converting an existing federal campground into a day-use site, construction of eight to 12 new “rustic” cabins, new horse stables, four to seven horse campsites and improved lake access. The plan will not allow new uses such as mountain biking or motorized travel. The Forest Service has proposed capping visitation to the lake at 250 daily visitors.
Strategies for controlling visitor traffic remain unknown. That could involve signage at the bottom of Sweetwater Road. It might involve reservations. Colorado Parks and Wildlife requires day-use reservations at only one of its parks: Eldorado Canyon.
“We are going to have to limit people. There is just no getting around that,” Fitzwilliams told the people gathered for the meeting.
But should it be a state park?
The proposal accounts for nine themes that emerged after more than a dozen public meetings. Those themes include limiting RV and camper traffic on Sweetwater Road, protecting the resources, honoring historic uses around the lake, maintaining a Western feel, providing dining, retaining existing structures, the viability of a commercial operation at the site, the overall carrying capacity for the new site and whether or not it should be named a state park.
Jacob Brey, the deputy regional manager for CPW’s Northwest Region, said the agency will consider not using the title of state park at Sweetwater Lake, which community members feared would lure large crowds.
“We can explore not calling this a state park,” Brey told the gathering. “To honor what Sweetwater is and not turn it into something that you don’t want to see.”
Over more than a dozen meetings since 2022, community members met with representatives from CPW and the White River. The community members of the Sweetwater Lake Working Group urged the state and federal land managers to focus on historic uses and equestrian access at the lake, where outfitter Adrienne Brink has been guiding backcountry hunters and horse trips for more than 40 years.
The working group wanted any new plan to include opportunities for Brink and her dining facility, which has served for decades as a community gathering spot. The Forest Service has shut down Brink’s restaurant and some cabins due to safety concerns.
The working group has expressed frustration with the process as residents battled for protections while state and federal land managers worked to improve access to the remote property. It’s a common challenge for many corners of Colorado, where the friction between managing growth, access and conservation is a defining theme.
The Forest Service did not enter into the process of acquiring the land around Sweetwater Lake with a plan for a new state park. The agreement with CPW was “an evolution,” Fitzwilliams said on Apr. 4.
“The Forest Service does not have a dime and our budget is getting way, way worse,” he said. “We are not going to do this by ourselves. The excitement about a state park was short-lived but the excitement about the future is real. There is a real opportunity here.”
Community members wanted to wait to comment this week as they studied the proposed action unveiled by the Forest Service.The commissioners in Garfield County, who also have expressed frustration with the state management plan, also declined to comment until they formulated a formal response as part of the NEPA review process.
The proposed action is open for public comment through early August.The Forest Service is holding public meetings in Glenwood Springs and Gypsum in early June. Click over to the project’s website to learn more.