Vehicle registrations now come with a state parks pass. Here's what that might mean for Lake Pueblo
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is expecting an additional 5 to 10 million visits to Colorado’s 42 state parks this year as the state rolls out a discounted state parks pass that will be automatically included in vehicle registrations in 2023.
The fee for an annual pass for admission to state parks has been reduced from $80 to $29. Coloradans can opt out of the pass when completing their annual vehicle registration.
Between July 2021 and June 2022, 18.8 million visits were recorded at Colorado state parks. The $29 pass is expected to increase the amount of visits to 23-28 million.
The state has not calculated an expected increase in visitors for individual parks, but Lake Pueblo State Park is already the state’s most-visited park, said Bill Vogrin, a public information officer for CPW.
In the first 10 months of 2022, Lake Pueblo State Park reported approximately 3.2 million visits, Vogrin said — that’s 1 million more than the state's other top parks, Cherry Creek and Chatfield, both in the south metro Denver area.
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Coloradans who want to purchase an annual state park pass before their vehicle renewal is up will still have to pay the full $80 fee and can be reimbursed at a calculated rate for the pass they purchased. Discounted annual passes are available to some Coloradans, including people with some disabilities.
The pass is designed to encourage more people to spend time outdoors and increase accessibility to the state’s parks, Vogrin said.
Many Coloradans spent more time outside during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. People from nearby states also came to Colorado state parks when some state and national parks were shuttered.
Colorado state parks remained open to the public in spring 2020, although campgrounds and visitor centers were initially closed. National parks within Colorado also closed during the first few months of the pandemic.
But the number of visitors to state parks and Lake Pueblo had already been growing before 2020: the park welcomed 1.6 million visitors in 2013 and increased to 2.5 million in 2019. Pueblo’s state park has consistently been one of the most-visited parks in Colorado.
Vogrin said that Colorado’s growing population contributed to the long-term growth of interest in state parks. He attributed the popularity of Lake Pueblo State Park to the park’s ideal location on two major highways, proximity to Fort Carson and the growing city of Colorado Springs.
Most facilities at Lake Pueblo remain open year-round, unlike some other state parks, Vogrin added.
Several visitors drowned in tragic accidents on Lake Pueblo in 2022 — statewide, a record number of people drowned last year.
When asked if Lake Pueblo, given last year’s tragedies, has plans in place to help mitigate such incidents this year with the anticipated influx of new visitors, Vogrin said CPW “constantly” tries to educate people about water safety, which will “continue in earnest.”
Vogrin said CPW will continue pushing for water safety education and emphasize the importance of life jackets, which can prevent future tragedies.
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Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Lake Pueblo State Park could see additional visitors with $29 annual passes
