A Grand Lake with a ‘Largest’ tag

Grand Lake in Colorado holds the rank of the being the largest natural lake in the state. This body of water spread over 500 acres, lies at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in the state, and lies just outside Rocky Mountain National Park. The town that grew around the lake is often referred to as the ‘western gateway’ to Rocky Mountain National Park.

An information board in Grand Lake Village says that Grand Lake is situated at an elevation of 8360 feet and that this natural lake owes its being to glaciation that took place 30,000 years ago. It goes on to say that the native Americans who settled on the banks of the lake referred to it as ‘Sprit Lake.’

Grand Lake is also known as the headquarters of the Colorado River for this is where the river takes form. The Colorado river then flows into Shadow Mountain Lake and then Lake Granby and then goes to become that river that flows 1450 miles through 5 states in the US, and then into Mexico and finally, ends up emptying itself into the Gulf of California.

Grand Lake

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I had a brief encounter with Colorado’s largest natural lake when we made a stop by its shores in Grand Lake Village on our way out the Rocky Mountain National Park. Then we drove around parts of the other two lakes as US 34 runs along their western lengths.

We were driving back towards the Denver area and I remember seeing lake water beside us for miles and didn’t quite notice where Shadow Mountain Lake ended and Lake Granby started. For sake of being fair to both lakes that lie beside the highway, and for sake of being factually correct let me just go on to subtitle the picture gallery below Shadow Mountain and Granby Lakes. 

Shadow Mountain Lake and Granby Lake

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It was in the summer of 2018 that we had stopped by Grand Lake and drove by Shadow Mountain and Granby Lakes. There had been a thunderstorm earlier that day. And there were some showers afterwards. As such, there weren’t a lot of people out on the water that evening but the boats, jetties and marinas we passed were testimony of how active these lakes were in the warmer months.

The area was nice and green and the sky was clean and clear after the rain when we passed by these grand lakes but I’m sure its a different picture in the winter.  Considering Grand Lake’s elevation and proximity to the Colorado Rockies it can quite a winter wonderland when it snows up there. 

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