Navajo State Park Brochure
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Passes and Permits COLORADO PARKS & WILDLIFE A Colorado State Parks Pass is required on all Navajo State Park motor vehicles entering the park. All passes Developed Area must be properly attached or displayed in the vehicle. An annual Pass is valid at any Colorado State Park for a year from the date of purchase. Navajo The Aspen Leaf annual pass is available to Colorado Seniors at a discounted rate. Daily State Park passes are available at the park entrance stations, self-service dispensers and ENJOY YOUR STATE PARKS ANS Inspection all State Park offices. Station Colorado Disabled Veterans displaying the Colorado Disabled Veteran (DV) license plates are admitted free without a pass, however, a camping fee is charged. All campers are required to purchase a valid camping permit. Emergencies In an emergency, contact a ranger or call the ANS Decon Archuleta Sheriff at 970-731-2160. Station Marina Dry Storage Reservations Call 1-800-244-5613 or view cpw.state.co.us to reserve campsites. Call 303-297-1192, for customer service, 8am-5pm M-F. AVAJO STATE PARK is a park that narrow gauge railway that once was the area’s offers recreation, history, wildlife and transportation lifeline. The Denver and Rio the beauty of southwest Colorado. It Grande railroad served the towns of Rosa and Nis situated just outside of the town of Arboles, the old town of Arboles, both of which now rest Navajo State Park 35 miles southwest of Pagosa Springs, and 45 under the reservoir’s surface. The Cumbres and miles southeast of Durango, Colorado. The Toltec and the Durango and Silverton Railroads PO Box 1697 • 1526 County Road 982 park’s finest attraction is the 35-mile long Navajo are today the remaining working portions of Arboles, CO 81121 Reservoir that begins in Colorado and ends in this railway. The park’s history also includes the (970) 883-2208 • E-mail: [email protected] the State of New Mexico. The reservoir’s 15,000 Ancestral Puebloans who inhabited the area as cpw.state.co.us surface acres, including 3000 surface acres on well as the nearby areas of Chimney Rock and the Colorado side, offer a challenge to the angler Mesa Verde. The area is host to an abundance of and unlimited pleasure to the boater. This is the wildlife including deer, elk, fox, beaver, muskrat, lake that some of your friends forgot to tell you river otter, jackrabbit, prairie dog and many about. They want it all to themselves.Within species of birds. During the winter months, bald Funded in part by Great Outdoors Colorado CPW_RMNJ_1.5K_3/19 the boundaries of the park lies an abandoned eagles soar above the lake. through Colorado Lottery proceeds. cpw.state.co.us Visitor Services Location Map The Navajo State Park Visitor Center exhibits a three-dimensional topographical map of the I-70 lake, Ancestral Puebloan artifacts, historical Fairplay Grand displays of the Denver and Rio Grande Narrow Junction Gauge Railroad and nature displays. The Visitor Montrose U.S. 50 Salida Center store offers books on a variety of subjects, delightful puppets of many animals found in the U.S. 550 U.S. 285 park, gift items and Navajo State Park apparel. .160 Park Rangers routinely patrol the park to provide .S U Alamosa information and assistance to visitors, and to enforce Pagosa Springs Durango 151 the rules and regulations within the park boundaries. 172 Arboles NAVAJO Community Facilities STATE PARK The nearby town of Arboles offers a gas We are located two miles south of Arboles and Colorado Highway 151 on County Road 982. station, convenience store, cafe, and a post Navajo Dam and Lake office. Medical facilities are located in Pagosa Navajo Dam, located on the San Juan River in Springs and Durango and the nearest hospital In 1981, about 140,000 acre-feet of water were northern New Mexico, is almost three-quarters is in Pagosa Springs. The park is also served taken from Navajo Lake. This amount increases of a mile long and 400 feet high. This earth and by an outstanding ambulance service from the as more blocks of land are made ready for rock-filled embankment contains three “zones” neighboring town of Ignacio. irrigation. Construction of the Navajo Indian of selected cobbles, gravel, sand and clay. The Irrigation Project was started in 1963, and the spillway, 138 feet wide in the main section, has a first project water was delivered in 1976. This Map of Park capacity of 34,000 cubic feet per second (254,320 all Indian project was designed and is being 160 .S. gallons per second). Under normal conditions, r To U constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation for the e v and Surrounding Area i R water is released into the San Juan River a Bureau of Indian Affairs. Reclamation’s Upper r d ie P unction downstream through the outlet works. Water Colorado Region, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, © JOHN THORNE JOHN © from the river is used for irrigation, municipal Piedra River mile 1 is responsible for construction management. As WATCHABLE WILDLIFE w Gauge J and industrial purposes, by oil and gas fields VIEWING AREA ro the blocks are completed, they are turned over to Nar and by thermal power plants along the San Juan the Navajo Tribe for operation and maintenance. .7 Deer Run River below the dam. Water is also released from 1 mile erlook Navajo Lake through a tunnel into an aquaduct Piedra Flats oint Construction of Navajo Dam began in July of West Piedra uan Ov es for use on the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project. 1958. The 26 million cubic yards of earth and .9 uan Flats San J Allison Arboles.8 P .8 ood rock needed for the dam were taken from 16 Arboles San.6 J S-Curv 2.2 miles To Ignacio Windsurf Navajo Lake is the principal storage reservoir for borrow areas beside the San Juan River and Cottonw Beach To Pagosa Junction the extensive Navajo Indian Irrigation Project. along benches overlooking the valley. All private This project is designed to irrigate about 110,000 land was purchased and about 50 families moved Sambrito Wetlands San Juan River acres of land on the Navajo Indian Reservation. to other locations. In the reservoir area, the small COLORADO Archuleta County New Mexico Just upstream from the dam, to the south, is an village of Rosa, New Mexico, was inundated. intake structure for a tunnel that carries water to Navajo Dam was dedicated on Sept. 15, 1962. these lands. Group Picnic Areas Fishing The park offers two group picnic areas that Whether from a boat or from the shoreline, may be reserved for meetings, conferences, fishing is great at Navajo State Park. Northern family gatherings, reunions, weddings, etc. pike, bluegill, catfish, crappie and small mouth Rainbow Trout Reservations may be made at the visitor bass lie in the shallow waters near the surface. center. Kokanee salmon and many varieties of trout are found in deep water. Hiking There are currently five trails within Navajo State If you plan to fish across the New Small Mouth Bass Park and most are appropriate for hiking Mexico state line, be sure to purchase or biking. All trails are open for your year-round enjoyment. A trails brochure is available at the your New Mexico fishing license at: Visitor Center. https://onlinesales.wildlife.state.nm.us or at our Visitor Center. Blugill Wildlife A large variety of wildlife, including deer, elk, fox, beavers, muskrats, prairie dogs, river otters, jackrabbits, raccoons and many species of birds, Regulations may be viewed throughout the year at Navajo • Fires are permitted only in permanent grills State Park. provided by the park or in fully-contained stove/grills. Never leave a fire unattended. The Sambrito Wetlands area of the park is an • Do not collect any natural materials for fires. especially beautiful place to view wildlife as it Firewood is available from the campground contains ponds, marshes and a wonderful view hosts. Please do not dump ashes on the ground. of the lake. This area is located two miles south Take them to a designated fire-ring of State Highway 151 on Archuleta County or take them home. Winter Recreational Activities Road 988. • Keep motorized vehicles on designated roads. Navajo State Park offers a variety of recreational • Observe quiet hours from 10pm to 6am. activities throughout every season of the year. Another outstanding location to observe wildlife • Pets must be on a leash no more than six-feet The Navajo Reservoir usually does not freeze in is the Navajo State Park Watchable Wildlife in length and under control. Please clean up the winter, however, in accordance with Aquatic Viewing area located next to the narrow gauge after your pets. Nuisance Species procedures, the boat ramp is railroad bridge which spans the Piedra River • Check-out time is noon. Check-in time for closed December 1st until March 1st. This is an near State Highway 151. campsites is 1:00 pm and for cabins is 4:00 pm. outstanding time to view bald eagles and mule • Riding in towed trailers is prohibited. deer in the park. A variety of environmental • Site occupancy is limited to one camping unit educational programs are offered (two tents or one motor home and one tent), at both of the above sites during six persons and a maximum of 14 days. Tents the summer months. in designated sites are allowed only on gravel pads, or in gravel driveways. Boating and Water Sports Marina Navajo Reservoir has 15,000 surface acres of The Two Rivers Marina is located just south Two Rivers Marina water and 150 miles of shoreline for your boating of where the Piedra and the San Juan Rivers pleasure.