At a Glance
- Distance from Ouray: 10 miles / 10 min
- Features: Reservoir, fishing, kayaking
- Views: Cimarron and San Juan Ranges
- Activities: Hiking, swimming, paddling
- Camping: Available (not required)
- Season: Year-round
A Different Kind of San Juan Experience
Ridgway State Park offers something the immediate Ouray area doesn't: flat water. The Ridgway Reservoir — a 1,000-acre lake at the northern edge of the San Juans — provides fishing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, and swimming against a backdrop of the Cimarron and San Juan mountain ranges. The contrast between the canyon-walls-and-peaks experience of Ouray and the open sky and water of Ridgway is a welcome variation for multi-day trips.
The park has several miles of hiking trails with views of Mt. Sneffels and the Sneffels Range to the south — some of the best non-summit views of that mountain available from an accessible trail. The park is 10 minutes from The Lumberyard, making it a natural half-day side trip.
Fishing and Water Activities
The Ridgway Reservoir supports warm-water fishing for bass, catfish, and perch as well as cold-water trout below the dam. Several outfitters in the Ridgway-Ouray area offer guided fishing trips on the reservoir and on the Uncompahgre River. Kayak and paddleboard rentals are available at the park marina seasonally.
Ridgway State Park is an excellent option for a travel day — a half-day of easy outdoor activity before driving onward, or a mellow middle day in an otherwise active itinerary. From The Lumberyard, it's a 10-minute drive north.