Paonia State Park

Paonia State Park
Anthracite Campground in the park (2025)
LocationGunnison County, Colorado, USA
Nearest cityPaonia, Colorado
Coordinates38°58′58″N 107°20′44″W / 38.98278°N 107.34556°W / 38.98278; -107.34556
Area1,857 acres (7.52 km2)[1]
Established1964
Visitors54,333 (in 2021)[2]
Governing bodyColorado Parks and Wildlife

Paonia State Park is a Colorado State Park located in Gunnison County east of Paonia, Colorado. The 1,857-acre (7.52 km2) park lies in a canyon surrounding Paonia Reservoir on Muddy Creek and was established in 1964.

Facilities

Park facilities include campsites, picnic sites and a boat ramp.[3]

Geology, flora and fauna

Geologic formations from the Cretaceous and Paleocene periods are visible in the park, along with fossilized palm fronds and leaf imprints. Park uplands are gambel oak shrublands along with mixed conifer and aspen forests. Commonly seen wildlife include mule deer, elk, cottontail rabbit and marmot.[3]

Dam

Paonia Reservoir's[4] dam, Paonia Dam, impounds Muddy Creek. The dam's NID ID is CO01691. It stores water exclusively for the Fire Mountain Canal, a ditch that delivers water to agricultural users in the North Fork Valley of Delta County, Colorado. The dam was built by the Bureau of Reclamation. It is an earthen dam that is 199 feet (61 meters) high, stores 23,230 acre-feet (28,650,000 cubic meters) of water, and was completed in 1962.[5][6]

Streams

Below the dam, Muddy Creek joins with Anthracite Creek to form the North Fork Gunnison River.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Paonia State Park, Crawford, CO". Colorado Parks and Wildlife. n.d. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  2. ^ "Colorado State Parks Region Annual Visitation Report" (PDF). Colorado Counties, Inc. 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 4, 2024. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Paonia State Park [brochure]". Colorado Parks and Wildlife. 2024.
  4. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Paonia State Park
  5. ^ "Fire Mountain Canal and Reservoir". Hotchkiss, Colorado: Fire Mountain Canal. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
  6. ^ "Paonia Dam". National Inventory of Dams. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. October 22, 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
  7. ^ "Paonia Dam". Projects & facilities. Bureau of Reclamation. n.d. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
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