Nice for an easy, scenic hike! Water sport rentals available during on-season.

Had a great day paddle boarding just wish the motor boats were monitored for speed in such a small space some drove dangerously close to boarders and swimmers. Bad manners but no one telling them not to. A lovely resource so close to boulder. Nice staff.

Awesome little reservoir just north of Boulder. Great venue for Ironman events. If you stay at the Holiday Inn Express you are extremely close to this place. Not a lot of shade so prepare accordingly for the heat and sun. The run out towards the dam in August was brutal. For sure coming back for paddle boarding.

This place is as pretentious as most of Boulder but its not pretty or rich... What gives?? LOL!!!?Pick a different lake, a different city, and a different county to spend your money in. Ive biked around this entire reservoir and its not worth your time or money!!!! Its as dirty as is this overpriced county! Plenty of other front range counties with much more to offer. Boulder... Please pull yourself together! Geez! Nobody in Colorado likes Boulder anymore, going downhill quick!

If you value your safety on the water, I would highly discourage this lake.-5pm:My wife and I rented paddleboards from Rocky Mountain Paddleboard, and set out on the lake.-5:20pm:The weather quickly changed, and strong winds picked up, blowing us off-course across the lake. We began to look for Lake Patrol to try to signal for help.-5:45pm:My wife began struggling from exhaustion from paddling into the wind. We continued attempting to get the attention of Lake Patrol. I instructed my wife to stay put where we were at the opposite shore, and I set back across the lake to find help.-6:10pm:I got the attention of a Lake Patrol boat, and asked them if they could help my wife. They asked if my wife was injured. I said no, but that she was exhausted and struggling. They told me that it was our responsibility to make it back across the lake, and our fault for going so far away. I told them the wind blew us away, and that we had been trying to signal for help for half an hour, and hadnt seen any patrol boats near us. They told me they were watching swimmers for an event, and asked that I please exit the water.I again asked if they could please send someone to help my wife. After a few moments without a response, I said that I was going to go back and help my wife. At this point, Lake Patrol yelled at me to exit the water immediately, or else they would call the cops and have us arrested. I told them there was no need to yell at me -- I was just asking for help. They again yelled at me to exit the water immediately. I did not receive an answer from them if they would send someone to help my wife.-6:20pm:I returned to Rocky Mountain Paddleboard and informed Graham, the manager, of the situation. Graham told me that he had asked Lake Patrol to do a final sweep of the lake before 6pm, and that Lake Patrol declined.-6:40pm:The weather cleared up and my wife, along with several other paddleboarders stuck across the lake, were able to make it back. But my wife was on the verge of collapsing. She told me a guy on a jet ski had yelled from a distance if she was OK, and she responded yes. He immediately left the area. She was not injured, but worried she might pass out from exhaustion.There are so many things wrong with how this situation was handled.

No Paddle Boarding without a PERMIT, unless you rent from them. When we arrived at the entrance to pay, we were told that you needed to purchase a permit for paddleboards and kayaks to be used at the reservoir in addition to paying to enter. Very frustrating. Another reason not to go to Boulder.

Used to be better in the past before the roads were paved and the gate was put in. Its really lost its natural appeal. The county over exploits this facility with events.

It was frozen in most of the situation, still beautiful... Even the stones in parking lot casting a beautiful image in backdrop of wonderful skyline.

Great place! Plenty of room for gatherings, bbq etc.

Lots of dogs out walking and even a few prairie dogs. Great views of the flatirons

Beautiful place. But swimming isn’t open until Labor Day.

Its alright. I would not recommend going in the water because the geese have taken over it and the swim beach is regularly closed due to high levels of E. coli...

What is going on with the closed parking lots around the Res?!Not cool.

Duck feces everywhere you looked in the sand which according to the CDC contains E. coli, they really need to clean it up it’s disgusting!!!!

Great place for a group picnic, games, walking, swimming.

Very limited swimming area. I understand their reasoning for blocking off the swimming area (kids safety) but when you limit grown adults from swimming, or without any type of floats. (So dont bother bringing floats( It makes me wonder whats the point of going...Also its $7 per adult. And no dogs are allowed!

The Boulder Res is a great place to jog around. And they have the Polar Bear swim each winter and thats certainly exhilarating. Great place to get away.

A very peaceful escape from the heavy traffic in the area. Can be very windy. Dog friendly.

Permits required for all boats, paddle boards, etc. Theyre not inexpensive. Great views. It can be very crowded.

Really looked forward to seeing the reservoir. There were police and people directing traffic everywhere and they were very rude. More people than disneyworld immediately turned around. Places like this shouldnt exist in Colorado terrible experience and not very pretty either.

The reservoir itself is beautiful, accessible, and well maintained. Whether you are competing in a triathlon, walking the perimeter, swimming with the kids, having a corporate event (we have had a regular annual employee appreciation here for the last several years), or sunbathing, this is one of the best places in Boulder. The staff at the Boulder Reservoir are extremely friendly and responsive to questions, and the annual pass offerings through Parks and Rec makes the reservoir easily affordable to any family.

Dont bother bringing a float. You cant leave the kiddie zone (a.k.a. the red rope - learn it, know it, live it!). Enjoy the 10 feet out swimming area and try not to bump into other floats or people. I dont understand the vertical ropes between the swim areas either. This place is on lockdown.

Is a great place to start your day. Enjoy watching the CU rowing team do their morning practice, or visit a quieter location, whatever helps you to get a better start to your day.

This place deserves a higher rating. My husband and I loved this place so much that we went back the next day. Everyone who works here is super friendly and helpful. The lake feels wonderful to swim in, the scene is fun yet relaxing, and the rental equipment is well kept. (Equipment includes paddle boards, kayaks, and sail boats. We opted for the paddleboards) Even when there is a thunderstorm warning in the mountains, you can stay sunbathe in the park by the water. Thats exactly what we did and it gave us a chance to enjoy the volleyball tournaments and spike ball being played on the grass. As for the goose poop, its probably fertilizing the grass so we went with it. There are walking paths that are relatively free of the goose poop and nothing smelled bad anyway. Overall, it was perfectly relaxing and fun. We loved the scene here.

Wonderful place to take the kids during the summer. If you dont have a pass or group rate, it can be kind of expensive.

My sister and I can in from out of town to stay with my Aunt for a week. We were looking for something to do and came across this reservoir. BEAUTIFUL VIEWS!!! We went paddle boarding at Rocky Mountain Paddle Boarding and spent the day on the beach. Wonderful experience but BRING YOUR OWN FOOD. The ice cream scoops are the size of a two year olds fist. They were out of chicken and nachos and almost every other food item we wanted.

So I looked this place up online, and the pictures were gorgeous. But when i arrived there I was very disappointed. There was duck/goose poop everywhere. I could barely find a place to sit. And when I did, I was still disgusted by all of it surrounding me. It was absolutely gross. I don’t know why they don’t hire someone to clean up the poop. And if there is someone to clean it up, they definitely were slacking. This completely discouraged my boyfriend and I to ever return.

We came to paddle board but were told we couldn’t because they were sold out of permits until January. So not even a certain number allowed per day, but per year?! Then, they had to inspect our paddle board even though we weren’t allowed to take it out. We came to swim at the beach but were told we had to stay in a VERY small area because our little guy isn’t a strong swimmer yet and life jackets aren’t allowed in the deep end. LIFE JACKETS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE DEEP END. If you have a floaty, you can only use it in the very small shallow area and nowhere else. On the other hand, we saw 4 kids with life jackets and their own inflated boat go outside the roped area and the lake patrol went right by them saying nothing. That would normally seem fine, but goes against everything we were told. All the rules don’t make sense, are weirdly enforced and it’s not worth the $7 per person to get in. This place has the bare minimum: water and sand. That’s it.If you have a family, I would go elsewhere.

Go for the views and trails, no matter what time of year.

Was ok. Had to pay which was fine but I did not realize that the trail I was running actually leaves the Boulder Reservoir Park and becomes an off-leash dog park. Runners beware! I certainly could not out run the dogs and perhaps contrary to belief, not all dog owners can manage their dogs.

I hate to be overly critical, but generally for what one would expect to find in Boulder, this place is a disappointment and kind of a dump. In my opinion entrance should be free for Boulder residents. Recently I went stand up paddle boarding for one hour with my son and it was $52, (cost of entrance plus rental), which seemed rather excessive. I was dismayed by the lengthy set of warnings and rules, and threatened with major fines and possibly worse if I happen to float into a certain restricted are with birds or something. This should not be an issue in an open recreation area? Rope that part off maybe?Then we jumped/fell in the water while SUPing, you know, having a nice time as one would expect to do - and were immediately descended upon by PATROL told to get out of the water- NO SWIMMING outside the designated swimming area. If youre doing a water activity one would expect to fall in the water - what is the problem here? The overly restrictive, nanny atmosphere is a real obsession for them. Takes all the joy out of everything. I live here and I never come here for reasons like this. You have to rent a grill for $40?

Tried to go yesterday (7/8/17) but was unable to get in the water due to lightening. The nice thing is they did give us a rain check due to their storm watch going on for 90 minutes. Im hoping it was just an off day, but I am giving only 2 stars due to all of the animal feces -- I am assuming it is mostly from geese, but the grounds were disgusting due all that s$#! on the ground.Im going to try again, if its clean when I go back Ill change my review. If not I wont even visit again.

I went with my camp, Camp Paul Hummel. The water was perfect and warm in some areas do to the springs. There was trash and bird crap on the beach, (it has birds) but other than that, the experience was amazing.

I went there to swim. It has ample parking, lawn areas and a beach area too. It was clean and the water seemed fine. Had to get kicked out of the water and also the beach due to lightning being spotted. I didnt get it try the water much but I would go back sometime.

First paddle boarding experience! Beautiful trip

Called at 4 to double check their hours and make sure I could swim, they close at 6. Arrived at 5, paid and walked to the water- a life guard approached me and said the Head life guard had to leave at 5 and I couldn’t swim. The people at the gate had no idea... how could they not communicate this?? I left work early and had to drive from Denver. How difficult is it to give the gate (people who answer the phone) a heads up?! Waste of time and money to drive up there.I gave them 2 stars because the gate people were very nice and apologetic- will make sure that doesnt happen again!

Nice place with clean water and rentals for water sports.

Very Disappointed... To start we were very excited to have our first lake day in Boulder as new CO residents. #1 I was suprised it cost $7 a person only because of all these reasons #2 TO MANY RULES so ultimately you cant do much. #3 They give you a like 10 ft swimning area I mean Adults arent even allowed on floats more then 10 ft from the shore in the little tiny net area (swimming area). If you wanna float in the lake outside of the red Box its a $45 small water craft fee per float..Lol WTH #4 My son who is used to swimning in the ocean wasnt even allowed to swim to the floating dock (maybe only 25 feet out ) because in their swim test one of his arms didnt come all the way out of the water on a stroke. A dock that was made for fun but you can only sit on it..NO fun jumping in the water lake activities..#5 Goose poop everywhere a million lifeguards where you can barely swim and no one cleaning the place up. #6 No Pets ..Many more rules but this review is already too long.. Dont waste you time theres so many more options.

A wonderful reservoir for swimming, boating..not the ocean though!

Nice place... if it werent for the staff

Was expecting it to be much cleaner. Literally there are piles of crap everywhere including the beach. Pretty gross really. Yeah, you can see the mountains. Woopdy doo.

Went to the back area near the trees and it was great to hang out in the hammock and watch people walk their dogs or hear people jam in their boats.

We held the Google Summer picnic at the Boulder Reservoir July 19, 2012. The event went off without a hitch thanks to the organized and accommodating people behind the Boulder Parks & Recs dept.When we arrived everything we needed was waiting for us [dunk tank, tents, kayaks, canoes, ice tubs etc etc etc]. Throughout the party Res. employees came by and made sure we had everything we needed: collected our trash, refilled the dunk tank, checked the porta pottys. The price was very affordable.Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the scenery was fantastic. It was the perfect place to hold a picnic for 400 people.

Came here to Kayak. Well-maintained, pretty reservoir near the flat-irons. Storm blew in fast and I paddled to the other shore and got out. Along came the lake police and told me to get back in the kayak and paddle over to them. I complied, and was capsized when ther tired to pull me in. I lost my shoes and my phone, and very nearly lost my wallet and keys. They threw me a life jacket and made me hang out in the water until they fished the kayak out. Priorities, amirite? At least they didnt charge me for the kayak rental. :/

My first experience at the Boulder Reservoir was quite memorable. It was a brisk February day and my friends and I were eagerly awaiting our turn to dip (it was a Polar Plunge event in support of the Special Olympics). The ice was lovingly broken and cleared away so we could make our run in and out. The event was executed well and there were snacks (donuts really are the best snack. I was so happy to see these), announcers, photographers, and his and hers warming tents. After this great experience Im not sure whey it took me so long to return to see what the reservoir had to offer in the summer months.It was a hot hot h-o-t June day and being all pooled out (note: I had not yet been to the Eldorado Canyon pool) I thought Id give the reservoir a try. After all I thought Id best check on my investment (I purchased a couples yoga paddle board lesson for later this summer).The line of cars moving through the entry gates went by smoothly and we were soon in (though the directions provided by the gate staff were a bit confusing). We parked the car and made our way down to the beach.I was pleased to see that there were few patrons and the reservoir had a lake like feel (Im from Maine and I rarely think a week passed that I didnt se at least 1 natural lake in my 23 years living there). We set out our towels, took out our magazines, re-applied our sunscreen and spent the next 45 minutes convincing each other to swim out to the dock (ok my partner was the one trying to convince me).We eventually made it into the water and probably about 30 minutes (seriously I saw someone conduct an entire swim workout between the time I entered the water and eventually made it out to the dock) later made it out to the one dock that was not yet occupied. We lounged the afternoon away chatting, people watching, and enjoying small waves produced by small boats and passing paddle boarders.The next day I couldnt help but look up the fees associated with Boulder Reservoir Annual passes as well as the all popular Splash Pass.Though Ill be out of town for the 4th of July festivities I will soon be back to the Boulder Reservoir.

My kayak had a hole in it. My boat sunk in the middle of the lake. No one came to help me, nor would anyone respond to my wife, who was on shore watching me sink. Awful and dangerous. A legal landmine.

We drove all the way to boulder with our kayaks and our dogs but come to find out they dont allow dogs on that side. We have been to the other side thats by coot lake and our dogs are allowed to swim over there so it was disappointing to have came all the way down here for nothing. I will never come here again and will continue to tell people to not bother bringing their dogs. Very disappointed.

The website implied that they had charcoal grills that could be used for free. When we arrived the gate attendant said we could rent a propane grill but said nothing about charcoal.It turns out they will rent you a charcoal grill for $40.When we asked for a refund on admission because of this misinformation the attendant argued with us for half an hour.

Great place to wakeboard

Dont go on a stormy looking day. If they see lightning in the distance you cant swim.

Cool