Trail
Carter Lake
The 1,100-acre Larimer County reservoir ten minutes northwest of town: boating, sailing, a swim beach, camping, fishing and shoreline trails. Entrance permit required.
The big water above Berthoud: a three-mile reservoir in a hogback valley ten minutes northwest of town, run by Larimer County Natural Resources with a marina, boat ramps, campgrounds, a swim beach from Memorial Day to mid-September, fishing, scuba and rock climbing, and about 1,000 acres of public land with shoreline trails. An entrance permit is required at the gate. Watercraft must be inspected. In August 2026, Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed New Zealand mudsnails in Carter Lake: clean, drain and dry boats, paddleboards and fishing gear, and expect a boat leaving the lake to need inspection, and possibly decontamination, before it goes into other water. Flatiron and Pinewood reservoirs are further up the same road.
At a glance lake · boating · camping · swimming
Checked October 8, 2026 against larimer.gov. Hours and phone numbers change fastest, so the business’s own page is the record. Report a correction · Know something opening or closing? Tell us
In the guides
Read about Carter Lake
- Carter Lake: the permit, the trails, the launch and the beach
What Larimer County charges at the gate, how the boat inspection works now that mudsnails are in the lake, which campgrounds have power, when the swim beach opens, the Sundance Trail and the state fishing license. The practical version of a day at Carter Lake.
- Explore Berthoud: six places in walking order
Mountain Avenue end to end, from a 7 am breakfast to the museum's afternoon hours, with a flat reservoir loop in between and the brewery to finish. You park once downtown and move the car only for the water.
- Berthoud with kids: the inclusive playground, the bike park, three storytimes a week
Where to take children in Berthoud, by the kind of day it is: a hot one, a rainy one, a winter one, and a Saturday downtown.
More in Berthoud
Things to do
- Berthoud Bike Park Trail
- Berthoud Reservoir Loop Trail
- Berthoud Town Park Park
- Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum Venue
- B-Rad's Arcade Venue
- Bein Park Park
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