Reservations Required

Heading out to hike or climb at Eldorado Canyon State Park or the Brainard Lake Recreation Area? Better plan ahead—it’s not as simple as it used to be.

Brainard Lake, the Boulder Ranger District’s most popular destination, has implemented a reservation system requiring all visitors arriving by vehicle, multi-passenger van, bus or motorcycle to have a timed ticket, available at recreation.gov. You’ll be out of luck if you show up without one; they’re not available on-site.

A pilot program to require advance reservations for timed vehicle entry in Eldorado Canyon State Park during summer weekends and holidays is likely to start in August (the commission hadn’t set an exact date at press time). Day passes to drive into Eldorado Canyon for two hours will be available at CPWshop.com.

You won’t need reservations if you use the RTD shuttle service to Eldorado Canyon, which stops at all the Boulder Park-n-Rides. Learn more: bouldercounty.org/transportation/multimodal/eldoshuttle