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Required Inspections and Boating Hours

To comply with regulations, Horsetooth Reservoir and Carter Lake require mandatory vessel inspections.

All watercraft including their motors, trailers, compartments, and any other associated equipment or containers may be inspected for exotic invasive species (Aquatic Nuisance Species) before launch or departure from high risk waters. Exclusions: hand-launched rafts, kayaks, belly boats, float tubes, canoes, windsurfer boards, sail boards or inner tubes.

Recognizing the serious impact possible from ANS, and to prevent its spread by recreational boating or any other human means, Larimer County joins Colorado State Parks and other waterway managers in a robust strategy designed to ensure sustainable recreational boating and other uses. The risk and cost are too high once ANS infestation has reached a critical level.

A boater may be denied access if not cooperating at an inspection point, or the boat may be placed under quarantine if inspectors think there is a serious risk of spreading ANS. Boaters circumventing the described procedures will be subject to fine.

The Larimer County Department of Natural Resources' program complies with the Aquatic Nuisance Species Watercraft Inspection Handbook.

Boating Access Hours

We are required to inspect every vessel entering Carter Lake and Horsetooth Reservoir. That requires specific hours of operation for boating.

No boat launching is permitted outside of these hours, however, boats already on the reservoirs may continue operation.

Carter Lake North and South ramps, Horsetooth Reservoir Inlet Bay and South Bay ramps:
April 1 - September 30, 2010: 6 a.m. - 10 p.m., 7 days a week
October 1 - October 31, 2010: 6 a.m. - 10 p.m., 7 days a week, weather permitting
November 1 - March 31, 2011: 8 a.m. - 9 a.m. and Noon - 1 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays as weather and ice conditions allow
Horsetooth Reservoir Satanka ramp:
May 26 - September 30, 2010: 6 a.m. - 10 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays, and holidays. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays except for holidays.
October 1 - October 31, 2010: Dependent upon water levels. To be announced.
Carter Lake North Pines ramp:
April 1 - September 30, 2010: 6 a.m. - 10 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays, and holidays. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays except for holidays.