Ridgway State Park, State park in Ouray County, Colorado, US.

Ridgway State Park is a Colorado state park in Ouray County built around Ridgway Reservoir, a body of blue water held between a dark forested slope and a low brown shoreline. Beyond the water rises a broad, rounded mountain covered in dark green trees, with a distant range of jagged, partly snow-covered peaks across the horizon. The park has three entrances: Dallas Creek for day use, Dutch Charlie with camping, yurts and cabins, and Pa-co-chu-puk for fishing.

Ridgway State Park is built around Ridgway Reservoir, a lake in the Uncompahgre Valley of Ouray County. The reservoir was formed by a dam on the Uncompahgre River, part of the federal Dallas Creek Project authorized in 1968 and built by the Bureau of Reclamation. Water storage serves irrigation and the towns of the valley.

The park's three entrances each have a character: Dallas Creek is day-use only, Dutch Charlie holds the campsites, yurts and cabins, and Pa-co-chu-puk is the fishing area, where brown, rainbow and cutthroat trout are commonly caught in two ponds connected to the reservoir. The name Pa-co-chu-puk is a Ute word.

The park is easily accessible by vehicle with multiple entrances around the water's edge. Visitors should plan activities based on the season and weather, as mountain conditions can change quickly.

The park sits atop rock layers that are over one billion years old, showing evidence of ancient volcanic upheavals and past glacial sculpting. These ancient formations are visible in the cliffs that rise from the water and reveal deep time written in stone.