Paonia State Park, State park near Crawford, Colorado.
Paonia State Park is a 1,857-acre Colorado state park in Gunnison County, east of Paonia, lying in a canyon around Paonia Reservoir on Muddy Creek. The reservoir is held by Paonia Dam, a 199-foot earthen dam built by the Bureau of Reclamation. Uplands carry gambel oak shrubland with mixed conifer and aspen forest, and Cretaceous and Paleocene formations are visible in the canyon walls.
Paonia Dam, an earthen structure 199 feet high, was completed in 1962 by the Bureau of Reclamation to store water for the Fire Mountain Canal, which serves farms in Delta County's North Fork Valley. Paonia State Park was established in 1964 around the resulting reservoir on Muddy Creek.
Paonia Reservoir stores water solely for the Fire Mountain Canal, which carries it to farms in the North Fork Valley of Delta County. The reservoir takes its name from the town of Paonia, east of the park in Gunnison County. Anglers and boaters use the boat ramp and campsites around the water.
The park has 13 campsites without electrical hookups and two picnic areas positioned around the grounds. Water activities like boating, fishing, and water skiing are available year-round, though conditions change with the seasons.
Paonia Dam stores water solely for the Fire Mountain Canal, which delivers it to farms in the North Fork Valley of Delta County. Below the dam, Muddy Creek joins Anthracite Creek to form the North Fork Gunnison River.
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