Lake Dillon

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View of Lake Dillon

Lake Dillon is a mountain reservoir located in Dillon, Summit County, Colorado. It is about 70 miles (112 km) west of downtown Denver along Interstate 70.

Lake Dillon (a.k.a. Dillon Reservoir) is a popular camping destination, located 10 miles (16 km) west of the continental divide. It is also a great place to go boating and fishing seeing as there are lots of shallow areas in the lake and multiple small islands. The elevation of the reservoir is 9017 feet (2748 m) above sea level.

Completed in September 1963, Dillon Reservoir is the largest water storage facility in the Denver Water system. The reservoir's capacity is over 250,000 acre-feet, equivalent to over 82 billion gallons (310 billion liters).

Building the dam required relocating the entire town of Dillon, and a hydroelectric plant. The project diverts water from the Blue River Basin through the Harold D. Roberts Tunnel under the Continental Divide into the South Platte River Basin.

Dillon Dam is an earth-fill dam, 5888 feet (1794 m) long by 231 feet (70 m) above the Blue River stream bed. Dillon Reservoir's surface area of 3233 acres (1308 hectares) and 26.8 miles (43 km) of shoreline support many recreational activities.