Bring your boat clean and dry to Lathrop State Park

If you are trailering a boat to Lathrop State Park, plan a little extra time at the entrance. Colorado Parks and Wildlife inspects motorized watercraft for aquatic nuisance species before they launch, and Lathrop runs an inspection station for that purpose. The big worry is zebra and quagga mussels, tiny shellfish that can ride in on a boat from another lake and clog water systems once they take hold.

The job for boaters is to arrive clean, drained, and dry: pull the drain plug, empty bilges and live wells, and let gear dry between waters. Motorboats and sailboats in Colorado also need an aquatic nuisance species stamp. If an inspector finds something, your boat does not launch until it is decontaminated.

This is not just a hypothetical at Lathrop. Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s aquatic nuisance species information lists Eurasian watermilfoil, an invasive water weed, as already found in the park’s waters. It forms thick underwater mats that crowd out native plants and tangle up swimming, fishing, and boating. Stopping the next invader from arriving is a lot easier than removing one that is established.

For current inspection hours, the ANS stamp rules, and the list of waters where invasive species have been found, check the boat inspection and aquatic nuisance species pages with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, along with the Lathrop State Park page.