{"id":2350,"date":"2019-05-08T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T00:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visitgrandcoun.wpengine.com\/articles\/5-majestic-things-to-do-on-the-lakes-of-grand-county\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T09:53:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:53:10","slug":"5-majestic-things-to-do-on-the-lakes-of-grand-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/blog\/5-majestic-things-to-do-on-the-lakes-of-grand-county\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Majestic Things to Do on the Lakes of Grand County"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Water_Hero-7-1024x576.png\" alt=\"Two people paddling kayaks on a lake with trees in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-2888\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Water_Hero-7-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Water_Hero-7-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Water_Hero-7-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Water_Hero-7-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Water_Hero-7-1529x860.png 1529w, https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Water_Hero-7-800x450.png 800w, https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Water_Hero-7-600x338.png 600w, https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Water_Hero-7-711x400.png 711w, https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Water_Hero-7.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If the Rocky Mountains are the soul of Grand County, than the lakes are certainly the heart. With their pristine deep waters and seemingly endless miles of shore, the &#8220;big three&#8221; located in the center of the county \u2014 <a href=\"\/explore\/lakes-and-rivers\/grand-lake\/\">Grand Lake<\/a>, <a href=\"\/explore\/lakes-and-rivers\/shadow-mountain-lake\/\">Shadow Mountain Reservoir<\/a> and <a href=\"\/explore\/lakes-and-rivers\/lake-granby\/\">Lake Granby<\/a> \u2014 garner most of the attention, and rightfully so. Their facilities for boaters, lurking trophy trout and endless potential for escape make them a vacation favorite for many. But don&#8217;t be fooled. Scattered across the county you&#8217;ll find several other lakes offering solitude and your own slice of summer majesty. Here are the top things to experience on the lakes of Grand County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1.\u00a0Grand Lake Yacht Club<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Grand Lake holds a unique distinction. It is home to the <a href=\"https:\/\/grandlakeyachtclub.wildapricot.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Grand Lake Yacht Club<\/a>, the highest yacht anchorage in the world. At 8,366 feet in altitude, the idyllic lake&#8217;s winds range from strident to as mellow as a John Denver song. Sailors enjoy both sides of the lake&#8217;s personality; one look at the views of Mount Craig from the water and you&#8217;ll see why. The Grand Lake Yatch Club is only available for home owners, but even if you are not a member you can still drop anchor in Grand Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Pontoon Boat Rentals on Lake Granby<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Few lakes in Colorado are more conducive to lounging on a pontoon boat than Lake Granby. As the second-largest body of water in Colorado, it affords several bays and inlets to explore, and stunning scenery to boot. But perhaps its best attribute for boaters comes after sunset, when a banner of stars emerges. Lie on the deck and count shooting stars as long as you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Grand Lake 4th of July Fireworks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As you watch the annual fireworks burst over Grand Lake, you&#8217;ll notice that you are watching two shows: one in the sky, the other reflected in the waters. Take a boat out onto the lake or watch the display from the shore. You can&#8217;t go wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Kayak On&nbsp;Monarch Lake<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While the big three lakes of Grand County offer ample solitude in quiet corners, several other lakes in the county offer exceptional <a href=\"\/play\/water-sports\/boating\/\">kayaking and canoeing<\/a>. Monarch Lake tops that list, with osprey and moose sightings a regular occurrence. From here, you can also pair your kayaking adventure with a day of hiking on National Forest Trails. Other hot spots for lake kayakers and canoeists include Willow Creek Reservoir, Grand Lake and <a href=\"\/explore\/lakes-and-rivers\/wolford-mountain-reservoir\/\">Wolfold Mountain Reservoir<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Lake Granby Trout Fishing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The deep waters of Lake Granby harbor <a href=\"\/play\/fishing\/\">some monster lake trout<\/a>. Anglers in recent years have reported an increase in lake trout catches, and the Division of Wildlife encourages a four-fish bag limit (especially trout under 19-inches in size). Other lakes in the county boast productive brown and rainbow trout fisheries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If the Rocky Mountains are the soul of Grand County, than the lakes are certainly the heart. With their pristine deep waters and seemingly endless miles of shore, the &#8220;big three&#8221; located in the center of the county \u2014 Grand Lake, Shadow Mountain Reservoir and Lake Granby \u2014 garner most of the attention, and rightfully [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2350"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10500,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2350\/revisions\/10500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitgrandcounty.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}