LORY STATE PARK & BELLVUE-WATSON HATCHERY CLOSED

6/11/2012

DENVER -- Due to proximity of the High Park Fire, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is informing the public that Lory State Park and the Bellvue-Watson Hatchery are currently closed to the public. The re-opening will be announced via media release when authorities deem the area safe.

Evacuated on Saturday, Lory State Park has relocated all of the moveable equipment to Boyd Lake State Park. Park Manager Larry Butterfield announced this morning that the fire had reached the park. Spot fires have been seen in the neighborhood adjacent to the park as well.

Bellvue-Watson Hatchery and the research hatchery are still intact however the fire is very close to the property boundaries. The hatcheries are officially evacuated.

Additional information will be released as it is available.

Lory State Park, located in Bellvue, Colorado, offers visitors a variety of rugged terrain and the stunning vistas of the northern Colorado Front Range. The park covers almost 2,600 acres and features 26 miles of trails that lead through forest, meadows and rock-outcroppings, offering visitors great terrain for mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, bouldering and horseback riding. Additional information on Lory State Park is available at: www.parks.state.co.us/Parks/Lory.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife was created by the merger of Colorado State Parks and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, two nationally recognized leaders in conservation, outdoor recreation and wildlife management. Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages 42 state parks, all of Colorado's wildlife, more than 300 state wildlife areas and a host of recreational programs. To learn more about Colorado's state parks, please see: http://parks.state.co.us. To learn more about Colorado's wildlife programs, please see: http://wildlife.state.co.us.

For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.