Chatfield State Park

Background | Criteria | Northwest Colorado | Northeast Colorado
Southwest Colorado | Southeast Colorado

Chatfield State Park
Douglas and Jefferson Counties

Size: 5,600 acres

Elevation: 5300 - 5500 feet

Habitats: Primary – grassland, open water, lowland riparian

Secondary – shore/bank, wetlands

Ownership: Federal (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
State (CO State Parks)

Land Use: Primary – fishing, recreation/tourism, flood control

Secondary – nature and wildlife conservation, research

IBA Criteria: 1, 3, 4 (waterfowl, heronries, landbirds), 5

Site description

Location: Chatfield State Park is located in the lower foothills of the Front Range on the southwestern edge of the city of Denver.

Vegetative/natural features: The site includes riparian woods and marshes, grasslands, and a 1,500 surface-acre reservoir at the confluence of Plum Creek and the South Platte River. Uplands are dominated by mixed prairie communities of short- and midgrasses. The reservoir shoreline, and the South Platte River and Plum Creek floodplains, support large wetland, riparian, and aquatic communities. The South Platte River flows for 3-4 miles through the site through cottonwood/boxelder woodlands, and includes several gravel pit ponds with cattail marshes along its flood plain.

Ornithological Importance

Monitors have recorded 345 bird species at the park. A rookery at the mouth of Plum Creek supports Double-crested Cormorants and Great Blue Herons. The site hosts the largest population in Colorado of breeding American Redstarts and Least Flycatchers. It serves as a swallow staging and feeding area during spring migration. The reservoir attracts large numbers of waterfowl during migration.

Breeding species:	Average #	Maximum #
Great Blue Heron	55 pairs	150 pairs
Osprey		1 pair
Swainson’s Hawk	1
American Dipper	1
Western Wood-Pewee	100 pairs
Gray Catbird	50
Lark Sparrow	10

Migrant species:	Average #	Maximum #
Peregrine Falcon	(spring, fall)
Western Grebe
Clark’s Grebe
Redhead
Wilson’s Phalarope
American Avocet
Common Poorwill
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Virginia’s Warbler
MacGillivray’s Warbler
Western Tanager

Wintering species:	Average #	Maximum #
Bald Eagle	5-10
Northern Harrier
Prairie Falcon

Research and educational activities: Audubon Society of Greater Denver has a long-term lease on a site in the park for a Nature Center, which is now in the planning stages.

Conservation/Management Issues

Serious threats:
1. introduced plants (knapweed, Canada thistle, leafy spurge);
2. pollution run-off from adjacent development.

Minor threats:
1. introduced animals (dogs off-leash).

Potential threats:
1. recreational use impact on riparian corridors;
2. development of bike and horse paths.

Efforts to address threats:
The parks department has initiated biological controls to address the knapweed that has taken over vast tracts of grassland at the site.

Management details:
The site is leased by Colorado State Parks from the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the dam, intake structure, and spillway. The site is part of the Chatfield Basin Conservation Network, and is a Colorado Watchable Wildlife site.