It's one of the busiest state parks in Colorado, but most Puebloans already know that from watching all the power boats and trailers go by on U.S. 50 as those boaters head for Lake Pueblo State Park on a typical summer weekend.

They come from as far away as Denver, Lamar and New Mexico.

"I used to think of Lake Pueblo as a summertime place for recreation until I started working there," Monique Mills, the park manager, told an audience of water experts recently. "But we actually have year-round boating now. We're always busy."

She's not kidding. There are 1,100 boat "slips" at the park's two marinas and they're all rented and occupied. They always are. And there's a waiting list to put a boat there.

Which is why some 600 boats are put in the water at the park's boat ramps on a typical summer Saturday.

Mills said the park used to draw a robust 1.8 million visitors a year a decade ago. Last year, it tallied 2.4 million.

"That's the kind of demand we're seeing now," she said. "And that trend is just going to continue."

And it's not just Lake Pueblo. The Arkansas River has become a booming source of economic growth for communities up and down its length. There are kayak and white-water courses in Pueblo, Canon City, Florence, Salida and Buena Vista.

Rob White, manager of the Arkansas Headwaters State Park, said his crew of rangers and staff have grown from a single employee back in 1980 to nine full-time rangers to monitor the 152-mile stretch of river from Leadville to Lake Pueblo.

While the Arkansas River used to be thought of a fast-moving mountain river for trout fisherman, it's now become a highway of rafters, kayaks and even paddle-boards.

"I've seen people paddle-board surfing Class 3 and 4 rapids on the river these days,"

White told an audience of water district members, "It's just gotten crazy on the river."

Lake Pueblo State Park offers more than just boating and fishing.

Mills noted it has some rare geologic outcrops that attract scientists from around the world to look at its formations and fossils.

And there are dozens of off-road bike trails, an archery range, hunting areas and 11 miles of paved roads and trails.

Mills said the financial clout from all the tourism the lake attracts is significant. It's been estimated at roughly $120 million a year to regional businesses.

The Arkansas River remains a highly prized fishing river.

Josh Nehring is the senior aquatic biologist for the Colorado Parks & Wildlife and he says the state puts as many as 18,000 trout into the river each year east of Lake Pueblo.

So the fishing for rainbow, brown and even cut-throat trout remains strong from Pueblo east to John Martin Reservoir near Lamar.

proper@chieftain.com

Twitter:@RoperPeter