Twin Lakes is a pair of glacier-carved alpine lakes about 15 mi south of historic Leadville, Colorado. They are downstream along the Arkansas River, whose headwaters are by Leadville. The lakes, however, are on a tributary, Lake Creek, which joins the Arkansas just below the lakes. After dredging, the lakes now have a surface area of 2700 acre, and they serve as a reservoir to store water for use in the Front Range. Both east and west lakes are recreation areas for boating and fishing. Twin Lakes is also the name of an adjacent census-designated place (CDP) and a post office in and governed by Lake County, Colorado, United States. The Twin Lakes post office has the ZIP Code 81251. At the United States Census 2020, the population of the Twin Lakes CDP was 204.

History

Lake County, one of the original 17 counties created by the Colorado legislature in 1861, was named for the Twin Lakes. As originally defined, Lake County included a large portion of western Colorado to the south and west of its present boundaries. The Twin Lakes District has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974.

Geography

The Twin Lakes and the Twin Lakes CDP are located about 15 mi south of Leadville, the county seat. The CDP is bounded on the east by U.S. Route 24 (US 24), on the south by Colorado State Highway 82 (SH 82, and on the north and west by County Highway 24. About 4 mi west of the CDP is the original community of Twin Lakes, near the west end of what is now the Twin Lakes Reservoir. The reservoir lies south of SH 82, outside the CDP. SH 82 leads west across Independence Pass 40 mi to Aspen, while US 24 leads north to Leadville and south 20 mi to Buena Vista. The altitude of the Twin Lakes area ranges from 9200 ft to over 9800 ft, all of it somewhat lower than Leadville. Mount Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado, rises directly west of the CDP to its 14433 ft summit, just 6 mi west of the center of the CDP. The Twin Lakes CDP has an area of 4.302 km2, including 0.044 km2 of water, (much less than the surface area of the Twin Lakes themselves).

Climate

Demographics

The United States Census Bureau initially defined the Twin Lakes CDP for the United States Census 2010.