Camping 30 Minutes from Fort Collins – Carter Lake [PICTURES]

My wife and I went camping with her parents to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary over the weekend. We wanted to go somewhere close to Fort Collins, so we decided to visit Carter Lake just southwest of Loveland. It's about 15 minutes from West Loveland and 30 minutes from South Fort Collins.

Carter Lake a beautiful lake about three miles long and about one mile wide. It's a great place for fishing, sailing, water skiing, camping, picnicking, swimming, and rock climbing. The area requires entrance and camping permits, and is open year round.

We camped for a couple nights and really enjoyed the wildlife, like the deer that came through our campsite each night. My wife, Jenny, also heard what she believes was a bear in the middle of the night. I slept right through it, but what ever it was ripped a hole in our pop-up. (Pictured above) However, we don't really think it was trying to get into the trailer or it would have gotten in our trailer. Another highlight was taking an inflatable canoe out on the lake that we borrowed from a friend. We didn't even tip it over.

Carter Lake is part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project which brings water from the western slope to the Front Range for drinking water, irrigation, and hydro-power generation, so the water level is fairly low by the end of the summer.

A big thank you to my lovely wife for taking some beautiful pictures.