Two Buttes State Wildlife Area
Size: 8,533 acres
Elevation: 4,248 ft.
GMU: 138, 139
County: Prowers and Baca
Fishing: Black Bullheads, Saugeye, Wipers, Largemouth Bass, Crappie, Bluegill, and Channel Catfish.
Facilities: Boat ramps, restrooms, and a rifle range
Camping: Permitted, but there are no developed campgrounds and no hookups. Drinking water may be available, but it’s advised to bring drinking water just in case.
Access: Year-round
Hunting: deer, pronghorn antelope, rabbit, pheasant, bobwhite quail, scaled quail, dove, duck, and goose.
Recreation: hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, rock climbing, and wildlife viewing.
Restrictions:
- Boating prohibited on Two Buttes Ponds below dam except float tubes or craft propelled by hand, wind or electric motor.
This reservoir and state wildlife area just east of Highway 385 and south of the Prowers county line is among the crown jewels of Southeast Colorado birding spots. Above the dam is a middle-sized reservoir lined with cottonwoods and rimrock, which can be good for ducks and grebes when high and for shorebirds when low. Below the dam is a veritable wonderland of habitats, including extensive tangles of underbrush, tall trees, marshy ponds, and grassy areas. This area can be excellent at any time of year, but especially during migration. It is also probably the best public area in Colorado to find roadrunners. Check for roosting Barn and Great Horned Owls along the cliffs. The vagrant list for this area is truly impressive. Look along the entrance road to the north for Mountain Plovers in season, and prairie longspurs in migration.
