Steamboat Lake State Park in northern Colorado centers on Steamboat Lake, a 1,101-acre reservoir on Willow Creek surrounded by 2,820 acres of park land near Hahns Peak Village. Land for the park was acquired in 1966, the reservoir was completed in 1967, and both opened to the public in 1972. Though the reservoir became a recreation destination, its dam was funded in part to provide cooling water for the Hayden Generation Station. The site also preserves an older human story: James and Rose Wheeler homesteaded here in 1921, but their home site was later submerged. Today the park combines recreation, wetlands, forests, and important wildlife habitat.