Lathrop State Park, three miles west of Walsenburg, opened in 1962 as Colorado’s first state park on land acquired that year and was named for Harold Lathrop, the first director of state parks. Centered on Martin Lake and Horseshoe Lake, it offers fishing, boating, water skiing, a beach, wind surfing, jet skiing, picnicking, hiking, wildlife viewing, and camping. Its Walsenburg Golf Course, the only golf course in any Colorado state park, was founded in 1965 and opened in 1967 through local volunteer effort. The park has continued expanding, adding mountain bike trails in 2024 and drawing about 121,000 visitors in 2023.