Morrow Point Reservoir

Morrow Point Reservoir
The reservoir, frozen over in winter, as seen from Hermit's Rest
Location	Gunnison and Montrose Counties, Colorado
Type	Hydroelectric Reservoir
Part of	Wayne N. Aspinall Storage Unit (Bureau of Reclamation)
Primary inflows	Gunnison River, Curecanti Creek, Blue Creek
Managing agency	Curecanti National Recreation Area (National Park Service)
First flooded	1968
Max. length	12 miles
Surface area	817 acres
Water volume	117,190 acre-feet (145 million cubic meters)
Surface elevation	7,160 feet (2,182 meters)
Settlements	Gunnison, Colorado; Montrose, Colorado
Website	https://www.nps.gov/cure/index.htm

Morrow Point Reservoir is an 817-acre artificial reservoir on the Gunnison River in western Colorado. Located in the upper Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the lake was created in 1968 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as part of a larger plan to impound the upper section of the Gunnison and create opportunities for hydroelectric power generation, water conservation, and recreation. Morrow Point Reservoir is managed by the National Park Service as a unit within the Curecanti National Recreation Area, and is the location of the Curecanti Needle, a striking 700 ft. granite spire on the reservoir’s southern bank whose unique shape was for decades a recognized symbol of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.

Morrow Point Reservoir is part of the Wayne N. Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project, a Bureau of Reclamation project that retains the waters of the Colorado River and its tributaries, such as the Gunnison, for agricultural and municipal use. The second of three reservoirs impounded for the Aspinall Unit, Morrow Point lies between the larger Blue Mesa Reservoir to the east and the remote Crystal Reservoir, to the west. Morrow Point Reservoir was created by the impoundment of the Gunnison River approximately 12 miles west of Blue Mesa Dam by Morrow Point Dam, a 486-ft. concrete double-arch dam built by the Bureau of Reclamation. Completed in 1968, Morrow Point was the first concrete double-arch dam constructed by the Bureau.

One of the most notable features of Morrow Point is the famed Curecanti Needle, a striking 700 foot tall granite spire on the reservoir’s southern shore. Located immediately west of the mouth of Blue Creek and directly across from the mouth of Curecanti Creek, the Needle was a well-known landmark to generations of rail travelers, who passed near to the spire on the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s Black Canyon route between Gunnison and Montrose. Though difficult to access, the Needle is popular with climbers, who must either use a boat or cross the frozen lake in winter to reach the base.