Animas River rafters will soon enjoy a longer ride and a more pleasant takeout as the city of Durango works to complete Dallabetta Park sometime in the summer.
Anglers will enjoy new in-river features and a special platform for the handicapped, while picnickers will leave the bustle of the big-box stores far behind as they descend to the 6.8-mile riverside park stretching upstream from the Rivera Bridge behind Home Depot.
Alex Mickel, owner of Mild to Wild Rafting and Jeep Trail Tours, said the “fantastic” new takeout would be the downstream of the High Bridge. “It will lengthen trips for a wonderful couple of miles of river and heighten people’s enjoyment,” Mickel said. “There’s previously been no public access south of the High Bridge.”
The bulk of the cost of the park was paid by grants, including $400,000 from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, $200,000 from Great Outdoors Colorado, an $81,000 Fishing is Fun grant from the Colorado Division of Wildlife and a $1,000 donation by the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
The land the park is built on includes a little more than 3 acres donated by the Dallabetta family. The balance was purchased by the city from La Plata County for $164,000.
Parks director Cathy Metz said an in-stream J-hook of rocks has been created to perform an eddy that will allow easy takeout by the bridge. The city also will add significant parking by the takeout, which Mickel said is another major plus. He said the current takeouts don’t provide enough parking in season.
Other in-stream work has created deep pools, habitats that should reward the efforts of anglers with more reliable catches.
Metz said she was anticipating the completion of the park this summer.