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This is the backside of the Estes powerplant, which we often see from the front along the road. Now what is a powerplant doing at the west/upstream end of the lake, rather than east/downstream by the dam? My guess is that, as part of the Colorado - Big Thompson project from the 1930s, it receives high pressure water from uphill, such as Marys Lake perhaps, through a tunnel. (The water starts out on the far side of the continental divide, at the Colorado River headwaters, and flows under the national park via the Adams tunnel.)

0613C2_PowerPlantPano.jpg (435 Kb) (under photos/21/0613-16_VanAndCabin/)

By Alan Silverstein, ajs@frii.com (page updated Sun Mar 9 14:33:54 MDT 2025)