Union Reservoir: The Backyard Lake Most Barefoot Buyers Don't Hear About on the Tour
A 736-acre wakeless reservoir sits about twelve minutes from Barefoot, with a swim beach, a dog beach, and some of the easiest paddling water on the Front Range. Most people touring Barefoot for the first time have never heard of it.
By Laura Owen
Where it actually is — and why the model home tour skips it
Barefoot's marketing leans hard on the two community lakes inside the development, which are real and well kept. What it doesn't mention is the much bigger body of water sitting just west of the community. Union Reservoir is a 736-acre lake on the south edge of Longmont, off County Road 26. From the Barefoot Lakes sales center, it's about a twelve-minute drive — south on Weld County Road 5, west on County Road 26, and you're at the gate.
If you've spent your touring time on I-25 and at the Barefoot model homes, there's no reason you'd know it's there. It doesn't show up on the community map. The builders don't talk about it because it isn't theirs to talk about. But for anyone who plans to actually live at Barefoot, it changes what summer weekends look like.
The lake itself: wakeless, kayak-friendly, no jet skis
Union is a wakeless reservoir, which is the detail that matters most. Per the City of Longmont, jet skis are prohibited and motorboats are limited to wakeless speed. That keeps the surface calm enough for kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, and small sailboats — the Union Sailing Club has been based here for decades.
If you don't own a boat, Rocky Mountain Paddleboard runs daily rentals on the lake from late May through late September. Paddleboards, kayaks, and a larger group “party board” are all on the rental list. For a household weighing whether it makes sense to buy a paddleboard at all, this is a useful pressure release — you can rent a few times a season without owning the gear.
The swim beach AND the dog beach
The main swim beach is a sandy stretch on the north side, with lifeguards on duty during posted summer hours. Swimming is only allowed in that designated area and only during posted times — this is a working reservoir, not a public pool, and the rules reflect that.
The dog off-leash beach is on the south side and is one of the better dog amenities in this corner of the Front Range. Dogs can swim freely in that designated area; everywhere else in the park they need to be leashed, and pickup is enforced. For Barefoot households with a dog, this is the closest body of water where the dog can actually get in.
Fishing, if that's your thing
Union holds walleye, trout, wiper, crappie, catfish, bass, and sunfish, with shore, pier, and boat fishing all permitted. There's a fish cleaning station and an accessible fishing pier on site. A valid Colorado fishing license is required, and Longmont applies a special bag rule for wiper — they have to be 15 inches or longer to keep. Standard Colorado Parks and Wildlife limits apply to everything else.
Per Longmont's rules, water access closes from December 1 through the end of February, so this is a roughly nine-month season for boating and fishing.
Hours, fees, and whether the season pass pencils out
The gate fee is $10 per vehicle on weekdays and $15 per vehicle on summer weekends, Memorial Day through Labor Day. Personal watercraft — paddleboards, kayaks, canoes — carry a separate $15 daily fee on top of the vehicle charge. None of those numbers are huge, but they add up if you're going regularly.
The annual passes cut that math significantly. As of the most recent published rates, a season vehicle pass runs $65 for Longmont residents and $150 for non-residents, with a separate $50 / $112 trailered-boat pass. Barefoot residents fall into the non-resident column. If you expect to come more than ten or eleven times in a season — which is realistic if you have a paddleboard or a dog — the pass pays for itself.
One thing the website is clear about: Union does not allow camping. The old campsites were converted to additional day-use parking back in 2018. It's a day-use facility, full stop.
Why this matters when you're choosing where to live
None of this is a reason to buy at Barefoot by itself. But it's part of an honest picture of what daily life there actually includes. The two community lakes inside Barefoot are nice for a walk and for the view from a back patio. They aren't where you'll spend a Saturday in July with a paddleboard and a cooler.
Union is. So is St. Vrain State Park a few miles east, and so are the trails along the St. Vrain Greenway. Buyers who tour Barefoot in winter often miss this entirely, then move in and discover the warm-weather pattern of the area gradually over their first summer. If you're touring now, with the swim beach about to open for the season, it's worth the twelve-minute detour after you leave the model homes.