On hot summer weekends, people flock to the South Platte River, donning bathing suits and carrying inner tubes to float on the water.

But with them come the cars. In the parking lot at the Platte Canyon Entrance in South Platte Park – one of the most popular entry points for inflatable boaters – hundreds of visitors on weekends have led to capacity bottlenecks.

To address parking chaos, the South Suburban Parks and Recreation District began implementing a new parking reservation and payment system this summer. But some residents are finding the new system frustrating.

“It’s kind of a part of what’s happening across the state,” said a Castle Rock resident who enjoys biking on the Mary Carter Greenway Trail. “Everything that used to be free, you now have to pay, make reservations and stuff. So everything from Hanging Lake to Rocky Mountain National Park to Eldorado Canyon State Park… Where does it stop?”

These picturesque and extremely popular places have all introduced some form of reservations to cope with the annual influx of visitors.

Visitors to the parking lot on South Platte Canyon Road, near C-470, can reserve a parking spot online in advance for $10 plus fees, or they can stop by the park entrance, where additional parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis for $13 per car.

Payment is only required on Saturdays and Sundays from June 1 to September 2 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and parking is always limited to four-hour time slots. Reservations are valid for the 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Visitors can park for free before 9:00 a.m. on weekends, after 4:30 p.m. and anytime on weekdays.

Skot Latona, manager of South Platte Park, said interest in river tubing in the area has increased significantly over the past seven to eight years, and “with that, the parking problems have gotten progressively worse.”

On July 4 of this year, about 800 people entered the river at the parking lot’s launch area, he said. On most weekends during the summer, about 200 to 400 rafters come to the area, Latona estimates.

Some of the tubercles come from other parking lots, but the visitor numbers show the demand for a parking lot with only 72 spaces.

“A lot of people were parking on the side of the road and in some of the green spaces, so the road became so narrow that emergency vehicles couldn’t get through,” he said. “It was basically just a one-lane road, so people wanting to leave and people wanting to come in were facing each other, and there was no way to get out because of the cars.”

Several years ago, the county began stationing park rangers in the area to manage park operations, but this took time away from other duties, Latona said. Then the county hired temporary workers to help manage park operations. These positions were funded through the park’s general operating budget, which in turn is funded by residents’ taxes.

The decision to introduce a parking fee and reservation system was based on the question of who should pay for it, Latona said.

“At times when there are too many people coming and we can’t keep the roads open, this system is going to have a cost,” Latona said. “The decision is: does it cost every taxpayer or does it cost the people who want to do this activity? And it seems fairer to make it a pay-to-play system.”

The Castle Rock cyclist finds it frustrating to have to pay for parking when demand is mostly coming from people using the park for another activity. He suggested that perhaps the county could mandate a shuttle service for tubing riders rather than allowing them to park in the lot.

Latona said the district has received about one complaint about the new system per week via phone call, email or Facebook comment, mostly from people who aren’t tubers. He said the vast majority of complaints expressed frustration at paying for something that was publicly built.

For the Castle Rock cyclist, the public portion is a problem. Although he knows he can park in other parking lots nearby, such as the Carson Nature Center or the Mineral RTD gas station, it’s a matter of policy for him, he said.

“This was free … and now all of a sudden you’re making this decision and it’s affecting others,” he said. “Our tax dollars funded this park, why do I have to pay to use it now?”

Latona said the district has made as many adjustments as possible in response to complaints. The district moved the reservation time from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. because many visitors prefer to come later in the morning, he said.

Additionally, Latona said the district has reduced the number of reservable spots and released more spots on a first-come, first-served basis to allow for spontaneity.

“If you feel more comfortable knowing you have a spot, then it makes the most sense to reserve now and see how conditions play out,” he said. “If you don’t want to plan as much, then I would say come early, come around nine or 9:30 and plan to get off the river before the afternoon.”

Reservations can be canceled two hours in advance for a full refund, Latona said.

He said the district does not seek to make a profit from parking. The parking fee is intended to cover the costs of managing the lot, which includes hourly workers, a parking manager and the reservation system.

If there is any profit, it will go towards improving the river access point and managing the toilets, he said.

For those interested in tubing, Latona recommends checking the river’s current by typing “PLACHACO” into a search engine and clicking on the Colorado Department of Natural Resources’ page. If the current is 50 cubic feet per second or less, he says tubing in the river is not worth it because the water level is so low. If the current is 600 cubic feet per second or more, more skill and swimming confidence are required.

At the end of the season, the district will evaluate the success of the program before deciding whether and how to implement the program again next summer, Latona said.

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