lakedates.com

Colorado · USBR / Northern Water (C-BT); recreation by Larimer County

Horsetooth Reservoir water level

Today's reading against full pool and Horsetooth Reservoir's own seasonal history.

Searched “Horsetooth lake level” or “lake level for Horsetooth Reservoir”? Same lake, same reading — you're in the right place. The current reading is right here too, whether you typed “current Horsetooth Reservoir water level” or “current water level at Horsetooth Reservoir”.

FULL POOL 5360 5380 5400 5420
Elevation, feet (operator datum)

as of September 22, 2026

5410.42 ft operator datum

level 19.6 ft below full pool — on the high side for late September

Reading comes straight from Bureau of Reclamation RISE (Reclamation RISE item 87) and updates live when you load this page.

Is Horsetooth Reservoir full?

Not quite — 19.6 ft below full pool as of September 22, 2026

How full is Horsetooth Reservoir? Not as a percentage: no storage figure comes through with this gauge reading, and a share of capacity worked out from the elevation alone would be a guess — how much water a reservoir holds at a given level is a curve only the operator's own capacity table knows. Feet from full pool is what the operator publishes, and it is the figure above.

Horsetooth Reservoir through the year

The band is the lake's own normal: where the level has run on each calendar day, 1986–2026. The summer drawdown — and how this year sits in it — shows up without reading a single number.

full pool 5360 5380 5400 5420 JFMAMJJASOND
Median and normal range by day of year, 1986–2026 · elevation, feet (operator datum)

This year vs the years that matter

This year's trace against last year and the driest and wettest years on record — the drought-context question every lake regular asks.

full pool 5300 5350 5400 JFMAMJJASOND
  • 2026 (this year)
  • 2025 (last year)
  • 1997 (wettest on record)
  • 2002 (driest on record)

Full pool, datum, and the gauge

"Full pool" here means the conservation pool — the level the lake is designed to hold for water supply and recreation, not the flood-control space above it. The full explainer covers flood pool and dead pool too.

Full pool 5430.00 ft operator datum · per USBR / Northern Water (C-BT); recreation by Larimer County full-pool reference
Gauge Reclamation RISE item 87 · Bureau of Reclamation RISE
Datum operator datum — Larimer County: 'water elevation is 5,430 feet full and 5,341 feet empty'.
Last verified August 15, 2026

LakeDates reports lake level, not ramp status. Whether a given ramp or marina is usable at this level varies ramp by ramp — call the marina before you tow.

Quick answers

What is the lake level for Horsetooth Reservoir today?

Horsetooth Reservoir is at 5410.42 ft (operator datum) as of September 22, 2026 — 19.6 ft below full pool — on the high side for late September.

Is Horsetooth Reservoir full?

Not quite — at 5410.42 ft on September 22, 2026, Horsetooth Reservoir is 19.6 ft below its full pool of 5430.00 ft (operator datum).

How full is Horsetooth Reservoir?

Not as a percentage: no storage figure comes through with this gauge reading, and a share of capacity worked out from the elevation alone would be a guess — how much water a reservoir holds at a given level is a curve only the operator's own capacity table knows. Feet from full pool is what the operator publishes, and it is the figure above.

What is full pool for Horsetooth Reservoir?

Full pool (the conservation pool) for Horsetooth Reservoir is 5430.00 ft operator datum, per USBR / Northern Water (C-BT); recreation by Larimer County full-pool reference. Levels above it use flood storage; levels below it are drawdown.