Lago Colina

Lago Colina is a reservoir on the Río Conchos in San Francisco de Conchos municipality, southern Chihuahua. A concrete and earth-embankment gravity dam, planned in 1920, holds it back; its job is to divert water for irrigation and to even out releases from La Boquilla dam upstream, the state's largest, completed in 1915. The lake runs about 8 km long and 3 km wide, reaches depths of up to 25 meters, and lies a few kilometers from La Boquilla and from the hot-spring pools of Los Filtros. It is the first stop on Las Perlas del Conchos, a tourist route that follows the river downstream to Julimes.

Set in open desert, the lake is all about the water. People take boat rides, water-ski and ride jet skis, and it has hosted state waterskiing tournaments and speedboat races. Anglers fish for largemouth bass, carp, mojarra, catfish, tilapia and trout, and ducks and geese winter here. Along the shore there are rustic cabins, a camping area overlooking the water, palapas with grills, a playground, a restaurant and a boat landing; book a cabin well ahead in high season. On a rise above the shore, Parque El Mirador has paved walkways and pergolas looking over the whole reservoir.

A few kilometers north is San Francisco de Conchos, founded in 1604 by Franciscan friar Alonso de la Oliva as a mission and counted as the second-oldest town in Chihuahua; its church of San Francisco de Asís dates from 1710. Beside the lake is the hamlet of Colina, home to 68 people in 2020, at 1,254 meters above sea level. Over Easter week the lake ranks among the busiest outings in the state and civil protection staff patrol it; swim with care and wear a life jacket.