Green Mountain Reservoir lies at the northern end of Summit County, Colorado

Summit County, Colorado

Summit County is the 19th most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 23,538 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Breckenridge...

 along the Blue River

Blue River (Colorado)

The Blue River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in the U.S. state of Colorado.It rises in southern Summit County, on the western side of the continental divide in the Ten Mile Range, near Quandary Peak. It flows north past Blue River and Breckenridge, then through the...

. Built between 1938 and 1942 as part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project

Colorado-Big Thompson project

The Colorado-Big Thompson Project is a water diversion project in Colorado designed to collect West Slope mountain water from the headwaters of the Colorado River and divert it to Colorado's Front Range and plains...

, the reservoir and its dam store water that is diverted to the cities in the Front Range Urban Corridor

Front Range Urban Corridor

The Front Range Urban Corridor is an oblong region of urban population located along the eastern face of the Southern Rocky Mountains in the U.S. states of Colorado and Wyoming. The corridor derives its name from the Front Range, the mountain range that defines the west central boundary of the...

. Behind the dam is a hydroelectric power plant that has a 25.8 megawatt capacity.

The reservoir has a capacity of 154645 acre.ft of water. At maximum capacity, the elevation of the lake is 7,950 feet, and the dam is 309 feet high.

The lake is popular with anglers, who catch rainbow trout

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

, brown trout

Brown trout

The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....

, and kokanee

Sockeye salmon

Sockeye salmon , also called red salmon or blueback salmon in the USA, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it...

.
Colorado State Highway 9 follows the east side of the lake. The town of Heeney

Heeney, Colorado

Heeney is a census-designated place in northern Summit County, Colorado, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 76.It is situated on the hillside along the west side of Green Mountain Reservoir, in the valley of the Blue River, between Kremmling and Silverthorne. It is accessible...

lies on the western side.