Colorado's Abandoned Towns Iola
Updated: Sep 3
Date of site visit: August 9, 2026
This is the first of a series of posts exploring Colorado's Abandoned
Towns--better known as ghost towns.
Today's town: Iola, Colorado
Iola has fascinated me for years.
The idea that an existing town could be deliberately
abandoned—not because its residents wanted to leave,
but because the Gunnison River would be dammed downstream,
flooding the valley and turning their homes and land
into the bottom of a reservoir—seemed unbelievable.
Yet it happened.
That's the story of Iola.
I've driven by the Blue Mesa Reservoir countless times while traveling through Colorado exploring the region and more so since moving to the Western Slope in 2020. Every time we drove by, I tried to imagine what the remnants of the town looked like under those cerulean blue waters and during the winter, under the thick sheet of ice covered in snow.
Blue Mesa Reservoir was created in the 1960s by the Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Wayne N. Aspinall Unit under the Colorado River Storage Project.
Its purpose is to store water for Upper Basin states, provide irrigation water, control floods, and generate hydroelectric power.
The winter of 2025–2026 brought exceptionally poor snowpack to much of the West, and the Gunnison Basin was hit particularly hard. Combined with a lack of spring and early-summer rain and record warm temperatures, the poor runoff resulted in historically low water levels at Blue Mesa Reservoir during the summer of 2026.
On August 9, the day of our visit, Blue Mesa held only about 27 percent of its active storage capacity.
And in rare periods of water this low, something remarkable happens.
The remnants of Iola begin to emerge
Which gave me an opportunity I had wondered about for years—to walk on the ground where the town once stood.
Driving Hwy 50 east is always a treat. The area is filled with some of Colorado's most scenic views. Canyons, rock structures, great iconic ranches, and Blue Mesa which is part of the Curecanti National Recreation Area
Once we reached Blue Mesa Reservoir, the low levels were evident but not so much so as when we reached the eastern part of the reservoir where the town had been.
We turned onto Hwy 149 (Lake City Bridge) and followed the paved hwy to the Iola boat launch. We've been to this boat launch before and had been able to walk on the floating ramp to view the lake from its southern bank. Today the ramp is out of the water and resting on the cement slope leading to the water. A sign warns visitors that boat launching is currently Hand Launch Only. Vehicles are not allowed to drive to the bottom of the launch at this low level.
It's a partly cloudy day with more haze from surrounding fires than clouds. The wind is blowing but not unbearably so. The current events are evidenced by the sight of helicopters carrying water from the west side of the reservoir to help contain fires burning in the area.
Looking out toward the reservoir from the parking lot, it's apparent that the water receded in stages as the banks of the reservoir have growing vegetation which is greener more verdant in areas higher up the banks. The areas without vegetation are a lighter color where the dirt has had time to dry and darker where the ground is still moist. Its circular rims leading to the center appear as terraced landscaping.
As my husband and I were viewing the Iola location with our binoculars, a National Park Service ranger approached and asked if we'd like to walk down to the location. We spoke with him for a few minutes, nice guy. I was all in on walking to the location, my husband stayed behind with our dog, Jeep, and to chat more with the ranger. I couldn't miss this opportunity, it was why I came. I wanted to see the foundations and other structures firsthand and to walk on the ground that had once been a town where people farmed, ranched, ran a county store, went to school, where they basically lived their lives.
Historical Iola's location: Approximately 38.4750° N, 107.0973° W at an elevation of roughly 7,523 feet.
The walk down the steep ramp was fairly easy and the small slope off the right side of the ramp was minimal. The Hwy 50 traffic across the lake was a distant hum.
As I stepped onto the soil that is usually covered with water, my mind immediately traveled backward. Back to the years before the early 1960s when Iola was a real town filled with real people.
Had those who lived there walked exactly where I was walking now?
Iola was founded in 1896. A small town--roughly 10-15 homes and buildings--but it served people scattered across the ranches and resorts for miles. Known features included a general store, railroad depot, cattle-loading pens, school, hotel, and lookout tower. The town did not join the electric grid until the mid-1940s. Several of the outlying ranches generated their own electricity.
Iola served the area with:
A railroad stop and freight connection along the Gunnison River corridor.
The cattle-loading pens served the surrounding ranch country
A store, school and services for the scattered rural population
A gateway to a remarkable network of fishing and hunting resorts along the river
Congress authorized the Colorado River Storage Project in 1956. Land acquisition for the Blue Mesa Project began in 1961, along with dam and highway-relocation work.
Iola was abandoned in the early 1960s. Most of the structures were dismantled or burned rather than left to float when the reservoir filled. Blue Mesa Dam was completed in 1966. The reservoir began filling that year. Iola and another smaller town west, Cebolla were flooded. Sapinero, a larger town further west, was moved uphill. The eastern basin of the Blue Mesa is called Iola Basin.
The National Park Service estimates that 200-300 people were displaced by the Blue Mesa project across the affected towns, ranches, and resorts. People who had enjoyed the amazing views of the area. Who had relied upon the abundant fishing in the Gunnison river and the fertile soil of what was once a thriving valley.
Residents were given fair market value for their homes and property, but many were not interested in the money, they wanted to keep the generational homes and property they grew up with and their parents before them.
Today, there is not much to identify that a town actually existed here. Yet, if you know the history and look carefully, there are tell-tale signs. As I glanced around, it was evident that this land was not virgin land. Within a few minutes, I saw a distinct cement foundation. Was this the schoolhouse? Or a residence? People had been here.
Pieces of broken china, metal objects in various stages of rust were strewn about in various locations.
Man-made bricks were embedded in the soil, some intact, some broken in half, or in pieces. An old shoe sole. The rocky mound where the original lookout tower was perched is unmistakeable.
I was quickly absorbed by Iola.
Could the few photos of the original town tell what this town was like?
As I walked closer toward the center of the reservoir the ground texture changed. Not as grassy, more dusty then softer as I approached the area that had very recently been still covered with water. Ironcially, the smell was a surprise. Usually in Colorado when the waters recede. The ground is rocky, hard and only smells a bit dusty, earthy. Not today, the putrid stagnant swampy marshy scent reminded this Louisiana gal of the marshes and bayous she grew up with. It provided the stark reminder of where I stood. There was water trapped in low-lying areas of the lake that had not had the sun's rays to dry them out yet. For a moment, walking there felt almost intrusive--as though I was trespassing and had wandered into a place that still belonged to the people who had once called it home. The appearance of farm tools, hinges, and other day-to-day implements sent my thoughts reeling. Who had used these? Why had they left them? Could they not have been used in their new location?
Remains of Iola's truss bridge pilings on the north side of the reservoir. View of the Iola boat ramp. To the left is where the town had been Our picnic lunch spot under the bridge.
BEFORE YOU GO
Now is a good time to visit the reservoir and walk where Iola stood. It's easy to access by any vehicle. Paved Hwy 50 to paved Hwy 149 to the Iola Boat Ramp. It has a paved parking lot with Park Service restrooms, picnic tables, and a fish cleaning station. The walk down the steep cement boat ramp and back up requires the most effort. Going down wasn't bad, coming back up may require several rest breaks. Would not recommend to someone who has difficulty with severe arthritic hips and knees and has difficulty breathing at high altitude climates during exertion. But even if you can't walk bring binoculars, there are items to be seen from the elevated parking lot.
If you make the walk, remember that this is both an exposed reservoir bed and a historic site. Conditions can change quickly, and areas that look dry may still be soft or unstable. Look, photograph, wonder—but leave artifacts exactly where you find them. They are part of Iola's story.
Take only photos. Leave only Footprints.
What surprised me most about the site?
The smell.
It was one of those unexpected Where the Bayous Meet the Mountains moments.
The smell of the exposed lakebed immediately brought back a childhood memory from Louisiana, when the canal behind our house was dredged. The dark mud pulled from the bottom of that canal had the same earthy, stagnant, marshy smell as the exposed bed of Blue Mesa Reservoir.
For just a moment, standing high in the Colorado mountains, I was transported back to the bayous of my childhood.
And then there was another Bayous Meet the Mountains moment—one I didn't even notice until later, when I looked more closely at a photograph I'd taken. Among the remnants scattered across the lakebed was a small fragment of china. Thankfully, it was already lying face down, because molded into the back was a fleur-de-lis.
Of all the things I might have found there.
I'm always grateful for those unexpected connections between the two places I love. I never go looking for them, which somehow makes them even more meaningful when they appear.
What I couldn't stop wondering about?
The people.
Who lived and worked here? What did their ordinary days look like?
Standing near the bottom of the reservoir, perhaps on ground where some of them once stood, I had the remarkable opportunity to see the landscape much as they would have seen it during this season. I tried to imagine the surrounding hills dressed in the changing colors of fall, then covered with snow in winter.
For them, these weren't scenic views glimpsed during an afternoon adventure.
This was home.
Then & Now
What did Iola leave behind?
Not much, at first glance.
A few concrete foundations. Broken bricks. Rusted pieces of metal. Fragments of china. The rocky mound where the lookout tower once stood. Scattered reminders of ordinary lives lived in an extraordinary place.
But I think Iola left behind more than that.
It left the imprint of families who built homes here, children who went to school here, ranchers who shipped cattle from here, fishermen who came to the Gunnison, and people who probably never imagined that one day their valley would lie beneath the waters of a reservoir.
For most of the year, Blue Mesa hides nearly all evidence that Iola ever existed. But every once in a while, when the water recedes far enough, the town quietly returns.
Not as it was, of course.
Just enough to remind us that it was.
That's what makes places like Iola worth searching for. Ghost towns aren't really about buildings. They're about the people who are no longer there—and the stories the land refuses to completely erase.
I came to Iola hoping to see the remains of a town.
I left wondering about the people who once called it home.
And I have a feeling that's going to happen often as we explore Colorado's ghost towns.
LEARN MORE
BOOKS
NONFICTION
BENEATH BLUE MESA BY DAVID M. PRIMUS-Documentary of the Gunnison River Valley. Includes over 200 photographs and many stories of life in the valley before the reservoir.
FICTION
GO AS A RIVER BY SHELLEY READ-A historical fiction novel set in Iola.
Thank you for reading.
May God abundantly bless you and may He always keep you.
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