50 traverses the northern shore of both the Iola and Cebolla Basins before crossing the reservoir south on the Middle Bridge and continuing west to the dam. The southern shore of the Iola Basin can be reached via Colorado Highway 149, which begins at an intersection with U.S. 50 at the Lake City Bridge, approximately 7 miles west of the city of Gunnison. While most of the recreational areas at Blue Mesa can be accessed from U.S. 50, the reservoir also contains a small number of facilities on the lake's deep arms, such as Cebolla Creek and Soap Creek, which can only be reached by boat or unpaved road. Recreation activities While it was the Bureau of Reclamation that conceived of the plan to impound the Gunnison and constructed the Blue Mesa Dam, it was the National Park Service that was tasked with developing and managing recreational facilities at Blue Mesa Reservoir and the two smaller lakes to the west. As a unit of the Curecanti National Recreation Area Blue Mesa Reservoir offers a number of recreational opportunities, including boating, fishing, boat-in, developed, and primitive camping, hiking, horseback riding, and hunting. A popular lake for boating, Blue Mesa has marinas at Elk Creek and Lake Fork, near the dam, both of which can be accessed by U.S. 50. Watercraft can also be launched from the Ponderosa and Stevens Creek campgrounds, and at Iola, on the reservoir's southern shore. During winter months Iola Basin is also a popular spot for ice fishing. Blue Mesa contains 8 developed campgrounds, two of which are designated for groups. These range from the 160-site Elk Creek on the main body of the lake to smaller, more remote sites like Ponderosa and Gateview located on arms of the lake. Several of the campsites can accommodate RV's, but only Elk Creek offers electrical hook-ups. Boaters may camp overnight in 4 free camping areas with a total of 9 individual sites. Boaters may also camp on the southern shore of the Cebolla and Iola Basins, as long as campsites are not within a half-mile of any developed area, bridge, maintained public road or other boat-in/backcountry campsite. In 2022, decreases in Blue Mesa's already low water level caused by drought and the need to release water to aid Lake Powell downriver led to the first cancellation of boating season as announced on May 1, 2022. Federal and state water