| Official Name: | Twin Lakes, Lake County, Colorado |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Pushpin Map: | USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Twin Lakes |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the Twin Lakes CDP in the |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Lake County |
| Government Type: | unincorporated town |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 4.302 |
| Area Land Km2: | 4.258 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.044 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 census |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 204 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Timezone: | MST |
| Utc Offset: | -7 |
| Timezone Dst: | MDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -6 |
| Coordinates: | 39.1119°N -106.3217°W |
| Elevation Ft: | 9600 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP Code[3] |
| Postal Code: | 81251 |
| Area Code: | 719 |
| Blank Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank Info: | 2583308 |
Twin Lakes is a pair of glacier-carved alpine lakes about south of historic Leadville, Colorado. They are downstream along the Arkansas River, whose headwaters are by Leadville. The lakes, however, are on a tributary, Lake Creek, which joins the Arkansas just below the lakes. After dredging, the lakes now have a surface area of 2700acres, and they serve as a reservoir to store water for use in the Front Range. Both east and west lakes are recreation areas for boating and fishing.[4]
Twin Lakes is also the name of an adjacent census-designated place (CDP) and a post office in and governed by Lake County, Colorado, United States. The Twin Lakes post office has the ZIP Code 81251.[3] At the United States Census 2020, the population of the Twin Lakes CDP was 204.
Lake County, one of the original 17 counties created by the Colorado legislature in 1861, was named for the Twin Lakes. As originally defined, Lake County included a large portion of western Colorado to the south and west of its present boundaries. The Twin Lakes District has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974.
The Twin Lakes and the Twin Lakes CDP are located about south of Leadville, the county seat. The CDP is bounded on the east by U.S. Route 24 (US 24), on the south by Colorado State Highway 82 (SH 82, and on the north and west by County Highway 24. About 4miles west of the CDP is the original community of Twin Lakes, near the west end of what is now the Twin Lakes Reservoir. The reservoir lies south of SH 82, outside the CDP. SH 82 leads west across Independence Pass to Aspen, while US 24 leads north to Leadville and south to Buena Vista.
The altitude of the Twin Lakes area ranges from to over, all of it somewhat lower than Leadville. Mount Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado, rises directly west of the CDP to its 14433feet summit, just 6miles west of the center of the CDP.
The Twin Lakes CDP has an area of 4.302km2, including 0.044km2 of water,[1] (much less than the surface area of the Twin Lakes themselves).
The United States Census Bureau initially defined the for the