Visitors to local state parks say it's a sad sight -- their favorite spots littered with more trash and looking dirtier than ever before. It's what the park staff calls a direct result of the economic times.

Wes Thomason has been coming to Corn Lake with his family for years. He says he can't remember a time when he's seen it looking the way it does this year.

"It's really hard for you to come out here and want to find a good fishing spot when you walk up and all you see is debris laying right there in front of you," said Thomason.

From pieces of trash on the ground, to things floating on the river, and even old tires laying out in plain sight, he says it's getting to a point where he and others won't want to come back.

"People see it and they think, oh wow," said Thomason. "Then they drive in and it's like what are we telling them?"

James M. Robb Colorado River State Park Manager Brad Taylor says he too is frustrated the parks are getting that way, especially because it's beyond his control.

"I'm sorry that they're seeing more trash, dirty bathrooms, a lack of rangers," said Taylor. "But it's a direct result of having fewer dollars to deal with."

This year, the Colorado State Parks budget was cut by $3 million as state leaders struggled to make up for massive budget shortfalls. For Taylor, whose park encompasses areas from Cameo to Fruita, it's meant a smaller staff.

"For us to try to staff it to the levels that the public is expecting, twelve hours, fifteen hours, eighteen hours a day, we get stretched pretty thin," said Taylor.

Taylor says park maintenance was an area where he had to cut jobs -- workers, he says, that allowed them to staff and clean up parks five days a week, six hours a day.

"We're there as often as we can be, but cleaning up the trash, cleaning the toilets maybe happens three times a week," said Taylor.

It's for that reason he says the staff will have to rely on visitors more than ever to help them keep the parks clean.

"If folks could help, pack it in pack it out, it would be of great assistance to every state park," said Taylor.

Taylor says keeping the parks clean is a priority for his staff, but because of the budget cuts, most park maintenance for the summer will be on a reactionary basis.