Lower Boulder Canyon
EddyFlower - Kayaking information for the addicted.EddyFlower - Kayaking information for the addicted.
Lower Boulder Canyon
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Run Length 6 miles Average Gradient 136 fpm
Difficulty Class IV Recommended Flow 250-450 cfs
River Boulder Creek Location Boulder, Colorado, United States
Author Joshua Mack Current Flow & Weather
N/A
Drainage South Platte Elevation 5740ft to 5370ft
 
Lower Boulder Canyon (called Upper Boulder Creek in CRC II) is the quintessential after work run for Boulderites. This run has several different put-in options, basically any dirt pullout near the creek will do, but the most popular is 4-mile canyon, at the end of the bike path.

If you put in up high, you can get several miles of whitewater, but there are more hazards to deal with. You can put-in up as high as the take-out for the Upper Boulder Canyon run and get a 6 mile run in. Just keep driving up the canyon until you see an obvious BLUE bridge near mile Marker 34. Put in about a 1/4 mile above the bridge near the base of a BIG Class V/V+ rapid. Watch out for the bridge at the Red Lion Inn, they did the cheapest bridge possible by tossing some big culverts in the creek and putting dirt over them. The culverts filled up with wood in 2003 and the bridge almost washed away. Also there are two low-head dams near the power plant, but they are runnable.

The first couple miles below 4-mile has no real defined drops despite the high gradient. All the rapids are easily read and run. At Elephant Buttress there is an excellent play hole, but if you don't have a super-fast roll you won't catch the eddy and you will be in Elephant Buttress Rapid (IV+). Elephant Buttress is long, technical, and fast. If you haven't been down this rapid before it is worth a scout. Even at high flows, it is still rocky and shallow. If you flip, you will almost certainly hit a rock. The small low-head dam that used to be above the park has now been removed.

The playpark itself is not very good unless you like sticky, shallow ledge holes. It was built a long time ago and needs some work. Widowmaker has also been removed this year (06) but there are still plenty sticky holes to get window-shaded in. Some of the drops downstream in town offer better play than the park itself.

Flow Information:
Elephant Buttress can be run under 200 cfs but its not really a good idea. 250 is a good min. 350 is better. 450+ is really good (but be careful of the low head dams on the upper section). If you are ELF boating, you may want to just put in above Elephant Buttress because the rapids above it get really bony.

Boulder Creek does not start running until late- even later than other Front Range Creeks. This is because it will not run until Barker Reservoir fills and spills (unless there is a lot of water coming out of the North Fork). This means late May in a typical year. The level changes will change with snowmelt over the course of the day. The day’s runoff will not get to Boulder until about 6:00, so late evening runs can be the best.
Lower Boulder Creek
Paddler: Dan Welch Photographer: Cindy Kuznik
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