Boulder Creek

05. Eben G Fine Park to CU Greenhouse(Town Run)

Reach banner
DifficultyII-III
Length3 mi
Avg Gradient52 fpm
GaugeBoulder Creek at North 75th St. Near Boulder, Co
Flow Rate as of 25 minutes
32 cfsbelow recommended
Reach Info Last UpdatedJune 4, 2024

River Description

The Boulder Creek town run is an after-work gem while it is runnable, usually from the end of May until early July in a good water year.

There are a couple of put ins above Eben G. Fine Park.  The first is just above the diversion above the first footbridge at the gravel parking lot. You can drop in via seal launch off the concrete structure, shoreline, or just below the diversion (kayak safe).  The first section from the diversion to the first big drop / slide is class II/III (flow dependent) boogy water.  Lots of boofs and eddys at flows >200cfs. Springtime has lots of branches and periodic trees in the creek.  The City of Boulder has a cleanup crew taking care of debris.  Higher water washes out wood debris.

The first 8-10 drops above Eben G. Fine Park happen in quick succession. Boaters without a solid roll may want to put in at the park to skip the first section, especially at higher flows.

The run starts out with a couple hundred feet of fun, shallow boogie water. The entrance to the first drop is right of center. The entrance to the second drop is further right and gets boney below 350cfs. The funky hole at the bottom catches a lot of people off-guard.

The next several drops are less steep but some of the holes get sticky around 500 cfs. Right under the first footbridge you paddle under, there is a hole that is best run on river right.

Once you get to Eben G. (where you pass under a second footbridge), the defined drops become less frequent. The most popular spot for surfing is the shallow but nicely retentive Library hole about halfway down the run, where you will usually see a lot of people hanging out.

Below Library hole, there is signage to stay right due to a lowhead dam on river left. After passing under the bridge, you'll want to get left below the dam to avoid rebar.

Boulder creek is an extremely popular place for non-boaters to hang out. You may end up reuniting at least one tuber with their recirculati

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River Features

Put In

Distance: 0 mi
Put In

Take Out

Distance: 3 mi
Take Out

Fun to the library around 300. 200 on the closer gauge (https://dwr.state.co.us/Tools/StationsLite/BOCBROCO?params=DISCHRG). Ww park is still good fun at this level.

Update to add: Meh at 150. Enough water to make it from the top to the library, but not without a decent number of bumps. Features are shallow enough to prevent a real paddle stroke on most drops/lips.

Was pretty full on in packrafts @ 620 cfs (590cfs on the gauge that's actually in this segment). We had frequent long swims bc the holes are sticky and the eddys are much harder to swim to w the faster current. Normal kayaks seemed fine.

The whitewater park still had enough water in the channel to run in packrafts, but there were definitely the occasional bumps and some  boulder dodging in shallower sections. Drops were fine in packrafts, but better at higher flows. 30 mins per lap from the dam to below eben and back.

DM
David May

Jun 12, 2016


UPDATE |

DATE: SATURDAY JUNE 11th 2016. This tree has been removed!
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DATE: THURSDAY JUNE 2nd 2016. WARNING/HAZARD/STRAINER: Downed tree spanning the riverbed between 6th Street and 9th Street bridges. LOCATION: Adjacent to the Evert Pierson Memorial Kids' Fishing Pond. SEE PHOTOS.

DM
David May

Jun 2, 2016


UPDATE 06/11/2016 This tree/hazard was removed! | DATE: Thursday June 2nd 2016. WARNING/HAZARD/STRAINER: Downed tree spanning the riverbed between 6th Street and 9th Street bridges. LOCATION: Adjacent to the Evert Pierson Memorial Kids' Fishing Pond, scout from bike path at 1 kilometer/0.6 mile marker.

Craig Irwin
Craig Irwin

Sep 24, 2013


Looking upstream from the 6th St Bridge near the Judicial center. Brown in Boulder from 9/18/2013

Craig Irwin
Craig Irwin

Sep 18, 2013


Downtown Boulder from the peds bridge near the homeless hodown around the Library. 9/18/2013