Clear Creek
09. Tunnel 1 Down(Tunnel One Down)
| Difficulty | II-III |
| Length | 2.1 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Permit | No Permit Required |
| Gauge | Clear Creek at Golden, Co |
| Flow Rate as of 32 minutes | 148 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | March 9, 2023 |
River Description
This run is a good advanced beginner, early intermediate run for those comfortable with bracing and fast water. Swims (especially above 400cfs) have a habit of being sharp but short, though gear has a habit of running a long way downstream.
There are two options for where to put in:
- Put in above (west of) Tunnel 1 at the Lower Clear Creek takeout but walk down below the diversion dam just below there. This put in allows you to run a handful of class III rapids on the oxbow around the tunnel.
- Put in below (east of) Tunnel 1 at the large dirt pullout. This allows you to bypass the hardest rapids and many crews will split and have the stronger paddlers go upstream and join weaker paddlers at this put-in.
Below the second put in, near where the river comes back to the road, the Church Ditch diversion pulls about 40 cfs out of the river. Go Right at all splits in the river to avoid going down the ditch.
River Features
Put In
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportAt 150 cfs, you can park downstream of tunnel 1 and hike up to the large eddy on river left and float most everything, but there will be at least one section of inevitable scraping.
Started just below the damn. Enough water in packrafts if you stay in the channel. Washing out from the play waves in the park can have you scraping the bottom getting back into your boat
I found that at the lower flow (~250) there is a good bit of rock navigation trying to find a line without scraping (on packrafts). At 600 this is a really fun level. It goes fast.
Since the bike path is now complete to above the tunnel, you can park at the pullout above the tunnel and walk down as far as you want. Right below the little dam there are only 1 or 2 little spots to get in the water. Otherwise you need to start at the pedestrian bridge. If you start anywhere above the tunnel, there is no warm up before you're in the action!
From the little dam to below the tunnel is fairly continuous waves and little drops, with one left hand bend where all the water piles up on the rightside wall. Once you're below the tunnel it scales down a bit. As you run into Golden it becomes calmer as you get to the constructed pool-drop whitewater features.