Clear Creek, West Fork

This is a great easy-access Class V steep creek located between Berthod Pass and I-70, about 40 minutes from Denver. Although the entire run is paralleled by Hwy 40, the stream bed is tucked away from the road and almost completely natural. In fact once on the water you would be hard pressed to find evidence that a major highway is nearby. Although the run is only 2 miles long, 1st timers should allow 3-4 hours because there is a lot of wood to look out for and scouting and safety can be difficult in parts.

This run wastes no time getting going and immediately drops into a mini-gorge with possibly the easiest waterfall in all of Colorado, Coors Falls (15’), at the top. Fortunately two technical ledges immediately below keep it from being a total snooze, the second one should be run in the far left slot. Below Coors Falls you’ll keep real busy the next ¼ mile in hyper-continuous Class IV/V- boulder gardens until you reach a river-wide logjam just above the Z-turn Gorge. Portage around the logjam on the left and scout Z-Turn as best you can, you have to crawl right up to the edge and peek over the 50 foot cliffs boxing in this rapid. This zigzagging little gorge is distinctly steeper at the top and bottom, with a very short lull in the middle. The upper rapid is more technical and difficult to run with out getting turned around backwards at some point. Just downstream from the Z-turn Gorge is I-40 Rapid, the only rapid visible directly from the road. This rapid is the takeout for the short run or the last chance to easily bail if you’re having a bad day, from here to the takeout the creek is a very long and steep scramble from the highway. From I-40 Rapid the manky boulder garden type rapids continue for about a mile until Gun Shot Rapid. This is the hardest drop on the run, and comes up on you very quickly, so exercise extreme caution until you’ve figured out where it is. This rapid got its’ name because the river right side of is private land and the

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