Clear Creek
03. Lawson to Idaho Springs(Dumont)
| Difficulty | III-IV |
| Length | 7.7 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Clear Creek Near Lawson, Co |
| Flow Rate as of 32 minutes | 115 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | March 9, 2023 |
River Description
Nestled between Interstate 70 and Highway 6, just north of Idaho Springs in Clear Creek County is the Lawson and Dumont sections of Clear Creek. While this may seem like just a drainage ditch to the numerous passengers slowly creeping by on I-70, it is in reality a very fun and exciting section of whitewater sure to thrill newer and experienced whitewater enthusiasts alike.
This section starts with the nonstop roller coaster of the Lawson section, and continues with the slightly more spread out section know as Dumont. If running Lawson you will almost 100% be running Dumont as well, so these two stretches have been grouped together. While Lawson is not necessarily more difficult than Dumont, it is quite a bit more narrow and fast at higher water. It is generally recommended to run Dumont first, especially if you are newer to class IV river running.
This length of river starts to be very low runnable in the 200cfs range in a kayak, and more like 300 in a raft of 4 people. I personally don't like to run the Lawson section in a raft below 500 as it feels very boney. This section starts to lose it's 'technical' feel around 600cfs and goes full blown pushy around 800. Above 1000cfs, you're in for an amazing time that seems to be more rare as the years go by. Be prepared for some rapids to be washed out and others to have monster holes that aren't normally present. Very fun, but if you swim you will likely lose some gear!
River Features
Put In
Located at the Clear Creek Whitewater Park, this is the upper most put-in for the Lawson/Dumont section. You will have about 3/4 mile of class II-III boogie water until the first major rapid, Meat and Bones III-IV.
The whitewater park itself is just decent. Prepare for an ice cream headache everytime you roll and for the water to be fairly shallow most of the year. It is a good spot, however, to brush up on your roll or to experience a couple decent surf waves before entering the rapids.
Dumont Put In
This is the put-in for the Dumont section of river on Clear Creek. This is a very busy commercial put-in with fairly limited parking. Please do not block the buses and if you do not see parking, there is another put-in not far down the road.
There are a few miles of class II-III boogie water from here to the first major rapid of this section.
Lower Dumont Put In
This is the lower put-in for the Dumont stretch of Clear Creek. It is the better option for private put-in as it is not commercially used, has much more parking, and it cuts around 2 miles of boogie water off of the start of this section. Nomad is just 3/4 mile downstream.
Take Out
There are several places to takeout through the town of Idaho Springs. The first one is right at the intersection of I-70 and hwy 103. There are two large parking lots on either side of 103 to park in. Please pay for parking because they are pretty strict on it and it's only a couple bucks. The problem with this spot is that eddie service is basically non existant, especially at higher flows. Rafts will have a hard time stopping here.
Further downstream basically in the middle of town is the small Town Park. There is a small free lot here and a very small eddie that has a ramp for rafts. This ramp is heavily used by commercial companies so grab your boat and get out of the way.
The last option is just to combine the Town Stretch with Dumont and enjoy a nice 6 miles of read and run class 2-3 and take out at Kermits (now Two Bears).
No matter which option you choose, the day is best ended with some good food and drink in the town of Idaho Springs. Tommyknockers Brewery has a great selection of local brews!
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportChill in the rafts. Watched Eli send it clean in the pack raft. Lots of hard to see rocks in the bigger rapids. The big continuous drop at the end was rad
Ran this in a tube at 500 cfs. It was doable, but tough. It was hard to get out of the big hole on the Phoenix rapid in the inner tube. It's a fun run.
Here is an upstream view showing how close together the ledges are in the 'ledges' section of the Lawson to Dumont portion of Clear Creek. This was below the big pipe that crosses the river.
Karen punching through a typical section above the pipe in the second Cl IV section. We called this section the 'Ledges' section (between Lawson and Dumont). The holes were a good size even at this level.
Karen runs a fun ledge drop somewhere soon after the big pipe crosses the river. This one was typical in height of most of the ledges. We were able to boat scout this one. Many of the others we scouted from shore.
Karen runs the left side of one of the last ledges in the Lawson to Dumont section of Clear Creek. There also was a fun 'creekier' line down the right side.
Morresa runs one last drop before the 'ledges' section ended in the Lawson to Dumont section of Clear Creek. Note that even though I-70 runs right next to the river, it still has pretty views.
Martin runs one of the typical fun long rapids between Dumont and Outer Limits Rapid. This was a scenic section even with I-70 along the left bank.
Karen getting ready to thread the holes in the middle of Outer Limits Rapid, the rapid just before going under the highway and before town. Even at this level, the water was big and big fun.
there is an exelent park and play spot here. cartwheels and big loops are very easy. the water is freezing though you know cause it was snow the day before. it is a perfect hole. beginners to pros would love it. plus there is a lot of time to recover.
Two pretty good loops
This is the Dumont Culvert bridge put-in/take-out. And yes, people run the big culvert. It is a little deceptive. The opening is about 3 ft high, but the culvert opens up just inside the entrance to a more comfortable 'sitting up without bumping your head' height.