South Platte

In Colorado’s South Platte River basin above Cheesman Reservoir, Wildcat canyon offers paddlers pristine, boulder strewn, Class V whitewater.  Along the 7.5 mile stretch of steep and remote river corridor, exciting drops offer 15’ slides, 12’ vertical drops, undercuts, log-jams and sieves.  The remoteness, technical difficulty, mandatory portages and mental fortitude needed to safely run this stretch of whitewater, makes Wildcat Canyon, one of the most adventurous trips for paddlers in Colorado.

The run, which has rarely been enjoyed in the last few years, stretches through U.S. Forest Service lands between Eleven-mile Reservoir and Cheesman Reservoir, both owned by the Denver Water Board. Access to the canyon necessitates paddling through a stretch of private property collectively known as Sportsman’s Paradise. This fishing club straddling the South Platte River has strung fenes along and across the river. To run Wildcat Canyon, paddlers typically start their runs upstream of Sportsman’s Paradise at the Happy Meadows USFS campground, and float through club property to access USFS lands downstream of Sportsman’s Paradise. Historically, the act of floating through club property to access Wildcat Canyon has resulted in harassment by landowners, physical assault on paddlers and criminal prosecution. In numerous reports, paddlers have described being forced out of their boats in class II whitewater to avoid man-made obstacles intended to block downstream navigability through private lands. For nearly a decade, American Whitewater has held this private control of public access to Wildcat Canyon in the national spotlight.

In 2002 in an effort to avoid testing the issue of navigability, American Whitewater and Sportsman’s Paradise reached a good faith agreement that took the conflict over access on the upper South Platte out of the national spotlight.  The agreement was reached by Tim Kelley and American Whitewater by offering certain guidelines for paddlers

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