Colorado Whitewater Parks:

Submitted by Alex Lee

Last month I went on my first kayaking trip to Colorado. Though I went there to check off some new creeks, I was pleasantly surprised by all the quality whitewater parks I was able to visit in the two weeks I traveled throughout the state. Below I’ve highlighted some of my favorite parks I got to visit with a short video of each feature and some information to help you catch these features, too!

Golden, CO: Clear Creek Whitewater Park
• Prime flows: 800-1300cfs, can be surfed down to 300cfs
o Gauge: Clear Creek @ Golden, CO
• One good wave feature that can also be a hole at certain levels

Idaho Springs, CO: Lawson Whitewater Park
• Prime flow: ~800 based off my experience
o Gauge: Clear Creek near Lawson, CO
• One good hole feature at 800cfs and one smaller wave for flat spins/front surfing
• The water here is significantly colder than downstream in Golden

Eagle, CO: Eagle Whitewater Park
• Prime flows: 500+, best at 1200cfs+ (gauge: Eagle River below Mill Creek)
• Three features: two waves and a ledge hole
o First wave was primarily stand up surfers
o Second wave is best at 4000 – good for wave tricks – steep/fast
o Third feature is best at 2300 where hole tricks can be thrown

Glenwood, CO: Glenwood Wave
• Prime flows: 20,000cfs+ (gauge: Colorado River below Glenwood)
• One river-wide wave feature
• At flows of 16-18k, the wave was still good, but did green out some
• There’s a live webcam to check how the wave looks before driving to it: https://https://coloradowebcam.net/camera/glenwood-kayak-park-wave-zoom-webcam

Durango, CO: Durango Whitewater Park
• Prime flows for competition feature: 2500-3500 (3500 is “world-class”)
• There are 3-4 more features downstream that were smaller features’
• Gauge: Animas River in Durango, CO

Canon City, CO: Canon City Whitewater Park
• Prime flows: 3-4,000cfs (I surfed at 3400 and 4,000cfs)
• Single wave feature with eddy access
• Gauge: Arkansas River at Canon City, CO

Salida, CO: Salida Whitewater Park
• Prime flows: 800-3000cfs
• There is a wave feature that was good at 2700 when I visited the park
• Between 800-1200cfs there is an excellent hole feature
• Gauge: Arkansas River near Nathrop, CO