Clear Creek Canyon of Colorado's Front Range is a nearly 14 mile long 1,000' deep gash in the Earth that runs east to west from Golden Colorado to Idaho Springs Colorado. The actual canyon, geologically speaking, runs all the way up to Silver Plume at the headwaters of Clear Creek. Clear Creek drains from the Continental Divide and carves out this splendid canyon through 1.8 Billion year old gneiss of the Idaho Springs Formation. Clear Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River and is nearly 40 miles in length.

Clear Creek

The canyon between Idaho Springs and Golden Colorado drops 1,518' over the course of 14 miles from west to east!

Many travelers and commuters use the road, U.S. 6, which parallels the creek to get to the gambling towns of Blackhawk and Central City from Denver. The route is nearly always crowded with cars, mining trucks and casino buses. However, due to the vastness of the canyon and its many tributaries, endless hiking and rock climbing opportunities abound.

Getting There

From the North: From the Boulder area and Nederland, take CO-119 south all the way through Blackhawk. Approximately 6 miles south of Blackhawk, CO-119 joins up with U.S.6 and at this junction, take U.S.6 towards Golden or turn right and head towards Idaho Springs. Either way you'll be in the canyon.

From the East: On the northwest side of Golden, U.S. 6, CO-58 and CO-93 all converge. At this intersection, take U.S. 6 west towards the foothills.

From the West: Traveling eastbound along I-70, take the exit for U.S. 6/Golden approximately 2 miles east of Idaho Springs.

Tunnel 1 from the east.

Tunnel 2 from the east.

Tunnel 3 from the east.

Red Tape

No permits or fees are required. Parking is sparse and most parking areas are gravelly pull-offs. No overnight parking is permitted at any time!

Camping

No camping is allowed in the canyon at any time!

Water & Rock-reation

White Water Rafting

White water rafting is popular within the canyon and there are several guide services that cater to rafters. The rapids are anywhere from class I � class V depending on run-off amounts in the spring. Spring tends to be the best time with the creek having the most volume from winter melt.

Rapids!

Clear Creek

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Ice Climbing

Coor's Lite, WI3

Ice climbing is very popular within the canyon between tunnels 1 and 2. The main flow and the most popular route seems to be Coor's Lite which usually comes in at WI2 - 3. There are two main flows, upper & lower and the upper is steepest and tallest with the lower flow being comprised of three steps. Bolted anchors lie above each flow and come equipped with chains. Setting up a top rope is easy for these climbs. To get there, drive ~4.2 miles from the hwy. 6 and hwy. 58 intersection along hwy. 6 until you cross a bridge. Park just west of the bridge below the Little Eiger wall and then cross hwy. 6 and walk east along a climbers trail by the bridge for ~1/8 mile to the ice...ya can't miss it. If you come to Tunnel #2, you've gone about 2 miles too far. Check out this link for more ice climbing information.

Ice

Coor's Lite

Upper Tier

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Bouldering

Bouldering is also very prevalent within the canyon. Just about anywhere you go, you'll find great bouldering.

A boulderer bouldering

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Rock Climbing

Rock climbing is big in Clear Creek Canyon and there are literally hundreds of routes, mostly sport, some trad. The difficulty ranges from 5.7 YDS to 5.13 YDS and the rock quality is good. All the climbing is on gneiss/granite and there are many toproped routes as well. Check out this
LINK here for a complete route list with descriptions! The Little Eiger Wall is probably the most popular and holds the best routes. All the routes are labeled with a dog tag with the routes name and difficulty. Some of the climbs require at least a 70m rope or a double rope rappel. There is also climbing on the south side of tunnel #2 and the west side of tunnels #2 & #3. The Highwire crag is on the south side of tunnel #2 and holds several moderate sport climbs.

Highwire Crag:Stone Cold Moderate (5.7), Nickels and Dimes (5.8)

Climber on the Little Eiger Wall.

Highwire Area

Highwire Routes

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Hiking

There are miles upon miles of hiking trails strewn throughout the canyon. Most of the smaller branching canyons do not even have trails and discoveries are just waiting to be made. Some of the easier and more accessible trails I list here for now.

Windy Saddle: This TH is reached by driving up the road to the summit of Mt. Zion from U.S.6 in Golden. This is the closest trail to downtown Golden and also the eastern most trail system i the canyon.

Windy-Saddle

Golden

CCC

Maps!

Click on the topo maps to see locations of rock climbing and ice climbing areas!

Dangers!

With it�s sheer gneissic walls towering only feet to inches from the road, rockfall danger is a very real hazard to motorists traveling within Clear Creek Canyon. Spring time is the most active time for rockfall within the canyon due to the melting of ice during the day and re-freezing at night. This is a mechanical weathering action that pry�s the rock apart. Keep a wary eye on the slopes and cliffs as you make your way through the canyon!

There was a massive rock slide in the fall of 2005 near the U.S. 6 and CO-119 intersection that closed the highway for months. More recently, a climbers car was crushed by a massive boulder that fell on it at the east side of tunnel #2. Luckily, the climber wasn't in the car at the time!

External Links

Rock Climbing

Clear Creek Info/History

White Water Rafting

Ice Climbing

Images



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