May 2008 Clear Creek Trail Update

I rode the Clear Creek Trail again. I rode it in March and things are much greener now.

OK, so I took an RTD 16L to Golden and got off at 10th & Washington Ave.

Get off the bus and ride two blocks East on Washington to Ford St. Turn right and go to Clear Creek. Then go left and left again up Tucker Gulch, pictured here.



















You follow Tucker Gulch for about 3 blocks.

Tucker Gulch Trail intersects with the Clear Creek Trail right here. You come up Tucker Gulch (as pictured here) on the right and head down Clear Creek on the trail on the left.









This is Church Ditch which the trail follows for a while. Colorado has a lot of ditches and canals to move water through our semi arid state. Church Ditch alternates between surface and subterranean flow.













Here's a pretty good map.




















This is at the beginning of the trail.













Here's a couple shots of the Famous Coors Brewery. The Mountain Water they brew their beer with is from none other than Clear Creek.











The Mesa behind the buildings is pretty cool too.









Here's Church Ditch emerging above ground after about a mile underground.

it looks like you could grab an inner tube and float along but the ditch is deadly.






That water is moving very fast and is extremely cold. That's freshly melted snow. Once you get in you might not be able to grab a hold of anything to get out.

Judging from stories I read in the paper today you'd last about 5 minutes in that water. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/02/teen-saves-friend-but-loses-own-fight/

It also disappears underground again after a short while.

It's a nice place to meditate however. You have to hike down about 50 feet from the bike trail to get here.






The Rock formations around Golden are interesting.













This section of trail has just been built in the last few years. You used to share a 50 mph road with Coors trucks.












There goes Church Ditch again. That's the last we see of that one. Church Ditch follows the contour of the hillside while the trail heads towards Clear Creek.

By the way that water goes steeply downward right here.













This bridge goes over highway 58 and on to Clear Creek.














There's the Beer Train...
















Most of the construction is done as far as I can tell.












Green is the new black. That's what the fashion magazines say.















Here's a new section of trail, now open.
























Here's another ditch emerging, this one's the Croke Canal.

There are a lot of canals and ditches in this area. Rocky Mountain Ditch, Wannamaker Ditch, Farmers Highline Canal, South Boulder Diversion Canal, Eskin Ditch, Agricultural Ditch, Welch Ditch and others. It's kinda fun to find them & figure out which ones are which.

A GPS device is helpful for this.











Here's where the new section rejoins the old section.















I think this is Wannamaker Ditch but it could be Farmer's Highline Canal. Further study is in order.















Here's a former gravel zone, all gussied up with grass planted but not sprouted yet.










There are more than a few lakes along the way.





























Clear Creek's running pretty good right now.









Clear Creek single track. There's a nice concrete path too but this is the stuff right here.



















Good 'ol Clear Creek.















I saw a couple rivulets.















Beautiful scenery. Springtime is green time. You can smell it in the air.


















This is the beginning of Fisher Ditch.








This is the same Fisher Ditch which goes by one of my favorite trees. This tree was killed in late 2007 or early 2008.









Here's my old friend.





















Clear Creek Interstate.













Clear Creek country.

















unidentified waterway along Clear Creek between Ralston Creek and Little Dry Creek.

Nice & neat.











I saw a bird.
















Here's a couple more canals. The one on the left is the Colorado Agriculture Canal, the one on the right is the Lower Clear Creek Canal.

Here's how they looked in March with no water...





Here they are in May, full of water.



























There goes the Colorado Agricultural Canal...









There goes the Lower Clear Creek Canal.





I'm told there is a path along the Colorado Agricultural Canal, gonna have to check it out one of these days.










When riding Clear Creek you want to make sure you have all your ducks in a row.
















Clear Creek rolls along, getting closer to the Platte River now. The waterway is well maintained.































Look on the left side of this picture. There's a bird waiting for a fish. He looks kinda like a penguin.
















Some critters were cruising along here. Don't they know concrete is for humans?




































I kinda like looking out for footprints.
























So then I rode off into the sunset. I rode back to Federal Avenue and caught an RTD #31 bus Southbound to Denver.

What a great ride. Not only that but thanks to RTD I can take the #31 to W 60th Avenue, get off and get right on the Clear Creek.

The confluence of the Little Dry Creek is a mile East and the confluence of Ralston Creek is about a mile West.


So the RTD #31 is an excellent trailhead dropoff bus.

Clear Creek, Ralston Creek, Little Dry Creek are all right there at W 60th & Federal!


Sunset on Clear Creek.










I give this ride 4 stars out of 4.