River flow: St Vrain Cr at mouth 230 cfs, South Platte River at Fort Lupton ~350cfs. Water level on the South Platte was lower than during my last trip. Some of rocks near Wildcat Mound visible in my aerial photos were exposed. I used a short fin on my Badfish SUP and paddled without special problems, but Rob was forced to remove his regular fin in the last miles of paddling..
We finished our trip at highway 85 bridge at Evans about 1 mile upstream from the closed Riverside Park. I was describing this place in my previous posts: comfortable parking (limited to ~10 cars) at the end of frontage road, a pretty good river access under the bridge, but the place has a lot of “urban” character (graffiti, garbage, beer bottles).
Rob’s pictures from this paddling on facebook.
Wildcat – March 8, 2015. Access to the river from the county road 19.5 looks more or less the same as before flooding. River flow ~200cfs.
Rob is paddling on St Vrain Creek just above confluence with South Platte River
The first diversion dam above highway 60 bridge.
Railroad trestle below highway 60 bridge.
Portaging the 2nd dam. Water was low enough to just go over the dam.
Landing at Evans under highway 85 bridge.
Related posts:
Exploring the Upper North Platte River in Colorado by SUP
Paddling SUP on South Platte River from Kersey to Kuner
South Platte River below Denver – GPS/photo river guide
