Conditions:Arapaho Creek (Front Range)-20230808235120

Latest:	8 Aug 2023 (1 yr, 8 mos ago)

Reported by:	Brilzon (8 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Moderate
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	3 hours

Team: 2 people with experience level Intermediate to Beginner

Trip report URL:

Comments: Moderate, generally comfortable flow. Rap 2 has one significant hole in the wall down low and center, that if you rap through, you may get hit with some heavier flow. Rapped R1 DCR to avoid heavier flow on DCL. Combined R3 and R4. Had a little difficulty getting through the pool while on rappel at the base of R3. It may have been easier to rap these separately, though my partner stayed far enough DCR to generally avoid that pool. Wore 4/3 full wetsuits with rain jackets. It was about 70-75 out, and was very comfortable.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
8 Aug 2023	Good	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	3 hours	2 people Intermediate to Beginner	Brilzon (8 reports)
Comment: Moderate, generally comfortable flow. Rap 2 has one significant hole in the wall down low and center, that if you rap through, you may get hit with some heavier flow. Rapped R1 DCR to avoid heavier flow on DCL. Combined R3 and R4. Had a little difficulty getting through the pool while on rappel at the base of R3. It may have been easier to rap these separately, though my partner stayed far enough DCR to generally avoid that pool. Wore 4/3 full wetsuits with rain jackets. It was about 70-75 out, and was very comfortable.
18 Sep 2022	Good	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	3 hours	2 people Beginner to Intermediate	Tristanh (10 reports),Levr (21 reports)
Comment: This is a short but fun canyon in close proximity to Denver and Boulder. It’s by no means a destination canyon but could be a good place to kill an afternoon if you’re already in the area. The approach was very straight-forward: proceed along the main trail until you meet a decked wooden bridge. Note that the water flowing under this bridge is not a good representation of how much water is flowing in the actual canyon. Just before the bridge, you will see a narrow but well-defined trail on your right. Follow it uphill until you spot R1, which should be very recognizable based on the Beta photos. Proceed a few more meters and the creek and trail will flatten out; this is a good place to suit up. Along the hike up there are several look-out spots where you can see the rappel sites and assess the flow. Flow conditions were quite a bit lower than the reference photos in the Beta but still moderate. The water temperature was tolerable with a medium to thick wetsuit, but it started to bite if you spent more than a couple minutes in the water. Fortunately there were plenty of rocks to stand on after wading out of the pools at the bases of the falls. (Weather conditions that day were sunny and about 70F ambient.) R1 is next to the most powerful waterfall due to the creekbed being rather narrow there, but we were able to avoid getting soaked by it by rigging to a tree on the DCL side of the fall where there was less flow. R2 quickly follows and features a rather wide waterfall. We rigged from a tree up a bank DCL. The flow here had spread out far enough that we could easily step through the water on the way down. After a short bit of creek walking we hit R3, which has the distinctive tall, rusty gate valve stem and other mining debris. There was a tree DCL a few meters back from the edge that would have been a good anchor point, but we didn’t notice it until later and instead scurried up a bank DCR and rigged off a tree there. We combined R3 and R4 and went straight down the various pitches to where the creek flattened out. Afterwards there was a section of creek hiking and easy downclimbing until we reached a point where the creek started narrowing and had some low branches growing ahead. We spotted a bank DCL with a clear path back to the trail, so we decided to exit there and hike out as there didn’t seem to be anything interesting ahead. Please note that this is a ghosting canyon, so you must build all of your own anchors and take them with you when done. We used retrievable slings. We did not experience any challenging pulls but also took care to route ropes and pull lines neatly.
10 Sep 2018	Ok	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	3 hours	2 people Beginner to Intermediate	Sdunne (3 reports)
Comment: Left the car at 12:40pm, followed the TH West from the parking lot and found our turn off the main trail after about 10-15 minutes. The approach trail is fairly obvious at this point and leaves the main trail about 20 feet before(east of) arapahoe creek drainage. Arapahoe creek has a long footbridge crossing it, so your turn should be obvious. We followed up the semi-steep hill for maybe 15 minutes before it flattened out. We continued along the trail and up the creek to see if there was anything notable further up (there wasn't). There is a newly constructed bridge crossing the creek a little under a mile up the drainage. If you have reached this, you have gone too far. R1 had a tree on CL that made a suitable anchor to keep you out of the main water flow if it is too strong. R2 tree CL, high water flow may warrant a guided rappel on this one. 1st one down should stay to the left R3 has a great boulder to sling that could be accessed by scrambling up on the left side of the drainage. Done in September on a hot day, water was still cool, done with 4/3 and 3/2mm wetsuits On the ascent, there's no point in continuing up the trail after it flattens out (it will be pretty obvious when this happens), and on the descent, anything after the final downclimb is worth skipping. Overall, a fun quick canyon with a very short approach