# Union Chutes plan!



## TennesseeMatt (Jul 21, 2005)

*We'll see*

Let's hope this work out. I think this area could cater better to beginner kayakers than the park in Golden.

If this is going to work someone is going to be removing lots of sand each year.

Wasn't this supposed to have already been started? I was down there this summer and did not see any improvements.

Matt


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## KSC (Oct 22, 2003)

Is cleaning up the used condoms & syringes part of the plan?

Anyone know the plan behind original construction at Union Chutes. That place actually has some nice features, which I'm guessing was just dumb luck. It's just de-watered too frequently.


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## J (Nov 6, 2003)

I *think* originally there were no boat chutes and the features were put in to aerate the water for fish. After a couple accidents, they wisely put the boat chutes in. The rest is mostly dumb luck, although I think they did make some changes to the bottom hole. I don't remember who told me all of this or how drunk they or I were, so YMMV.

I can say that it used to get pretty crowded back when the parking lot was dirt and the Inazone was a hot play boat.


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## DanOrion (Jun 8, 2004)

Well 5-0 wave, it's been grand. I'm glad I got to know you so well...


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## Phillips (Feb 19, 2004)

DanOrion said:


> Well 5-0 wave, it's been grand. I'm glad I got to know you so well...


Yeah 5-0 is great with about 1800 and up. I hope they don't mess with it. The enemy of good is better.


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

As someone said already, they built the fish ladders to aerate the water but whoever designed that system made it super dangerous for people who happened to swim through it. You can see what it was like on the sides of some of the drops, it was just all the way across.

The way I heard it was that they just wanted to make it safe for people and didn't intend to make it a whitewater park. I'm totally spacing on the guys name , but the engineer/architect who headed up the project was a boater and took advantage of the project to create some holes/waves since they were going in there with excavators and concrete anyways. That is why its not like some of the other "cleaner" more dedicated official whitewater parks around the state. It was among the first too, and was a learning experience that started the manmade park along with Eben G Fine park in Boulder and Confluence in Denver.


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## Don (Oct 16, 2003)

*Union Blvd*

I'm stoked they are still putting money into our rivers. I know that there will always be people who hate the Platte and refuse to paddle there. I get it, it's dirtier than real mountain rivers. I have a long history with the Platte. I started paddling in NW PA in the late 80's. We had lots of large shallow slow running rivers near where I lived. It was the land of class I and II. I had to drive three hours to get to anything really fun like the Lower Yough. When I came out to Colorado in 1997 I was blown away that I could playboat in Downtown Denver and stern squirt my Frankenstein in the eddies there. I could also boat the Boulder WW Park in January at 120cfs back then. 

From what I know... The Platte River has 14.5 miles of man made WW. Starting at C-470 going past the 20th street (Denver Skate Park and the Tressel Wave). The orginal fish ladders and bank improvements started in the 1977-78 Confluence Park (making it one of the 1st WW Parks in the US) it would have looked like the East Race in Southbend, IN (minus the wave shaping wedges) openned to the public in 1978. Confluence Park was redesigned in 1995 by Rick McLaughlin to look the way it does today (he's also the guy in charge of the redesign of Union and the new Sheridan Surfing Park coming 2016). I believe Rick also did the Chutes at Union Blvd. The big picture was to bring WW rafting to Denver, but drought in the 2000's changed the way the Platte has been used. Now with cities fighting for Rec. Water Rights and tourist dollars money is coming back to our rivers. With two major builds coming to the Platte and a huge project coming to Loveland Colorado is going to lead the world in Manmade WW. 

Could we soon see year round paddling in Colorado?

http://mclaughlinwhitewater.com


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## GlennD (Oct 10, 2013)

Reynolds landing is also go to be revamped! Along with sections of the platte all the way down to confluence! Wave shapers and a more naturalized stream bed seems to be the plan. I counted at least 4 adjustable features in the plans. I like the naturalized stream bed aprouch. They have already completed the the top portion near chatfield and down near Evans it's looking a lot better these days. 

http://www.littletongov.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=4889

https://www.denvergov.org/Portals/747/documents/planning/master_plans/RINO_masterPlan.pdf

http://http://www.thegreenwayfoundation.org/uploads/3/9/1/5/39157543/riso.pdf


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## TennesseeMatt (Jul 21, 2005)

I ran (on the bike path) from Union Ave up to Reynolds this afternoon (2-9-16) and no improvements have been made or started in the area.


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## GlennD (Oct 10, 2013)

They started it but is down past Union at Oxford.


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## benjamin_smith (Jul 22, 2013)

I can't wait to see how these adjustable features turn out. I think at least one should be ready by spring.


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

It makes sense to improve the drop at Oxford.There is already parking there and the U hole is between Union and Oxford.The current set up wastes the upper portion of the drop.The main hole of the bottom part is extremely difficult to get on and when you do it is super fast and shallow front\ diagonal surfing at a wierd angle or you will flush off of it.The fun part is the squirt line in the runnout wave train and surfing the collapsing piles,it has brutal eddy lines ,like Union.It seems cleaner than Union,even though that makes no sense,it smells better I guess.Below that is flatwater in a nicer streamside environment.

It would be tough to make the area from Union to Oxford "nice" with Waste Management,a junk yard,and a cement plant,there.Some things that they could do at the U- hole are:make multiple drops,the slide drop above the hole you play is big enough,and there are sort of creeky lines ,on the side not usually run,that could be improved by funnelizing,cleaning up junk cement,placing boulders to eddy behind,and creating a fast chute above a launching pad slab to practice boofs......also as long as we are talking increasing urban boating opportunities ,few know that Bear Creek has 3 class 3ish drops separated by flatwater in it's last couple miles above the Platte.It would be suitable for beginners at low and medium flows provided they prescouted for logs\strainers.At 600 the drops are solid III and is a very pushy eddyless on your toes for wood scramble to grab a bush for an eddy kind of run..


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## Daryl (Apr 16, 2013)

They are finally taking out those giant metal bridge standards in the river between Mississippi and Alameda which will make for a safe run all the way through town. Half tempted to run it today with the warm weather.

Learned the hard way last May during high water that the boat chute past the Denver water building is on the right. Wicked full flow 10' drop/dam with a keeper wave if you choose to go left. Oops


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

That's Dead Dog.Did you run the left side were you typewritered back to the middle or worked and somehow escaped?The good line would be semi tough in a raft and semi easy ,but high pin potential if you screwed up ,in a kayak or ducky at high flows .Running the inside corner of the left side would be exciting high.


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## Daryl (Apr 16, 2013)

Left side. Yes. 

We were tuning up a new row setup for an 18' bucket boat and had just portaged the monster around those effing standards that closed the river. We were feeling pretty bullet proof after running (and scouting) all of the previous chutes so it was a coin toss run on an unscouted horizon line. We leaned back, went over nice and straight then sucked right back up against the dam. Had to pull an 11' oar to push off. 

Probably would have been a bad ending had someone fallen in the water, I think it was running 3300 cfs mid May after all of the rain and big Chatfield releases.

Lesson learned. Photo of Dead Dog shows it from the RR bridge. We ran smack dab in the middle of the dam wall.


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

Yikes! Glad you are OK...it is interesting to see it that low,the main flow off the corner I was referring to looks like it lands on ugly rocks but if you stay a little left it looks like the dam slope is slightly more vertical and the landing cleaner.It also looks like it protrudes out a little so when it pushes you toward the middle you might get tied up.We threw a cooler that was floating in an eddy into the troth at over 3k and it zipped/typewritered right over to the corner and got worked but broke free after a while.


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## Daryl (Apr 16, 2013)

That boat chute doesn't look like a vacation at high water (with an 18 footer). Could imagine wrapping that big boulder if you weren't able to pull hard to the right bank. We thought we saw some small live trees dancing in the current on the right so audibled the left side. Heaven forbid we float over a 1" sapling rather than a ten foot drowning machine. 

Might check it all out with the mini cat this weekend since I-70 is going to be a parking lot heading west.


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

High it pushes towards those rocks on the right hand side( left in the picture) of the chute just over the lip of the second drop.It is a simple move left to avoid them,but if you got stuffed in the first hole and were upside down in a kayak or swimming it could be bad.At high water you have falls coming off the side of the dam and pillows make the chute seem narrower.


PS ..yes that hole at the bottom is OK play at various levels


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## Rich (Sep 14, 2006)

Ran the "Dirty South" three times last summer between 3K and 4k in a 12' cat. Ran from Union to Globeville Landing. It is great having a quality run so close to home.

Was very tempted to run the very corner of the dam, it always looked good from the bike scout, but looks pretty ugly in your low water photos.
Also looks like it would lead directly into the lower rocks.

Daryl, you mention a mini cat and I see you are from Golden, do you ever get out on Lower Clear Creek (below Rigo to Coors)?

Cayo, I know you are a kayaker, but does lower couple miles of Bear Creek look good for a cat? I would guess it is tight with low bridges. I'll have to get out on my bike and do some scouting while we have this heat wave.

Boulder Creek, Lower Clear Creek and the Dirty South are my mid week, after work favorites, can't wait for spring!


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

It is way too little and would be boring in a cat or raft Rich...it would only be good for a beginner who lived nearby,as a short run in conjunction with Union (5 minutes away),or at high for a wannabe creeker that likes oddball runs( i' m the only guy I know like that)..it is runnable way more often than the canyon... However,the town run of Clear Creek is runnable and better.Andy has posted about rafting it...pretty good rapid with "survival surfing" at Wadsworth,Bucking Bronco might be the best play spot on Clear Creek( except Lawson),and the end part of it has several drops before the Platte and one or two more on the SP before a take out that I think is good for rafts(you'd have to scout it out)...I guess you woulyd divide that into an upr and a Lwr town run unless you were willing to portage a couple times( Tennyson and a big man-made deal between Bucking Bronco and Pecos.


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

FYI ,there is a junky fairly long rapid about 1/2 mile above Youngsfield...it is at least class IV pushing V- cranking,I know of noone who has run this.It is in a place that is a pain in the ass to get to with a boat.You could carry up but after the rapid it is fast II high or flatwater low...you might be able to get on the creek somewhere between Coors and the rapid but there is at least one very dangerous looking (high ) lowhead dam just above the rapid...


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## Daryl (Apr 16, 2013)

This stream has officially been hijacked, sorry it wasn't my intent. 

Yes Rich I do run lower CC but didn't get on it at all last year since we were prepping the big rafts for a Yampa trip and my mini max POS clone could not be repaired. Can't wait to get my SOAR cat on Lawson-Kermits and the lower section. Just bought it so have yet to put it on the water but am getting itchy. Should be a good ELF (extreme low flow) boat so my season can go longer. 

Canoed CC from Youngfield to Kipling in early July last year when the water was still way up. Was a hoot but had to take out because the bridge clearance was an issue. Cayo, those dams look nasty between the Coors silos and Camping world, you can get right on there using the bike path but it's a half mile trek from either direction.

There is a sizable dam downstream from 44th/Anderson park and signage to portage around it. Kayaks could probably slide right through though.

I too like the "hidden treasure" runs and can give y'all a shout when I go on an explore.


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

Did not mean to thread jack, still talkin''bout runs and playspots around town( don't get me started on even more obscure stuff)...that drop is easily run in a kayak or raft,but I think Cadster said it had a log in it last year...I also forgot that there is a railroad bridge with probable potage just after Bucking Bronco. Yeah that lowhead above Youngfield looked deadly ,are there more upstream of that?


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## Rich (Sep 14, 2006)

Daryl, I just got a new SOTAR cat also. Going to be welding up an aluminum frame in March. Let's be sure to connect when the season begins. Or earlier for a beer!

Cayo, Sounds like you are the CC expert. I have bike scouted every inch but have never run below Coors. Once heard Bronco Billy (or Bucking Bronco, have heard both) described as the best surfing between Pecos and West Virginia! My new cat is much lighter and has a shuttle/portage wheel for the bike path so Lower, Lower CC could be possible since I can portage
Kipling and the ugly wood dam.

Hope to see you both on the Rio!


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

Yeah Rich /daryl/random buzzard i' d be down with an after work run on it with you sometime...have never done the lwr lwr Lwr( bajo bajo ) part but have bike and foot scouted it at good flows .It looked fun in spots .I know it is not great but would like to do it at least once.Have done most of the upr part below Youngfield in bits and pieces at various flows.Is Kipling a low bridge ?I vaguely remember it .


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## Daryl (Apr 16, 2013)

I live next to to the RR museum but am not familiar with this big surf wave. Is it on the brewery property? I could scout it regardless if you get me more info.


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

No everything is well east of Youngfield except that one rapid...Bucking Bronco is between Federal and Pecos ,behind an industrial park ,near Rocky's Autos.


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## Daryl (Apr 16, 2013)

Got it. West of Youngfield is best left to the gold planners. Those die hards are knee deep in that Creek year 'round. 

Just scoped the Golden kayak Park and it has yet to come up but will be interesting to see how much snowmelt we get in the next few days. 

Did someone say beer?


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

Don ,
You neglected to mention that those Boulder Creek January runs were night releases and the water was about 2 degrees above ice...brrrr we would just bomb the run and get the hell somewhere warm...it was definitely ice cream headache time if you flipped


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## GlennD (Oct 10, 2013)

looks like its going to be a lot better at "low flow" the lowest its really any good now is about 200 cfs. Hopefully its works out!


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## Rich (Sep 14, 2006)

Ok, I got so excited I jumped on my bike and bike scouted from mouth of the canyon to just east of Wadsworth. 

Just west of Coors (1/2 mile upstream of Youngsfield) is a manky V+ broken down dam with an island and two big cottonwoods. Looked at it in high water many years ago and thought the left side might go, but it is full of wood now. The right side is broken concrete slabs creating multiple sieves full of trash including half a fiberglass kayak marked "S. Boudens".

Good put-in at Youngsfield and looks clean until VERY low bridge at Kipling.
A third a mile above Kipling the bike path bridge could be a problem at high water, but there is room to eddy and portage. New trailhead and parking on both sides of Kipling will make mandatory portage easier but still must cross 4 lanes of traffic with boats. 

All looks good from Youngsfield to just past Wadsworth with fun drops just below 44th and again under Wadsworth.

From memory there is a fun looking drop just below Tennyson, a questionable looking dam under Lowell, Bucking Bronco just west of Pecos.
I remember scouting it from railroad tracks. Then a Class VI Dam below Pecos. From there to the Dirty South should be good. Need to do a bike scout before run off.

Looking forward to some urban boating and some beer!


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## Daryl (Apr 16, 2013)

Good job Rich. We need to scout the urban South Platte tomorrow and provide a report by noon. 

The river bug seems to be biting many.


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

Yes i forgot about dam at Lowell...I think it might be kayakable at some levels ,but it would be irresponsible to recommend it..right below there is a section of busy easy rapids...I don't think that upper rapid is that hard,the right is no go.. i was thinking of the center line. It may be full of wood now and harder for a cat/raft anytime...Tennyson used to be a real mess of broken down concrete and wood,did they clean it up?There appeared to be a relatively easy line through it high ,but the risk to reward ratio was not good..That diversion structure is a definite portage,though you might be able to put in right below the drop on the upper right,would be boat abusive mank with a pretty good hole the end...see any log at 44th or shopping carts at Wadsworth?


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## GlennD (Oct 10, 2013)

Oxford Wave started!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1116904021676119&set=gm.940475226036443&type=3


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## benjamin_smith (Jul 22, 2013)

GlennD said:


> Oxford Wave started!
> https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1116904021676119&set=gm.940475226036443&type=3


Can't view the photo


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## Don (Oct 16, 2003)

*El Bronco*

Why are you changing El Bronco to "Bucking Bronco". El Bronco was named that, because it's the biggest hole west of Pecos. The drop below it was called "Shopping Cart Falls" and you can run it down the far left side in a kayak. Lawson hasn't been good since they changed it to build the WW Park in Lawson.


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## cayo 2 (Apr 20, 2007)

You're probably right Don,just what I've heard it called...we may not be talking about the same drop below,this thing is more or less diagonal to the current with a dogleg..the lwr/left is where the diversion is and a guillotine /limbo gate that releases downstream flow...the gate is on an apx.5ft sliding falls into a 6 ft vertical drop ,in about 2 or 3 boat lengths it collides with a picket of at least headhigh boulders and sprays roostertails about 10 ft high( at 1500) picture side by side Cobb Rocks with a gap about 3 feet wide and FU rocks before and after the slot .It looked about class 6 if not unrunnable..the upper right part is a vertical drop of 10 + feet onto concrete that was not really a pool even at high flow ...you could maybe put in on upr right below the drop and run the rest bypassing the gnarly part....there actually was a shopping cart in Wadsworth at one time...but have heard the other drop called Shopping Cart Falls...there is some wooden dam /railroad bridge in between El Bronco and the diversion...I just run Lawson have not played there much ..going by the book..


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## Daryl (Apr 16, 2013)

I stopped by the section that was closed last summer between Mississippi and Alameda and they straightened the river back out so there are no longer any metal structures to make a hairpin through.

Nice event-free float right through.

See ya in April for the South Platte cleanup.


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## GlennD (Oct 10, 2013)

South platte cleanup is April 23rd at 10 am FYI


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## Hartje (Oct 16, 2003)

good to see union is getting some love. I always thought that place had so much potential, though back in the day I never imagined that people on boards would be the catalyst for a union revival. Seems you never see it coming


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