Whitewater rafting returns to Upper Blue River after two down years

 

For the U.S. Raft Team it’s a place to practice. For KODI Rafting of Frisco it’s a trip close to home. And for Ten Mile Creek Kayaks store owner Matti Wade it’s a place to get a paddle session in before or after work.

But for the last two years running the Upper Blue River hasn’t been an option due to low water levels being released from Dillon Reservoir. This year, because of the high snowpack, the river is back in a big way. Currently flowing at 1,300 cubic feet per second (cfs), the river has been high enough to paddle on since early March.

“We just don’t see it run this long ever,” Wade said. “It’s been awesome. It’s given all the locals something to do right after the ski season.”

Wade said he’s seen a spike in his business that he credited to a strong start to rafting and paddling season.

Christian “Campy” Campton, of KODI Rafting, said he likes having a paddling option close to home.

“It’s kind of like the home-run hitter,” he said. “It’s just a great Class III in our back yard.”

Campton’s company offers three trips a day on the Upper Blue stretch with about an hour of on-water time — two hours round trip.

“It’s a great river if you have a short period of time in the county,” he said. You can take a trip in the morning and still have time to bike or even ski in the afternoon.

It might sound like a bit of a misnomer naming the stretch of the Blue north of Silverthorne and below Lake Dillon “Upper,” but it’s one of two popular stretches to paddle; the other — the Lower Blue — runs through a canyon below Green Mountain Reservoir.

Commercial trips run from a put-in across from the rock quarry on Highway 9, past the Blue River Campground to a take-out at Columbine Landing. Private boaters or kayakers may choose to ...more