Clear Creek (Colorado)
| Clear Creek | |
|---|---|
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Clear Creek County, Colorado |
| • coordinates | 39°40′29″N 105°55′23″W / 39.67472°N 105.92306°W |
| Mouth | |
• location | Confluence with South Platte |
• coordinates | 39°49′39″N 104°56′57″W / 39.82750°N 104.94917°W |
• elevation | 5,092 ft (1,552 m) |
| Length | 66 mi (106 km) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Golden, Colorado |
| • average | 191 cu/ft. per sec. |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | South Platte—Platte— Missouri—Mississippi |
Clear Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately 66 miles (106 km) long, in north central Colorado in the United States. The creek flows through Clear Creek Canyon in the Rocky Mountains directly west of Denver, descending through a long gorge to emerge at the town of Golden, finally ending in the Colorado Eastern Plains where it joins the South Platte. Clear Creek is unusual in that it is a stream named "creek" fed by a stream named "river"; typically "rivers" are fed by "creeks", and are larger bodies of water, although the nomenclature is ambiguous and there is no clear system. Fall River empties into Clear Creek along I-70 west of Idaho Springs, Colorado.