Cache la Poudre River (Lower Mishawaka)
| Stretch: | Mishawaka Inn to Poudre Park |
| Difficulty: | Class III |
| Distance: | 2.6 miles |
| Flows: | 300 to ?,000 cfs (well downstream). Check out American Whitewater's current flow gauge. |
| Gradient: | 60 fpm average |
| Put-in: | Mishawaka Inn |
| Take-out: | Poudre Park |
| Shuttle: | 2.5 miles, less than 5 minutes one way |
| Season: | Spring and Summer from snowmelt |
| Written: | © 2018 |
Jobless Summer 2019 Roadtrip Day 2c:
After boating the Narrows we continued on through the Upper Mishawaka and into this section along with the two below it. This section is the short section just below the Mishawaka Inn. The section is short, but certainly fun with some nice class IIIish rapids. The scenery, despite the road being next to the river the whole way, is still surprisingly pleasant.
Honestly, this section, the one above it, and two below it it seem like they should all just be one class III to IV section. But, I think because of the rafting industry in the area, which utilizes different put-ins and charges different rates for different lengths and difficulties the split out into four runs has stuck. Realistically, I don't know how many boaters do just one short section. I can see raft guides perhaps doing this as an after work kayak run, but for boaters looking for a full run it seems they will likely do multiple of these sections each time. Anyways, I am following American Whitewater's lead on this one and breaking them up accordingly.
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Mi 0:
- Boogie (II to III). This run is full of pretty non-descript boogie.
- Poudre Park Rapid (III). The last rapid is probably the biggest (in my memory). It is boogie that we read and ran general down the middle. It is a pretty long rapid as I recall.
Take-out: From Fort Collins take CO-287 North for 9.8 miles before turning left onto CO-14. Follow this up the river valley for 11.2 miles to Poudre Park Day Use Area.
Put-in: Continue up CO-14 for another 2.5 miles to The Mishawaka Inn. Though they don't like parking at the place. We boated through, so I am not sure what the parking situation is actually.
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