04. Blue Bridge to Eben G Fine Park

With fun streambed gradient Middle Boulder Creek surprises the first time boater with its friendly nature and so many read and run rapids. The bridge at the Red Lion Inn has been a challenge at various flood events. The culverts filled up with wood and the bridge has previously washed away. Also there are two low-head dams near the diversion tunnels, but they are runnable. Below the first pedestrian bridge, at Elephant Buttress, there is a reasonably fun play hole. Elephant Buttress Rapid (IV+). Updated 2021:  The Buttress section was modified in 2019/2020 due to post-2013 flood reconstruction.  This section is considered a Class IV during normal flows, and consists of 3 distinct drops and a long channelized runout. The second drop is worth a scout as the line goes left, and the hydraulics can make for an interesting day at higher flows. The run out is channelized, fast, and consists of blast rock.  Swimmers through this section have come out battered. Video Link of Elephant Buttress at 250 cfs:  _Elephant Buttress Video @ 250 cfs_ Pre-2019 Description:  If you haven't been down this rapid before it is worth a scout. Being a roadblasted mank zone, its a bad place to be upside down. Shortly downstream, after passing under two road bridges, prepare to negotiate a wier from river right. The whitewater course at Eben G. Fine Park is one of the first of its kind in design. It has a few spin holes and eddy lines. A trashy ender hole called Widowmaker is located at the end of the course, just past the Arapahoe Street bridge. Floods of September 2013 have significantly changed the streambed of Middle Boulder Creek. Newly incised channels within this watershed have changed stream channel character, debris pile movement will be in flux while man-made obstacles and structural abandonments may be present in this stream channel. See _Colorado Rivers and Creeks II_, by Banks and Eckardt _(The Bible)_, for info on this and most of the other kewl runs of Colorado. Lat/longitude coords are approximate, from TopoZone. The various reaches of Boulder Creek, Jasper Creek (Class V+/VI), The Source (Class V), Upper Boulder Canyon (Class V/V+), Lower Boulder Canyon (Class IV), Boulder Town Run (Class II/III), North Fork Boulder (Class V+/VI), Alto-Alto (Class IV), Upper South Boulder (Class V+/VI), Lower South Boulder (Class IV/V+/VI), Eldorado Canyon (Class V+).