Clear Creek Canyon

About the Park

Clear Creek Canyon features a scenic, steep-walled canyon and fast-flowing creek. The beautiful canyon and proximity to Golden make this Canyon a hotspot for local climbers, hikers, bikers, and anglers. This segment of the Peaks to Plains Trail opened in 2016, bringing safe biking along the river to the Canyon for the first time.

The park is home to nesting Golden Eagles and some areas are closed to climbing seasonally to allow the eagles to fledge so be sure to check all posted signs about closures.

Park Information and Trail Map

History

Indian trails began at the mouth of the canyon and continued west on the benches above the creek.

In 1871, blasting and grading for the Colorado Central Railroad began. In December 1872, the railroad reached Black Hawk. For 50 years a ride up the canyon was the most popular one-day excursion in Colorado.

A favorite destination was the dance/picnic pavilion reached by a long staircase from the Beaver Brook Station. The building of Highway 6 after World War II, completed in 1951, covered over much of the railroad bed.

In 1992, PLAN Jeffco formally proposed the conservation of the entire Clear Creek Canyon in Jefferson County, marking the first time a land acquisition was proposed by a non-landowner. In 2012, a Joint Application between Jefferson and Clear Creek Counties for a grant from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) to extend recreational development along the Clear Creek Corridor.

Open Space began building sections of the Peaks to Plains Trail in 2016 allowing hikers and bicycle riders safe access to the canyon.