Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.
| # | Point | Type | Lat, Lon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barker Dam Head of Boulder Creek · Nederland | Dam / hazard | 39.96624, -105.48237 | Boulder Creek begins below this dam. Much of Barker Reservoir is diverted through the Barker Gravity Line to the hydro plant at Orodell rather than released down the canyon, so canyon flows are managed, not natural. |
| 2 | Boulder Falls parking CO 119, Boulder Canyon · City of Boulder | Access / boat ramp | 40.00448, -105.40532 | Signed highway pullout 18 m off the creek and the canyon's main parking. The falls themselves are on North Boulder Creek a short walk up the side canyon, not on the main stem. |
| 3 | Sunnyside Pullout CO 119, Boulder Canyon | Access / boat ramp | 40.00408, -105.38032 | Named canyon pullout on the creek bank, 18 m off the water. OSM carries it as a bare name node with no tags, so capacity and surface are unknown — judge it on arrival. |
| 4 | Boulder Whitewater Park Canyon mouth, above Eben G. Fine Park | Point of interest | 40.01283, -105.30120 | Engineered drop sequence in the creek at the canyon mouth, rated Class II–III at most flows. Busy with paddlers and tubers in summer; the course carries on downstream past Eben G. Fine Park. |
| 5 | Eben G. Fine Park — special-regulation reach, upper limit City of Boulder · Arapahoe Ave at 3rd St | Regulation section limit | 40.01331, -105.29575 | CPW's Boulder Creek special-regulation reach runs from the upper end of this park downstream to 55th Street. The park is also the creek's main put-in at the canyon mouth. Check CPW for the rules in force before fishing. |
| 6 | The Peoples' Crossing Trailhead City of Boulder · 101 Pearl St | Access / boat ramp | 40.01405, -105.29538 | Signed trailhead parking 65 m off the creek at the canyon mouth, where the Boulder Creek Path leaves town for Boulder Canyon. |
| 7 | Central Park City of Boulder · Broadway at Canyon Blvd | Park / conservation area | 40.01516, -105.27826 | Downtown park on the north bank by the band shell and the Farmers Market, 40 m off the water. The creek here is inside the special-regulation reach. |
| 8 | Rocky Mountain Anglers 1904 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder · fly shop | Bait, tackle & fly shop | 40.01441, -105.26996 | Fly shop 250 m off the creek on Arapahoe Avenue, mapped in OSM as shop=fishing. Nearest shop to the special-regulation reach. |
| 9 | Front Range Anglers 2344 Pearl St, Boulder · fly shop | Bait, tackle & fly shop | 40.02077, -105.26439 | Full fly shop and guide service on Pearl Street, about a kilometre north of the creek. OSM carries the storefront only as an unnamed “Fly shop” node, so this point is placed from the published street address. |
| 10 | Boulder Creek Stream Observatory Boulder Creek Path near 30th St | Point of interest | 40.01179, -105.26027 | Below-water viewing window built into the bank so you can watch trout holding in the current. Ten metres off the water on the paved path. |
| 11 | Scott Carpenter Park City of Boulder · 30th St at Arapahoe Ave | Park / conservation area | 40.01267, -105.25488 | Creek-side city park with its own parking on the Boulder Creek Path — the usual access for the lower half of the special-regulation reach. |
| 12 | 55th Street bridge — special-regulation reach, lower limit City of Boulder | Regulation section limit | 40.02598, -105.22506 | Downstream limit of CPW's Boulder Creek special-regulation reach, which begins at the upper end of Eben G. Fine Park. Check CPW for the rules in force before fishing. |
| 13 | City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks hub 2520 55th St, Boulder · 303-441-3440 | Agency / conservation office | 40.02480, -105.22479 | OSMP's operations hub, 115 m off the creek, and the authority for the open-space land Boulder Creek crosses between town and the 75th Street ponds. |
| 14 | Sawhill Ponds Boulder County Parks & Open Space · off 75th St | Park / conservation area | 40.03944, -105.18536 | Sixteen reclaimed gravel ponds in the Boulder Creek floodplain, managed for wildlife and open to fishing. One point stands for the whole property; OSM maps the ponds individually. |
| 15 | Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat Boulder County Parks & Open Space · 75th St | Park / conservation area | 40.04488, -105.18343 | County wildlife-habitat ponds beside the creek. The ponds carry their own CPW special-regulation entry, separate from the creek's — check CPW before fishing them. |
| 16 | USGS 06730200 — Boulder Creek at North 75th Street USGS streamgage | USGS gauge | 40.05167, -105.17833 | The gauge this water page reads. A second Boulder Creek gauge, 06730500 at the mouth near Longmont, sits 20 km further down and is not the page's reference. |
| 17 | Teller Farm North Trailhead City of Boulder OSMP · East Boulder Trail | Park / conservation area | 40.04000, -105.14281 | Open-space trail parking 920 m south of the creek — the only public parking on this reach. It is trail access rather than a creek access; the East Boulder Trail reaches the water on foot. |
| 18 | Confluence with St. Vrain Creek End of Boulder Creek · Weld County | Point of interest | 40.15856, -105.01016 | Boulder Creek ends here in St. Vrain Creek, 39 river miles below Barker Dam. The last two miles are private bottomland with no public access mapped. |
Gauge: USGS 06730200 — BOULDER CREEK AT NORTH 75TH ST. NEAR BOULDER, CO. Live flow on the web page.
Species: Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Cuttbow, Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, White Sucker
Regulations: cpw.state.co.us/rules-and-regulations
Emergency: call 911 and give the number of the nearest point on this map plus its coordinates.
North 75th Street - the road crossing at the gauge on the plains reach.
Boulder Creek Path - the paved corridor following the creek through the city.
Boulder Canyon - the upper reach, with pullouts along the canyon highway.
Eben G. Fine Park - the west edge of town where the canyon opens into the city.
Boulder County open space - the public land covering much of the lower corridor.
St. Vrain Creek - the larger stream this creek eventually joins.
Boulder - the city itself, with full services and tackle.
Spring: runoff dominates and the canyon runs high, with the plains reach fishing first.
Summer: good fishing early and late, but diversions can pull lower flows down hard.
Fall: the best conditions of the year, with clear water and active brown trout.
Winter: cold and low, with fishing concentrated in the deeper slower pools.