First drop at C-470

This is the very first drop, right at the put-in. It is the same difficulty as many of the other drops on this run, so if you have problems here you should not continue.

Rocks Mark the Path

There are large upright rocks at each drop, marking the entrance to the drop. As this photo shows, it's rather bony if you decide to try an alternate route.

The Nature of the Drops

The drops are modified control structures which have been converted for paddling. In years past, these dams were unrunnable, but recent improvements created boat chutes on all of them in Denver.

Eric in First Drop

Sure you bounce off a couple of shallow rocks, but it's a straight shot through this drop. Just watch out for the waves at the bottom.

The waves at the bottom

Each drop ends in a series of standing waves. You can cut the waves off, but be prepared for a strong eddy on either side. The route through the waves can be wet.

Electric Bilge Pump in Action

Eric took on about 1" of water in the first drop, running the middle into the standing waves. The electric bilge pump drains the canoe in a matter of seconds, eliminating the need to dump or bail.

Nickolas in the waves

The large waves are no problem for decked boats. Just prepare to get soaked!

Jeff in First Drop

We call this an air brace. Jeff flipped in the drop when the waves pushed him into an eddy that caught him unprepared. Remember to keep the paddle in the water.

Brian in First Drop

Trust us, that's a big smile on his face as his canoe gets it's first taste of the South Platte.

Second Drop

You can see C-470 and the first drop in the background. The drops on this section are either large like the first, or minor like the second. These small drops scrape the boats more than the larger ones do.

Calm water below the drops

This run is a true pool drop run, with glass flat water between the dams.

Islands abound

There are several islands in the river, offering a variety of routes. We saw at least a dozen different types of birds on this run, most nesting on the islands.

Third Drop

We started losing count of the drops, but I believe this is the third. Like the second it's a boat scraper. Just choose your path over the rocks.

Calm along the bike path

A bike path follows this section of river. At the more interesting drops, we often had an audience from the path. It is an easy way to scout the river, and portage if necessary.

The Greenbelt

You wouldn't know you are in the middle of Littleton. The sounds of the river block the sounds of the city, and a wall of trees keeps the sites at bay. It is a very pleasant run.

Pick your path

We would often take different routes areound the islands, just to see what was there.

Fourth Drop - Mineral Blvd

This fourth drop at Mineral is fun. The drop itself is smooth concrete, and we weren't scraping rocks like the previous two drops.

Brian at Fourth Drop

We started to play more at this drop. The ripples in the drop are due to the shape of the concrete. A green algae mat made the drop smooth even for boats that scraped bottom.

Nickolas in Fourth Drop

We told him that his blue helmet didn't match the color scheme of his red kayak, red PFD and red bladed paddle. Don't looks matter?

Jeff and the interesting brace

In a canoe, we would call this gunnel grabbing. We started to pester Jeff a little more about keeping his blade in the water. But considering this was his first real moving water, he was doing very well for a beginner.

Our Audience Joins Us

We had almost a dozen people watching us from the bike path. I offered to let anyone try my Prodigy X through the drop, and this man agreed. I think the smile on his face says it all. This is a fun little run.

Mineral and Bike Bridge

The fourth drop can be seen in the distance, beyond Mineral Blvd. The Bike path crosses the river several times.

Fifth drop

At this low water, the fifth drop was more of a non-drop

Brian and Jeff in Fifth Drop

I didn't notice the fisherman in the background until looking at this photo. Just a reminder that you can feel like you have the place to yourself even when others are around.

Non-drop

This may be the sixth drop if there was more water. As it is, there are just two rocks standing in the river marking the chute. There is some concrete under the water by the drop, and I suspect at higher water a nice surf wave forms here.

Another Island

More calm and quiet before the real fun begins.

Sixth and Seventh Drops

These are compound drops, where the first drop pours into a small pool directly in front of the second drop. If you swim the first you will swim the second. There is a nice eddy inbetween these drops to realign yourself.

Jeff entering the Sixth Drop

He's still putting his paddle out of the water. You can only control your boat if it's in the water.

OOOH Chest Slap!

Feel the cool! Yes Jeff, you're blade is still out of the water.

Brian going for the glory

Jeff continued through the sixth drop directly into the seventh. I'm taking photos from the eddy inbetween, and Brian joined me for a moment while we waited for Nickolas.

Nickolas punching out of the wave

This is the same wave that chest slapped Jeff. Nickolas can be seen exiting it here.

Brian entering Seventh Drop

When you get to the drops, there isn't much to do besides slide down. The GPS clocked us going 12mph in these drops.

Seventh Drop

From this photo you can see the sixth drop pour into the pool, before the seventh drop. The nasty mess on the right is why you want to go between the standing rocks.

Nickolas playing in the Seventh Drop

There is a nice wave at the bottom of the drop, where we spent time playing. My camera battery died at this point, so I do not have photos of drops eight and nine. They are similar to six and seven here.

First of the Union Chutes

This chute is at the take-out. You can take-out before the chute, but we enjoyed playing in this wave. This photo was taken after running shuttle, with fresh camera batteries.

Union Chutes

The large standing rocks mark the chutes of Union Chutes. At the next to last chute is a good trail to portage boats back up to the parking lot. The very last chute has a keeper hole, so scout it before running.