Clear Creek (Colorado)

Clear Creek[1]
US 6 in Clear Creek Canyon west of Golden
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Clear Creek County, Colorado
• coordinates	39°40′29″N 105°55′23″W / 39.67472°N 105.92306°W / 39.67472; -105.92306
Mouth
• location	Confluence with South Platte
• coordinates	39°49′39″N 104°56′57″W / 39.82750°N 104.94917°W / 39.82750; -104.94917
• elevation	5,092 ft (1,552 m)
Length	66 mi (106 km)
Discharge
• location	Golden, Colorado[2]
• average	191 cu/ft. per sec.
Basin features
Progression	South Platte—Platte— Missouri—Mississippi

Clear Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately 66 miles (106 km) long,^[3] in north central Colorado in the United States. The creek flows through Clear Creek Canyon in the Rocky Mountains directly west of Denver, descending through a long gorge to emerge at the town of Golden, finally ending in the Colorado Eastern Plains where it joins the South Platte. Clear Creek is unusual in that it is a stream named "creek" fed by a stream named "river"; typically "rivers" are fed by "creeks", and are larger bodies of water, although the nomenclature is ambiguous and there is no clear system. Fall River empties into Clear Creek along I-70 west of Idaho Springs, Colorado.