This page is currently under construction. Further description of Clear Creek and a process domain map will be included at a later time.
Clear Creek Watershed
Clear Creek Drainage Basin
Clear Creek in Georgetown
(Photo by E. Wohl)
Clear Creek heads near the Continental Divide and drains 1580 km2 before it joins the South Platte near Golden. The river initially had several other names before placer miners named it Clear Creek in 1859. The name is ironic, given the substantial increase in suspended sediment and turbidity that quickly accompanied placer mining. The creek is one of the most heavily altered in the Upper South Platte basin. Interstate 70 runs along much of its length, and the wealth of mineral resources within Clear Creekâs drainage led to the founding of mining towns such as Silver Plume, Georgetown, and Idaho Springs. Many of the 19th-century mines caused severe degradation of water quality from excess sediment, mercury, and heavy metals, in some cases leading to Superfund designation.
1920s dredge boat tailings along North Clear Creek
(Photo by E. Wohl)