South Platte River, North Fork - Foxton

Description

Foxton is a fun class III stretch on the North Fork of the South Platte.  The put in is just above the small "town" of Foxton and below the junction with CO Rd 126 (Pine Valley Road).  The standard put-in is above a Boulder garden that has some obvious drops with more gradient than the rest of the run, maybe approaching Class IV but with fairly easy lines.  Be sure to take the left chute past the gigantic boulder blocking most of the river at the bottom of the Boulder Garden--the right side has a dangerous seive.

Those looking for an easier run can put in below the Boulder garden and those looking for a harder run can easily do laps on the Boulder garden.  At higher flows, it is reasonable to put in further upstream.

Below the Boulder garden the run mellows out considerably until it nears the Foxton Road intersection.  Past the intersection, several III or III+ rapids await.  Keep an eye out for some good surf holes.  Most people take out at a large turnoff several miles downstream, but especially at higher flows, the run can be extended all the way to the Confluence with the South Fork.

The best gauge for this run is in Grant.  Because it's significantly higher up the drainage, during spring runoff expect the flows to be a bit higher in the Foxton stretch proper.  One can get an idea for how much water is being added by checking the Waterton gauge (at the Confluence) and subtracting the flow from the South Fork (Decker's run) and comparing it to the Grant gauge.