Upper Colorado

Pumphouse to Radium · Class II–III · CO

402Oct 22 snapshot

Runnable

Snapshot from Oct 22, 2026. Live reading loading.

Runnable range 400 to 3,000 cfs. This is a draft estimate that paddlers have not reviewed yet.

Season

Summer, depending on runoff and releases

Character

Short run of about 4 miles, mostly Class II, with Needle’s Eye at Class III.

Watch for

Needle’s Eye becomes Class IV above about 3,000 cfs. Boulders and waves make rowing hard at high water, and flows can top 4,000 cfs in some years.

Gauge

USGS 09058000
Colorado River near Kremmling
402 cfs at 6:15 PM MT on Oct 22, 2026 (snapshot)
The Kremmling gauge is upstream of this stretch, so flow here may differ from the reading.

Snowpack

Upper Colorado mainstemEarly season

Snow water equivalent 0.4 in. Early season — median too low for a meaningful %.

Outlook indicator, not a flow forecast. Spring temperatures, rain, soil moisture, dust on snow and reservoir releases also matter. NRCS SNOTEL data as of Oct 31, 2026 (provisional).

See basin snowpack

Other sections of Upper Colorado

Draft details for paddlers to review and edit. Community voting on runnable ranges is coming.

Trip reports

Wavetrain is an early build. Flow readings are USGS provisional data and may be revised. Runnable ranges and run details are drafts for paddlers to review. Permit dates and rules come from the agency pages linked on each permit and can change. Snowpack figures come from NRCS SNOTEL stations, are provisional, and are grouped into basins by watershed, so they may differ from official NRCS basin reports. Nothing here replaces scouting, local knowledge or a conversation with a nearby outfitter.