St. Vrain Creek (often known locally as the St. Vrain River) is a tributary of the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sou ...

, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed March 25, 2011 in north central

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It drains part of the foothills north of

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

and the Colorado Piedmont area in the vicinity of Longmont. The creek is formed by the confluence of North and South St. Vrain creeks at

Lyons Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. The creek rises in several branches in the foothills of the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encounter ...

northwest of Boulder. Middle St. Vrain Creek rises along the

continental divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

, west of St. Vrain Mountain. It descends in canyon to flow along State Highway 7 and past

Raymond Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷ� ...

. It joins the shorter South St. Vrain Creek about two miles below Raymond. Parts of the South St. Vrain Creek form a Class 5+ kayak run during normal flows. North St. Vrain Creek rises northeast of St. Vrain Mountain near Mount Alice and Chiefs Head Peak, and descends in a remote canyon to the east along U.S. Highway 36. The two branches join at

, at the mouth of the canyon. East of Lyons, the combined stream flows southeast through farmland and ranch country, passing south of

Hygiene Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

and entering Longmont. It passes through the south side of Longmont where it is rimmed by a greenway trail and several parks. East of Longmont it flows generally northeast, meandering through a wide river bottom in ranch country and passing under

Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25), also known as the Pan-American Freeway, is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 st ...

south of the intersection with State Highway 66. It joins the South Platte from the west just upstream from the ruins of Fort St. Vrain and approximately northwest of Platteville. St. Vrain Creek is joined by Left Hand Creek south of Longmont and Boulder Creek east of Longmont. The stream was named after Ceran St. Vrain, a pioneer trader.

References

Rivers of Boulder County, Colorado Rivers of Weld County, Colorado Rivers of Colorado Tributaries of the Platte River {{Colorado-river-stub

See also

References