The first weekend of summer has been a scorcher, with temperatures flirting with triple digits in metro Denver for the first time this year.
With the heat comes a burst of desire to head to a river, creek or lake to seek relief. But waterways across the state — flush with recently melted snowpack — are often still a bone-chilling 45 degrees or so.
Fall in, jump in or get tossed in, and things can turn deadly serious in a flash, said Todd Miner, a retired senior instructor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
“You get in that cold water, and it’s really tough to stay in control,” he said. “People don’t recognize how debilitating that can be.”
Add to the cold a formidable current, and chances for serious accidents — even fatal ones — only multiply. Stand up in the creek, and expect to get your foot wedged and pinned in between rocks on the creek bed, said Capt. Harold Osborn with North Metro Fire Rescue.
“A lot of times, (people) don’t understand the flow dynamics of the river,” he said.
Osborn was one of 15 members of the North Area Technical Rescue Team practicing water rescues on a roaring Clear Creek last week west of Golden. The 150-member organization, now in its 30th year and made up of emergency officials from nine local fire departments, performs specialized rescues in Denver’s northern suburbs, including rope rescues, confined space rescues, trench rescues and collapse rescues.
On Wednesday, the focus was water rescue training in Clear Creek Canyon. A rescuer was tethered to the shore or was free swimming across a raging current, then grabbing hold of a free-floating “victim” and pulling them back to land. Lt. Jacob Charney, with North Metro Fire Rescue, was in charge.
“Because the water’s so high, we do the training in the spring,” he said, wearing a dry suit and helmet as a bloated Clear Creek rushed past. “It’s the most difficult conditions because of the velocity of the water.”
Less than two weeks ago, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office closed the creek through downtown Golden to belly boats, inner tubes and single-chambered rafts — as well as body surfing and swimming — until water levels subside. People on kayaks, river boards, whitewater canoes and multi-chambered, professionally guided rafts can still ride the creek.
The closure comes after three years of particularly deadly water activity in Colorado. More than 30 people died on the state’s waterways and water bodies last year. There were 32 deaths in 2023 and a record 42 fatalities in 2022, according to an unofficial tally kept by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
This year, so far, has been a departure from that deadly record. As of Friday, the state had seen eight deaths recorded in 2025, according to news releases from CPW.
In comparison, by the first few days of June last year, there had already been a dozen deaths on Colorado waters.
“We are not on the same pace as last year, and that is fantastic news,” CPW spokeswoman Kara Van Hoose said.
She credits the drop in water deaths to a cooler and wetter May, with Memorial Day weekend almost a total washout.
“When it rains, people are less likely to be out on the water,” Van Hoose said.
This year’s deaths in Colorado waters have largely been on lakes, rather than rivers. The incidents began in late February with the discovery of the body of a 65-year-old fisherman who had fallen through the ice at Cherry Creek Reservoir. In mid-April, the body of a man who fell from a canoe was recovered from Spinney Reservoir in Park County.
Last month, a fisherman using a bellyboat — a small, inflatable tube — got caught in strong wind gusts at Steamboat Lake State Park and drowned, authorities said. He was not wearing a life jacket. In the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, a popular rafting and kayaking spot near Buena Vista, a kayaker died after his vessel capsized.
Another four deaths have occurred at Lake Pueblo State Park, including a drowning on Thursday. In most of the Lake Pueblo deaths, the victim did not wear a life jacket.
“Any water can be deadly if you’re not wearing a life jacket,” Van Hoose said.
Employees at Golden River Sports hand out life jackets and helmets to all customers who rent their tubes. But Jon Baskin, who has worked seasonally at the tube and kayak rental store in downtown Golden for five years and was a raft guide for a decade, sees many on Clear Creek not wearing protective gear.
“I see people without PFDs,” he said, referring to personal flotation devices. “Clear Creek on a weekend day is like a carnival — there are hundreds and hundreds of tubes. But it’s still a wild river, it’s not like the lazy river at Elitch’s.”
Golden has taken measures in recent years to control, and even restrict, the crowds that mob the waterway near downtown Vanover Park on warm, sunny days. The city places daily limits on the number of tubes the two concessionaires in town can rent to the public. It also embeds radio frequency identification tags in tubes to track their usage.
Last year, Golden discussed the introduction of a reservation system, like the timed-entry system used at Rocky Mountain National Park. It has not yet put in place such a system to control access to the creek.
Whether 2025’s less-deadly trend on Colorado’s waters continues into July and beyond, CPW’s Van Hoose said, will ultimately come down to individual behavior and precautions taken.
“We hope we continue to see good numbers — but it’s up to the people,” she said.
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