Wild & Scenic Rivers South Platte River

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I *.I , • • Cache la Poudre River Wild and Scenic River Designation Committee Report Language- The Cache la Poudre is one of Colorado's finest rivers -- it drains more than two thousand square miles of _land east of the Continental Divide, with its lake headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park. The mainstem flows down from an alpine lake through a long, high mountain valley and then through steep - walled canyons before it opens up to head east onto the plains and through the cities of La Porte, Ft. Collins and Greeley, before joining the South Platte River. The South Fork of the Cache la Poudre starts just below Iceland Pass and drops approximately 4 miles through Rocky Mountain National Park and into the Comanche Peak Wilderness area. The South Fork descends through spectacular alpine valleys, notably Pingree Park, and then winds through the Cache la Poudre Wilderness area, a wild stretch of river cutting a tight and pristine canyon, to join the mainstem. The history of the river is reflected in its name given by the early French furtrappers, Cache la Poudre or "hide the powder." Just exactly who hid the powder has never been established with certainty. Several accounts concur that the cache in question was made by trappers caught in a snowstorm just below the mouth of Poudre Canyon. It may have been William Ashley's party making their way up the Platte to the Green