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Meadow Creek, high in the Eagles Nest Wilderness, overflows its banks during peak spring runoff in early June.
Meadow Creek takes some surprising twists and turns on its way from the Eagles Nest Wilderness through Frisco to Dillon Reservoir
By Bob Berwyn
SUMMIT COUNTY — We all know about Colorado’s magnificent high country streams, lakes and waterfalls. Summit County has its share of spectacular creeks spilling out of the Eagles Nest Wilderness and the Tenmile Range. A few days ago, I decided to try and trace Meadow Creek, one of the area’s lesser-known streams down from the mountains and through the town of Frisco. I chose Meadow Creek because it flows right past my home in the Lagoon area, where it fills a lovely pond that’s stocked with fat rainbows during the summer. Muskrats and beavers also visit the pond, and just past the townhomes, the creek spreads out to nurture a healthy wetlands complex before spilling into Dillon Reservoir.
A Google Earth map tracing where Meadow Creek emerges from beneath I-70, down past Wal-Mart, under Summit Boulevard, through Lagoon Townhomes and into Dillon Reservoir, from left to right across the center of the map.
Follow Meadow Creek after the break …
Crossing Meadow Creek near the Gore Range Trail. PHOTO BY DYLAN BERWYN.
Wild strawberries bloom along the Meadow Creek trail.
Looking down from high in the Meadow Creek drainage you can see where the stream flows through wetlands near Wal-Mart and then into Dillon Reservoir.
Around Meadow Creek Pond, behind Wal-Mart and near the Summit Stage Transfer Center, the hydrology of Meadow Creek has been altered significantly to allow for development and to create recreational amenities.
Some spill-over Meadow Creek wetlands behind Wal-Mart.
Meadow Creek water fills the Meadow Creek pond in a favorite local park and picnic spot behind Wal-Mart.
Meadow Creek picks up steam before going beneath Meadow Drive.
Meadow Creek, Frisco, Colorado.
Meadow Creek flows through a series of culverts along Hawn Drive before briefly re-emerging near the Frisco Starbucks.
Most cars speeding in and out of the Wal-Mart parking lot probably don't realize what an interesting journey Meadow Creek makes. In this picture you can see much of the Meadow Creek watershed up in the aspen and pine forests of the Gore Range.
Here goes Meadow Creek, disappearing beneath Summit Boulevard.
... And then beneath 10 Mile Drive ...
... until it re-emerges in the Lagoon Pond, right below the Summit Voice weather deck.
Where it creates a great neighborhood amenity.
Flowing out of the lagoon pond, the creek sustains a narrow but healthy riparian corridor.
In its last reach before flowing into Dillon Reservoir, Meadow Creek nurtures a rich wetlands complex that we'll explore in a separate photoblog.
Trout thrive at the mouth of Meadow Creek.
Filed under: Frisco, photography, rivers, Summit County Colorado Tagged: | Frisco, Meadow Creek, Summit County, Summit County Colorado, Summit County News, Summit County water
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[...] Rivers Photoblog: Follow Meadow Creek from the Gore Range to Dillon Reservoir [...]
Hi, Bob,
I live in Minneapolis, work in the Arkansas Rivery valley, and am reading you from the Great Lake Michigan in Milwaukee. Luv your entire concept to track a creek — while the high-mountain stuff is great, the whole Wal-Mart thing fascinates . . . esp. the fact that drivers do not even know about the resource they are traveling over. I have done a similar (but not as well) project of Minnehaha Creek flowing from Lake Minnetonka into the Mississippi River. I think we should partner and get a book contract: this creek tracking is a concept whose time has come.
[...] Creek spills into a patch of healthy wetlands near the shoreline. To see more of Meadow Creek, click here for a photo essay tracing the stream from near it’s high country source as it sends its way through the urban [...]
[...] In another photo essay, I documented the path of Meadow Creek from the Eagles Nest Wilderness down beneath I-70, past Wal-Mart and under Summit Boulevard to the wetlands at Dillon Reservoir. [...]