The Truth About Tubing in Fort Collins and Colorado [VIDEO]

Tubing Colorado rivers always holds inherent danger.

On good days, those dangers are minor, and everyone walks away from the river without water in their lungs. Other days, things don't go so well. We've already had numerous tubing deaths in Colorado this year, so as a veteran of the river; in the tube, in rafts, in kayaks, and just in, I thought I'd share what I know.

The Truth

Here's the bare bones of the situation--anyone who tells you it is safe to tube in Poudre Canyon above Ted's Place is wrong. You can do it, and if you put in the right spot, and wear the right gear, you could get through it and even have some fun, but it really isn't a safe activity.

Ever heard the expression 'up the creek with no paddle?' When you tube, you are literally getting into a boat with no paddle. There is no way to control where you go in the river, no way to turn, no control, period.

When it's not safe to tube

Now aka, late spring and early summer. It's the same scene we saw last year, and the year before. Spring runoff combined with heavy rains has made the water a hazard. The combination of high cubic feet per second (referred to as CFS) and the temperature of the water are deadly.

The water in the Poudre River is always cold, and usually cold enough to cause hypothermia to set in pretty quickly. That combined with underwater features and currents, and there are more ways than five to find trouble in the water.

You'll see the CFS or cubic feet per second on websites like the Poudre Rock Report. They check and post the river level at Pine View, a big rapid up in the canyon. It has little to do with what the flow looks like at the more popular tubing spot in town (between Shields and College), but it can be an indicator as to how high the river is overall.

If it's above four feet, don't even think about taking a tube anywhere. Once the level starts to drop, it can become safer to put-in in town, and there are places to fool around on a tube in the canyon.

Moral of the story? The times when it isn't safe to tube is when the water level is high. The water is always cold, so hypothermia is a risk, more so in the spring and early summer.

What does change is the water level. High water? No tube. Lower water. Safer to tube.

The Poudre is classified as a wild and scenic river, and that means just what is sounds like. It's wild. The justification for tubing, though, can be just like the justification for other sports where bumps and bruises are part of the game.

When and where it is safe to tube

Truly, the answer is nowhere, because a wild and scenic river isn't like a pool. However, since a lot of people are going to do it, and I have had a lot of fun doing it in the past, let me rephrase...

When and where it is safe(ish) to tube

The water level drops at different times of the spring/summer, so there isn't a calendar day that applies. But, when the water slows, the section of the Poudre between Shields and College is probably the best place.

Get out at the bridge that link Legacy Park with Lee Martinez. Don't go past the wooden bridge, because there is a cement structure a few hundred feet downriver that shred a tube, and if the water is fast enough...

The real pain from tubing

Besides hypothermia, which happens all the time on the river, and drowning, which happens less often, thankfully, the real pain from tubing that most experience comes from the bumps, bruises and scrapes that they get from the rocks and uneven underwater terrain. The picture above is an example of what most tubers float in Poudre Canyon. Every one of those whitecaps wants to flip your tube. When one of them finally does, some part of your body is going to slam into the rocks below. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people on the wrong side of the river, looking across, wondering how they'll get back across the raging current.

The best tubing advice you've ever heard(read)

It's not about not tubing. It's about not tubing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Also, don't wear flip flops. I don't wear flip flops because I don't like that rubbery strap between my big and middle toes. Also, I don't like to wear shoes that aren't friendly to spontaneously breaking into a run.

The current, slow or fast, will tear them right off your feet, leaving you barefoot to scramble over craggy or slippery river rock.

If you must tube in the canyon...

Do so below the rapid that is known as Mad Dog, and do so when the river looks more like the picture below than above. Many people put in at Filter Plant, a bit further up the river, or from Gateway Park. there are a few rapids that I think are a little too gnarly for the tube up there. Mad Dog is about three miles from Ted's Place, and is at a significant bend in the river, and there are places to park.