Lincoln Creek (Colorado)

Lincoln Creek
The creek at the Tabor Creek Trail trailhead
Location of the creek's mouth in Colorado, U.S.
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Pitkin County, Colorado
• coordinates	39°0′38.97″N106°37′5.12″W / 39.0108250°N 106.6180889°W / 39.0108250; -106.6180889 [1]
Mouth
• location	Roaring Fork River
• coordinates	39°7′3.96″N106°41′49.13″W / 39.1177667°N 106.6969806°W / 39.1177667; -106.6969806 [1]
• elevation	9,584 feet (2,921 meters) [1]
Basin features
Progression	Roaring Fork → Colorado
Tributaries
• left	Galena Creek Truro Creek Tabor Creek New York Creek
• right	Grizzly Creek

Lincoln Creek is a tributary of the Roaring Fork River in Pitkin County, Colorado. The creek is part of the Independence Pass Transmountain Diversion System, and some of its flow is diverted across the continental divide to cities in the Front Range Urban Corridor. ^[2]

Course

The creek rises high in the White River National Forest in the Ruby Lakes area southwest of Grizzly Peak. From here, the creek flows generally north until it is impounded by Grizzly Reservoir.

Leaving Grizzly Reservoir, the creek flows along Lincoln Creek Road in a generally northwest direction until it reaches its confluence with the Roaring Fork River near Colorado State Highway 82 at the Lincoln Gulch Campground. ^[3]

Transbasin diversion

The creek is part of the Independence Pass Transmountain Diversion System. Grizzly Reservoir receives water from three canals that divert water from Lost Man Creek, the Roaring Fork River, and two of Lincoln Creek's tributaries, New York Creek and Tabor Creek. The system also diverts water from Lincoln Creek itself and sends all the collected water to the Front Range Urban Corridor via the Twin Lakes Tunnel, which runs from Grizzly Reservoir under the continental divide to North Fork Lake Creek in Lake County, Colorado. ^{[4] [2]}

Lincoln Creek dispersed camping

Lincoln Creek Road, a rough and rocky dirt road, closely follows most of the creek's course. The Forest Service maintains 22 individual campsites along the road. ^[5]

See also

• List of rivers of Colorado

References

1. "Lincoln Creek". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved August 12, 2025.
2. "Twin Lakes Diversion (Roaring Fork River)". Roaring Fork Conservancy. n.d. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
3. The National Map viewer
4. Driscoll, G. Moss (January 7, 2011). Front Range Water Supply Planning Update (PDF) (Report). Carbondale, Colorado: Ruedi Water & Power Authority. p. 16. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
5. "Lincoln Creek dispersed camping". White River National Forest. United States Department of Agriculture. n.d. Retrieved August 13, 2025.

External links

• Media related to Lincoln Creek (Colorado) at Wikimedia Commons