Bear Creek above Bear Creek Lake near Morrison Water Level

Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Bear Creek above Bear Creek Lake near Morrison in CO, United States, built from official government gauge data.

About Bear Creek above Bear Creek Lake near Morrison

Bear Creek above Bear Creek Lake near Morrison is a river in the Upper South Platte watershed in Colorado.

What the record shows

This USGS station has more than 40 years on record.

The highest level in the file is 4.8 ft (1.46 m), set in June 2026. The lowest is 3.45 ft (1.05 m), set in May 2026. That range gives a sense of how much the reach can change even within the record period.

For someone watching water levels at a crossing, intake, or bank site, the main point is not just the single high or low. It is how far the river has moved between those two marks. Here, the record span is a little over a foot, so changes at the site can matter even when the river is staying within the same general channel.

The watershed

The drainage area above this station is 176 sq mi (456 km2). That is the area feeding the gauge, not the watershed as a whole.

This reach sits in the Upper South Platte system, and this station is one of the local references for nearby waters such as Bear Creek above Evergreen, Big Dry Creek below C-470 at Highlands Ranch, and Lakewood Gulch at Denver. Those are different waters, but they sit in the same general monitoring landscape.

Reading the hero number

The number shown on the page is today’s reading. It is best read against the median for this calendar day across the station record, because raw elevation on its own does not tell you whether the river is running high or low for the season.

At a USGS station with more than 40 years on record, that day-by-day comparison is the useful one: it tells you how current conditions stack up against what is typical for this date at this site.

How this page is built

Readings come from official government gauges and are rolled into daily records: the daily mean, high and low for every day on record. Each calendar day gets its own baseline from the full history, so the level you see is compared against what this specific date usually looks like rather than an annual average.

How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories

Verify your email to receive alerts and history exports.
Favorites
Loading…
Notifications
No active alerts
Set an alert on any lake to get notified when levels change.
The Nibi Dispatch
Water moves. Stay ahead of it.
One email a week — freshet watches, record levels, new regions. Nothing else.
Map
Nibi MetricsNibi Metrics

Sign in

Alerts & notifications Get notified when your favorite lakes go outside normal range
Loading…
Your account Email, subscription, and account actions
Loading…
DEV ZONE

Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK

Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK. Built on official government data.

Nibi Metrics tracks more than 13,000 gauged lakes and rivers across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, and the Environment Agency for England. Every number on the platform is measured, not modelled - taken from a government gauge on the water itself and compared against that location's own historical record for this exact date.

What you can see for any monitored lake or river

The level right now, in feet or metres, updated as the source agency publishes new readings - for many stations that is every five to fifteen minutes. How today compares to typical: every location carries its own typical-for-this-date band built from its historical record, so a reading is never just a number - it is above, below, or near what this water usually does on this calendar day. Which way it is moving: a measured RISING, FALLING, or STEADY verdict computed from the gauge's own recent readings, with the rate of change - the difference between a flood ending and one beginning. What comes next: level forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, driven by the gauge's recent behaviour, upstream water, and quantitative precipitation forecasts, alongside live radar, lightning, and weather for the surrounding region.

Alerts that watch the water for you

Set a threshold on any location - a level, a distance above typical, or a rate of climb - and Nibi emails or notifies you the moment the gauge crosses it. Cottagers use it for spring freshet, anglers for river conditions, marinas and municipalities for operations. The scanning runs around the clock against the same measured data shown on every page.

Where Nibi comes from

Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin. The platform began at a family cottage on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, where the spring melt floods the shoreline most years and the only forecast was standing on the dock, looking, and guessing. It grew into an independent, member-funded platform run by Muskoka Research Inc. - no investors, no data resale, and a privacy policy shorter than most cookie banners. The core data is free for everyone, forever; paid plans add automation like multi-location alerts, deep history, and reports.

Coverage

Nibi spans the continent: every Canadian province and territory with active federal gauges - from Vancouver Island rivers to the Muskoka lakes, prairie reservoirs, and Quebec's hydrometric network - and the United States from Maine to the Texas Hill Country, the Ohio Valley, and the Pacific Northwest. Coverage grows where the water news is: when a basin floods, its gauges join the platform with their full historical records attached. Many stations report every five to fifteen minutes; most report at least hourly; every page states exactly when its gauge last spoke.

Free forever, funded by members

The core promise is simple: the water data is free, for everyone, forever. Live levels, maps, radar, and recent history never sit behind a paywall. Paid plans fund the platform by adding automation - multi-location alerts, decades of history, longer forecasts, and PDF reports - so the people who need more carry the cost for everyone who just needs to check the lake before driving up. There are no investors and no advertising deals shaping what the data says.

Water Stories

Field notes and explainers from the Nibi desk - how to read a staff gauge, what a 100-year flood actually means, how snowpack becomes summer water.

The flood of record that was overtaken

For five years, spring 2019 was the mark every Lake Muskoka decision answered to. In April 2026 the lake went two centimeters higher - and the official books have not caught up yet.

Why the Assiniboine floods every spring

Inside the freshet cycle that puts Manitoba shorelines at risk each year - and why 2026 broke the script.

How snowpack becomes summer water

The science of snow water equivalent and why it drives the season ahead.

Reading a staff gauge like a hydrologist

What the numbers on the measuring stick actually tell you.

Flash Flood Alley: how Texas rivers rise in hours

Why Central and South Texas rivers go from gravel beds to fifty-year records in an afternoon - including July 2026 on the Nueces.

What a "100-year flood" actually means

One percent, every year, forever - unwrapping hydrology's most misunderstood phrase, and how it differs from our own percentiles.

How every number is computed - About the platform