River Run Park is a set of high-performance river surfing waves on the South Platte near the Broken Tee Golf Course in south Denver. Chiclets, named for the gum-looking blocks that help shape the wave, is the furthest downstream and the most beginner-friendly wave in the park. At lower flows it forms a friendly green face, and at higher flows it forms more of a pile, but it’s still surfable with higher-volume boards. Shortboards can work, but given the foam, more volume is better. Works from about 100 cfs and up, depending on how bad you want to surf.

The South Platte Below Union gives the best gauge here; look for 175+ cfs for Benni’s, and over 200 or 250 gives a much better opportunity for longer, more dynamic rides. Tuned right, it remains in great shape up to 1,200 cfs, and likely higher. In its earlier form, Chiclets wave could be surfed on a paddleboard all the way down to 60 cfs, but improvements at 130 cfs and above have led it to green out at low flows. Look for 100 cfs or more.

Look for 120 cfs or more for Nathan’s to work; with the wave working up to around 550 CFS until whitewater crumbles the surfable face.

Occasionally late in the summer, the Union gauge gets somewhat fouled by sediment. You can double-check it by comparing the Chatfield Outflow and the Englewood gauges. If the Union gauge shows a higher flow than the Englewood gauge, it’s probably wrong.