The Cache La Poudre River (sometimes called the Poudre River for short) is a tributary of the South Platte River in the state of Colorado in the United States.

Its headwaters are in the Front Range in Larimer County, in the northern part of Rocky Mountain National Park. It descends eastward in the mountains through the Roosevelt National Forest in the Poudre Canyon. It emerges from the foothills north of the city of Fort Collins.

It flows eastward across the plains, passing south of the city of Greeley, and flows into into South Platte approximately five miles east of Greeley.

The name of the river means "hiding place of the powder" in French. It refers to an incident in the 1820s when French trappers, caught by a snowstorm, were forced to bury part of their gunpowder along the banks of the river.

The river is a popular summer destination for white-water rafting and kayaking in the Poudre Canyon.

In 1986, a portion of the river in the mountains was named as Colorado's first National Wild and Scenic River.

See also

• List of Colorado rivers

External links

• National Park Service: Cache La Poudre River
• Ronald Reagan 1985 address to Congress requesting wilderness designation of the river.