Clear Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately 40 mi (64 km) long, in north central Colorado in the United States. The creek drains a canyon, called Clear Creek Canyon in the Rocky Mountains directly west of Denver, descending through a long gorge to emerge on the Colorado Eastern Plains where it joins the South Platte. The creek is famous as the location of the most intense early mining activity during the Colorado Gold Rush of 1859. Mountain man Jim Baker had a cabin on the creek from 1873 until his death in 1898. The creek provided the route of the Colorado Central Railroad, and later for the United States Highway 6 and Interstate 70 as they ascend to the Continental Divide west of Denver.