Poudre Canyon, Recreational canyon in northern Colorado, United States

Poudre Canyon is a 40-mile glacier-formed valley on the upper Cache la Poudre River in Larimer County, Colorado, descending from about 9,000 feet in northern Rocky Mountain National Park to roughly 5,000 feet near Bellvue. Its gently sloping, forested flanks are broken by several narrows where the river cut through recent formations, leaving glacial debris. State Highway 14 runs through most of the canyon within Roosevelt National Forest.

The canyon has been inhabited by the Utes, Arapaho, and Paleo-Indians for thousands of years. In the early 1880s, the Union Pacific and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroads surveyed the canyon for a transcontinental line, but no railroad was ever built. A road through the narrows was constructed in the 1920s.

Locals pronounce the river's name "Pooder." Colorado State University runs a mountain campus at Pingree Park, named for George Pingree, an early settler in the canyon in the 19th century. The canyon's unincorporated cabin communities, some occupied only seasonally, grew up around fishing and hunting resorts downstream from Rustic, where the Rustic Hotel stood from 1881 until it burned in 2008.

The canyon is accessible by car along State Highway 14, and most trailheads are easy to find with clear signage. Weather can change quickly at higher elevations, so bringing extra layers and sturdy footwear is a good idea.

The name "Cache la Poudre" comes from French trappers who buried their gunpowder along the river in the 19th century to protect it from a winter storm. The river is also one of the few in the country to carry the official Wild and Scenic River designation, which limits development along its banks.