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Willow Creek

Type
Freestone river, Alaska (West)
Designation
Special-regulation trout water
USGS gauges
1 live
Guides
4 nearby
Shops
2 nearby

Today on the Willow Creek

Reading the gauge…

Regulations & access Guides & shops

Willow Creek is a freestone river in Alaska, listed as Special-regulation trout water by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish.

More about the Willow Creek

1 USGS gauge on the water reports flow. 4 guides and 2 shops nearby are listed here; the nearest destination hub is Mat-Su: Willow & the Susitna.

Updated · Sources: ADF&G Southcentral sport fishing regulations, Susitna River Drainage: unbaited artificial lures or flies only (all or part of the year), USGS Water Data

Representative photograph of similar water; not a photograph of this place.
Representative photograph, not this water.
Where it is

Willow Creek is a freestone river in Alaska. Our destination hub Mat-Su: Willow & the Susitna is 5 mi away in a straight line and lists it among its waters. Alaska has 54 waters named Willow Creek in the USGS Geographic Names Information System; this page is the stream whose mouth is in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the one the agency list names.

Flow now at the gauge
Reading the gauges…

Check any river's flow

Follow Willow Creek for flow alerts

Pick one of its USGS gauges and hear from us when the flow moves into or out of its usual range for the date, or crosses a flow you set. We check the public USGS reading every 2 hours and email only when it crosses, at most once every 6 hours. Flow alone is not a fishing forecast or a safety call.

Follow this water

Signed in: one step. Otherwise we email a confirmation link first. Every alert has one-click links to stop it.

Where to fish

About this

Start from the agency's public access map. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Alaska fishing and hunting access

Willow Creek on the map

About this

Gauges, shops and guides within 40 miles

Map of Willow Creek: gauges, shops and guides

RestroomsAccess map

Map of Willow Creek with 1 USGS gauge.

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors · OpenFreeMap · © OpenMapTiles

Restrooms near Willow Creek

Restrooms near Willow Creek

Restrooms within 2 miles of Willow Creek in a straight line, nearest first, with what anglers found when they went. The map says a restroom is there, not whether it is clean or open today.

No restroom mapped within 2 mi yet — add one you know.

Campgrounds, fishing access sites and boat ramps often have one that isn't on the map yet.

Restroom locations and map details: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License, read Oct 24, 2026. Ratings, answers and photos are members' own; who shared them is never shown, and every photo is reviewed before it appears. Visits older than 18 months no longer count. Distances are straight-line miles, not driving. Nothing here grants access to private land. Community guidelines.

More water near Willow Creek

  • The Little Susitna River blurred white over large granite boulders under a dusky skyCatch and release
    Photo credit

    The Little Susitna River near the road to Hatcher Pass, Alaska, at midnight. Photo: Jim from Lexington, KY, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Little Susitna River

    Alaska · about 22 mi

    Chinook salmon & coho salmon

  • Two hikers walking the green upper Peters Creek valley below jagged, snow-streaked Mount RumbleSpecial-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Deception Creek
    Photo credit

    Hikers in the upper Peters Creek valley below Mount Rumble, Chugach State Park, Alaska. Photo: Paxson Woelber, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Deception Creek.

    Deception Creek

    Alaska · about 4 mi

  • Anglers in the shallow braided channels of Ship Creek beside industrial buildings, with the Chugach Mountains beyondCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Kashwitna River
    Photo credit

    Fishing on Ship Creek near downtown Anchorage, Alaska, looking upstream toward the old power plant. Photo: Haydn Blackey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Kashwitna River.

    Kashwitna River

    Alaska · about 12 mi

    Rainbow trout & steelhead

  • The calm Eagle River bending between golden autumn grass and spruce below forested slopesCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Deshka River
    Photo credit

    The Eagle River at the Eagle River Nature Center, Chugach State Park, Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska. Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Deshka River.

    Deshka River

    Alaska · about 17 mi

    Rainbow trout & steelhead

  • The glacial-turquoise Kenai River curving through spruce forest below snowy peaks near Cooper LandingSteelhead / salmon waterRepresentative photo · not Fish Creek
    Photo credit

    The Kenai River near Cooper Landing, Alaska. Photo: Frank K., CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Fish Creek.

    Fish Creek

    Alaska · about 20 mi

  • The shallow Russian River braiding over a wide gravel bar below a green mountainSpecial-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Goose Creek
    Photo credit

    The Russian River, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Photo: Ken Curtis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Goose Creek.

    Goose Creek

    Alaska · about 21 mi

Regulations

About this

Seasons, limits, special regulations and closures for each reach are on the agency pages below. Read them before you go.

Official designation: Special-regulation trout water

Each comes from the agency's own published list; where the list names a reach it is quoted. A designation applies to the listed reach, not necessarily the whole water. Listed in the finder under trout.

The water on the map

About this

Measured from the NHDPlus High Resolution (flowlines and waterbodies) (U.S. Geological Survey, read 2026-11-04) for this water’s own mapped feature. Rounded figures; they describe the channel, not today’s conditions.

Whole Willow Creek, not only this reach.

Length
37.7 mi (35.5 in AK)
Drains
12,350 sq mi
Drop
4,141 ft · 109.8 ft/mi
Watershed
Lower Susitna River

Public land along it

About this

Areas the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), public access (U.S. Geological Survey, Gap Analysis Project, read 2026-11-05) lists as owned or held in easement and open to the public, crossed by the mapped channel of the whole Willow Creek. Boundaries are mapped, not surveyed. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.

4.2 of 35.5 mi on public land

  • Willow Creek State Recreation AreaState Department of Natural Resources · 4.2 mi

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Guides and shops near Willow Creek

About this

Listings marked Unclaimed are built from open map records and the business's own website: confirm licensing, rates, dates and hours directly.

Guides

All Alaska guides

2 shops nearby

All Alaska shops

How these are chosen

Guides whose own website names this water come first, nearest first. After them, fly-focused guides within 40 miles whose website does not name it. Distances are straight-line.

Shops: fly shops first. A distance is shown when the shop’s website gives its location (within 60 miles); otherwise the shop is in one of the towns within 25 miles of the water.

Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories.

Species and hatches

About this

What 4 nearby guide websites mention: what guides advertise, not a survey or a promise of what you will catch.

Named on 4 nearby guide websites

  • Arctic grayling2
  • Chinook salmon2
  • Coho salmon2
  • Rainbow trout2
  • Northern pike1
  • Salmon1
  • Sockeye salmon1
  • Steelhead1

When the bugs come off

How we put this together

Named by guides nearby (within 40 miles), counted from the species each guide lists on its own site. No agency page we hold lists species for this water.

Mat-Su: Willow & the Susitna

About this

Willow is a Parks Highway community in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, between Wasilla and Talkeetna; Willow Creek runs west past it to the Susitna River, the Deshka joins the Susitna from the west, and the Little Susitna runs south-west to Cook Inlet.

Destination hub · 5 mi away in a straight line

Open the hubPlan a trip here

Gear checklist

About this

A steelhead and salmon fly-fishing checklist: a switch or spey rod (or 9′6″ single-hand) in 7–8 weight, Skagit lines and sink tips, swing flies, studded boots and cold-weather layers, with estimated prices and where to buy.

An angler wades the Deschutes River and casts, dry canyon slopes behind

Steelhead & salmon

11′–13′6″ two-hand rod, 7–8 weight, Skagit head + sink tips · Steelhead and Pacific salmon

Open the checklist
Videos for this water (5)

Watch: reading a trout stream

About this

Seams, shelves and soft water, shown on real rivers.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • How I Learned to Read Water (Fly Fishing)Embedded from YouTube · Mad River Outfitters · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • How To Read The Water with Tom RosenbauerEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Reading the Water to Successfully Locate TroutEmbedded from YouTube · Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on reading water

Watch: nymphing basics

About this

Indicator rigs, depth and detecting the take.

Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.

  • 90° Nymph RigEmbedded from YouTube · Huge Fly Fisherman · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Casting with an Indicator & Better Nymphing TechniquesEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on nymphing

Fish Tales

About this

Trip stories anglers chose to share publicly and tagged with Willow Creek.

No stories from here yet.

Write the first story Share your day

Sources for this page

Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.

Something wrong?

All 12 sources and dates

A water page organises discovery. It does not assert public access, legal access, current fish presence, guide availability or fishing conditions.

Flows, gauge statistics and flood stages come from USGS and the National Weather Service when the page is shown. Regulations, stocking, species and season statements link to the agency that publishes them; this page copies only the species names and the quoted sentences. Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories. Position: the USGS gauge WILLOW C NR WILLOW AK. Water type is our own classification.