May Creek

Type
Freestone river, Colorado (West)
Designation
Catch and release
USGS gauges
None listed
Guides
3 nearby
Shops
3 nearby

Today on the May Creek

No live reading for this water
Why there is no reading

Nothing live is published for this water, so there is no reading or verdict today. The readings section below says what we checked.

Regulations & access Guides & shops

May Creek is a freestone river in Colorado, listed as Catch and release by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

More about the May Creek

3 guides and 3 shops nearby are listed here; the nearest destination hub is Estes Park & Rocky Mountain National Park.

Updated · Sources: Special Regulations: Fishing Waters (all trout must be returned to the water)

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

May Creek is a freestone river in Colorado. Our destination hub Estes Park & Rocky Mountain National Park is 20 mi away in a straight line. Colorado has 2 waters named May Creek in the USGS Geographic Names Information System; this page is the stream whose mouth is in Larimer County, the one the agency list names.

No real-time gauge

No real-time gauge on this water. We found no active USGS gauge on May Creek or on its stream system within about 25 miles, and no dam operator publishes data for it. A missing gauge says nothing about the water itself. Find the gauges nearest May Creek

About these readings

Nothing live is published for this water; the note below says what we checked.

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.

Restrooms near May Creek

Restrooms near May Creek

Restrooms within 2 miles of May 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 May Creek

  • The shallow Fall River crossing the floor of Horseshoe Park below forested slopes and snowy peaksFreestone river
    Photo credit

    The Fall River in Horseshoe Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Photo: Mark DeVries, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr

    Fall River

    Colorado · about 15 mi

  • The young Colorado River meandering through meadow and spruce in the Kawuneeche Valley, with mountains behindSpecial-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Joe Wright Creek
    Photo credit

    The Colorado River and Onahu Creek in the Kawuneeche Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo: KimonBerlin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Joe Wright Creek.

    Joe Wright Creek

    Colorado · about 6 mi

  • Navajo Lake's blue water and mesa shoreline seen through juniper from Navajo Lake State ParkCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Zimmerman Lake
    Photo credit

    Navajo Lake from Navajo Lake State Park, New Mexico. Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Zimmerman Lake.

    Zimmerman Lake

    Colorado · about 7 mi

  • The Big Thompson River tumbling over boulders under leafy trees in Big Thompson CanyonSpecial-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Michigan River
    Photo credit

    The Big Thompson River at Viestenz-Smith Park in Big Thompson Canyon. Photo: Wusel007, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Michigan River.

    Michigan River

    Colorado · about 9 mi

  • Marshy shallows at the edge of Henrys Lake, with the Henrys Lake Mountains behindFeatured sport-fishing waterRepresentative photo · not Kelly Lake
    Photo credit

    Henrys Lake from Henrys Lake State Park, Idaho. Photo: James Postema, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Kelly Lake.

    Kelly Lake

    Colorado · about 10 mi

  • The Cache la Poudre River rushing past a roadside below the tall rock walls of Poudre CanyonCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not South Fork Cache la Poudre River
    Photo credit

    The Cache la Poudre River in Poudre Canyon. Photo: Wusel007, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not South Fork Cache la Poudre River.

    South Fork Cache la Poudre River

    Colorado · about 12 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: Catch and release

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.

The water on the map

About this

Measured from the NHDPlus High Resolution (flowlines and waterbodies) (U.S. Geological Survey, read 2026-11-05) for this water’s own mapped feature. Rounded figures; they describe the channel, not today’s conditions.

Whole May Creek, not only this reach.

Length
3.9 mi
Drains
5.19 sq mi
Drop
2,202 ft · 570.9 ft/mi
Flows into
Cache la Poudre River
Watershed
Cache La Poudre

Guides and shops near May 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

3 shops nearby

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

Named on 3 nearby guide websites

  • Trout2
  • Brook trout1
  • Brown trout1
  • Carp1
  • Cutthroat trout1
  • Largemouth bass1
  • Rainbow trout1
  • Smallmouth bass1

When the bugs come off

Regional hatch months: Southwest and Colorado
About this chart

1 hatch charted for the region, not measured on this water. From Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

  1. January: no charted hatch
  2. February: no charted hatch
  3. March: no charted hatch
  4. April: no charted hatch
  5. May: no charted hatch
  6. June: 1 charted hatch
  7. July: 1 charted hatch
  8. August: no charted hatch
  9. September: no charted hatch
  10. October: no charted hatch
  11. November: no charted hatch
  12. December: no charted hatch

Green drake (June to July)

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.

Estes Park & Rocky Mountain National Park

About this

Estes Park is the east gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, on the Big Thompson and Fall rivers, with the Cache la Poudre and St. Vrain drainages to the north and south and the Colorado River headwaters over Trail Ridge Road.

Destination hub · 20 mi away in a straight line

Gear checklist

About this

A practical checklist for fly fishing small mountain trout streams: a short 3–4 weight rod, light line, a few buoyant dries and simple wet-wading gear, with estimated prices and where to buy.

An angler stands on a boulder at the edge of a fast forest stream and fishes the run

Small mountain streams

7′6″–8′6″ rod, 3–4 weight, floating line · Brook, cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout

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 May Creek.

No stories from here yet.

Sources for this page

Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.

Something wrong?

All 7 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: a point on the mapped channel of “May Creek”, halfway along its length in Colorado, from the USGS high-resolution hydrography (NHDPlus HR), read 5 Nov 2026. It marks the water, not a particular access or reach. Water type is our own classification.