St. Vrain Creek

Type
Freestone river, Colorado (West)
Designation
Catch and release
USGS gauges
1 live
Guides
1 name it
Shops
1 nearby

Today on the St. Vrain Creek

Reading the gauge…

Regulations & access Guides & shops

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

More about the St. Vrain Creek

1 USGS gauge on the water reports flow. 7 guides and 1 shop 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), USGS Water Data

St. Vrain Creek rushing white over boulders through conifer forest
Photo credit

North St. Vrain Creek in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo: Hogs555, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Where it is

St. Vrain Creek is a freestone river in Colorado. Our destination hub Estes Park & Rocky Mountain National Park is 17 mi away in a straight line and lists it among its waters.

Flow now at the gauge
Reading the gauges…

Follow St. Vrain 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.

St. Vrain Creek on the map

About this

Gauges, shops and guides within 40 miles

Map of St. Vrain Creek: gauges, shops and guides

RestroomsAccess map

Map of St. Vrain Creek with 1 USGS gauge, and shops and guides with an exact address within 40 miles.

Restrooms near St. Vrain Creek

Restrooms near St. Vrain Creek

Restrooms within 2 miles of St. Vrain 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.

Map of 6 restrooms near St. Vrain Creek

Skip the map; every place is in the list below

Map of 6 restrooms near St. Vrain Creek, numbered as in the list, with the water’s point marked.

  1. Restroom

    1.3 mi away in a straight line

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  2. Restroom

    1.4 mi away in a straight line

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  3. Restroom

    1.4 mi away in a straight line

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  4. Restroom

    1.5 mi away in a straight line
    • Free (mapped)
    • Wheelchair accessible (mapped)

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · open to everyone? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Open to everyone?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  5. Restroom

    1.6 mi away in a straight line

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

  6. Restroom

    1.6 mi away in a straight line

    Not rated yet — be the first to tell other anglers if it's clean.

    We don't know yet: is it clean? · flush or vault? · free? · open to everyone? · step-free? — tell other anglers: show the questions
    • Is it clean?
    • Flush or vault?
    • Free?
    • Open to everyone?
    • Step-free?

    Mapped on OpenStreetMap · see or fix it on the map

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 St. Vrain Creek

  • The Cache la Poudre River rushing past a roadside below the tall rock walls of Poudre CanyonCatch and release
    Photo credit

    The Cache la Poudre River in Poudre Canyon. Photo: Wusel007, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Cache la Poudre River

    Colorado · about 30 mi

  • The Big Thompson River tumbling over boulders under leafy trees in Big Thompson CanyonCatch and release
    Photo credit

    The Big Thompson River at Viestenz-Smith Park in Big Thompson Canyon. Photo: Wusel007, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Big Thompson River

    Colorado · about 33 mi

  • 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 37 mi

  • The young Colorado River meandering through meadow and spruce in the Kawuneeche Valley, with mountains behindCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Boulder 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 Boulder Creek.

    Boulder Creek

    Colorado · about 12 mi

  • Navajo Lake's blue water and mesa shoreline seen through juniper from Navajo Lake State ParkFeatured sport-fishing waterRepresentative photo · not Boyd Lake
    Photo credit

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

    Boyd Lake

    Colorado · about 19 mi

  • The South Platte River curving past a gravel bar under green trees in Waterton CanyonSpecial-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Hamilton Creek
    Photo credit

    The South Platte River in Waterton Canyon, southwest of Denver. Photo: mark byzewski, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Hamilton Creek.

    Hamilton Creek

    Colorado · about 41 mi

Sources Colorado Fishing Atlas (access map)Overture Maps places (guide map points)

Where the map point comes from

Position: the USGS gauge ST VRAIN CR BLW BOULDER CR AT HWY 119 NR LONGMONT.

The map shows USGS gauges (tap one for its flow reading), and shops and guides within 40 miles that publish a street address on their own website. Everyone else is in the lists below.

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. Listed in the finder under trout, bass.

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.

USGS name: Saint Vrain Creek

Length
32.2 mi (31.1 in CO)
Drains
906 sq mi
Drop
579 ft · 18 ft/mi
Flows into
South Platte River
Watershed
St. Vrain

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. 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.

2.3 of 31.1 mi on public land

  • St. Vrain State ParkState Fish and Wildlife · 1.1 mi
  • Golden PondsCity Land · 0.5 mi
  • Golden GravelCounty Land · 0.4 mi
  • Bohn ParkCity Land · 0.1 mi
  • City of Longmont City ParksCity Land · 0.1 mi
  • Rogers GroveCounty Land · 0.1 mi

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Guides and shops near St. Vrain 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.

1 guide name it on their website

Guides

1 shop 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 6 nearby guide websites mention: what guides advertise, not a survey or a promise of what you will catch.

Named on 6 nearby guide websites

  • Trout4
  • Brown trout2
  • Carp2
  • Cutthroat trout2
  • Rainbow trout2
  • Brook trout1
  • Largemouth bass1
  • 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 · 17 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 St. Vrain Creek.

No stories from here yet.

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 ST VRAIN CR BLW BOULDER CR AT HWY 119 NR LONGMONT. Water type is our own classification.