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Whitetop Laurel Creek

Type
Freestone river, Virginia (East)
Designation
Catch and release · Special-regulation trout water
USGS gauges
None on it; nearest shown
Guides
5 nearby
Shops
1 nearby

Today on the Whitetop Laurel Creek

Reading the gauge…

Regulations & access Guides & shops

Whitetop Laurel Creek is a freestone river in Virginia and Tennessee, listed as Catch and release by Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

More about the Whitetop Laurel Creek

The nearest USGS gauge on the same stream system is shown, labelled. 5 guides and 1 shop nearby are listed here.

Updated · Sources: Special Regulation Trout Waters: Catch and Release Only, USGS Water Data

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

Whitetop Laurel Creek is a freestone river in Virginia and Tennessee. The nearest destination hub is across the state line: the Northeast Tennessee: the South Holston & the Watauga hub (Tennessee) is 34 mi away in a straight line but 46 by road, much of it on back roads.

Nearest gauge (not on this water)
Reading the gauges…

Check any river's flow

Follow Whitetop Laurel 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.

Virginia public boating access sites

Whitetop Laurel Creek on the map

About this

Gauges, shops and guides within 40 miles

Map of Whitetop Laurel Creek: gauges, shops and guides

RestroomsAccess map

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

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors · OpenFreeMap · © OpenMapTiles

Restrooms near Whitetop Laurel Creek

Restrooms near Whitetop Laurel Creek

Restrooms within 2 miles of Whitetop Laurel 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 2 restrooms near Whitetop Laurel Creek

Skip the map; every place is in the list below

Map of 2 restrooms near Whitetop Laurel Creek, numbered as in the list, with the water’s point marked.

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors · OpenFreeMap · © OpenMapTiles

  1. Restroom

    0.9 mi away in a straight line

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

    Directions
    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

    1.7 mi away in a straight line

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

    Directions
    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 Whitetop Laurel Creek

  • Green water churning out of the South Holston Dam powerhouse into the river below the grassy dam faceCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Green Cove Creek
    Photo credit

    South Holston Dam releasing into the South Holston River tailwater, near Bristol, Tennessee. Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Green Cove Creek.

    Green Cove Creek

    Virginia · about 3 mi

  • The Smith River at dusk between dense, dark green banks in Henry CountyTrophy / quality trout waterRepresentative photo · not South Fork Holston River
    Photo credit

    The Smith River in the evening, Henry County, Virginia. Photo: MarmadukePercy, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not South Fork Holston River.

    South Fork Holston River

    Virginia · about 8 mi

  • Close view of clear water rushing over coloured pebbles in the South Toe RiverCatch and releaseRepresentative photo · not Big Horse Creek
    Photo credit

    The South Toe River, Yancey County, North Carolina. Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Big Horse Creek.

    Big Horse Creek

    North Carolina · about 10 mi

  • The Dan River at DanvilleSpecial-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Cabin Creek
    Photo credit

    The Dan River at Danville, Virginia. Photo: MarmadukePercy, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Cabin Creek.

    Cabin Creek

    Virginia · about 10 mi

  • The Jackson River flowing clear over cobbles through the wooded Hidden ValleySpecial-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Big Wilson Creek
    Photo credit

    The Jackson River in the Hidden Valley, Bath County, Virginia. Photo: Nyttend, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Big Wilson Creek.

    Big Wilson Creek

    Virginia · about 11 mi

  • The Watauga River at Sycamore Shoals, a broad, calm river between bare autumn treesSpecial-regulation trout waterRepresentative photo · not Quebec Branch
    Photo credit

    The Watauga River at Sycamore Shoals, Elizabethton, Tennessee. Photo: Jan Kronsell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Quebec Branch.

    Quebec Branch

    Virginia · about 11 mi

Regulations

About this

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

2 official designations

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.

  • Catch and release

    On the Special Regulation Trout Waters: Catch and Release Only list (Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, read 2026-10-20). All waters with this designation

    • Whitetop Laurel (2 sections) —that portion upstream from the first railroad trestle above Taylor Valley to the mouth of Green Cove Creek at Creek Junction and that portion upstream from the mouth of Straight Branch to a sign at the Forest Service boundary just downstream of Taylors Valley
  • Special-regulation trout water

    On the Special Regulation Trout Waters: Catch and Release Only list (Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, read 2026-10-20). All waters with this designation

    • Whitetop Laurel (2 sections) —that portion upstream from the first railroad trestle above Taylor Valley to the mouth of Green Cove Creek at Creek Junction and that portion upstream from the mouth of Straight Branch to a sign at the Forest Service boundary just downstream of Taylors Valley

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.

Length
13.8 mi
Drains
56 sq mi
Drop
980 ft · 70.8 ft/mi
Flows into
Laurel Creek
Watershed
South Fork Holston

Guides and shops near Whitetop Laurel 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 Virginia guides

1 shop nearby

  • Stone Fly Co.

    Damascus, VA

    Fly shop · Guided trips · Float trips

    • Unclaimed

All Virginia 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

  • Brown trout3
  • Rainbow trout2
  • Smallmouth bass2
  • Bass1
  • Brook trout1
  • Largemouth bass1
  • Striped bass1

When the bugs come off

Regional hatch months: Southern Appalachians
About this chart

17 hatches charted for the region, not measured on this water. From North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

  1. January: 1 charted hatch
  2. February: 3 charted hatches
  3. March: 5 charted hatches
  4. April: 8 charted hatches
  5. May: 9 charted hatches
  6. June: 8 charted hatches
  7. July: 7 charted hatches
  8. August: 5 charted hatches
  9. September: 4 charted hatches
  10. October: 3 charted hatches
  11. November: 3 charted hatches
  12. December: 3 charted hatches

Midges (all year) · Blue-winged olive (February to March, May, October to December) · Early black stonefly (February to March, October to December) · Blue Quill (March to April) · Quill Gordon (March to April) · Black caddis (April to May) · and 11 more on the chart

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.

Plan a trip here

About this

The Northeast Tennessee: the South Holston & the Watauga hub (Tennessee) is 34 mi away in a straight line but 46 by road, much of it on back roads, so we don't call Whitetop Laurel Creek near it. The trip planner builds a trip around the water itself: the guides and shops listed within 40 miles of it, its gauges and its nearest towns and airports.

Nearest hub: Northeast Tennessee: the South Holston & the Watauga, across the state line

Plan a trip hereOpen the hub

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 Whitetop Laurel 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: a point on the mapped channel of “Whitetop Laurel Creek”, halfway along its length in Virginia, from the USGS high-resolution hydrography (NHDPlus HR), read 4 Nov 2026. It marks the water, not a particular access or reach. Water type is our own classification.