Colorado Road Trip
- This topic has 9 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated Jun 17, 2015 at 10:18 am by
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Hey-
I got a rare summer vacation, first week of August, and planning a one week road trip with a buddy. Neither of us has fished Colorado, so we thought it would make a good destination. So I bought the book “Colorado Best Fly Fishing” by Landon Mayer. It looks like the best one.
But wondering if I could pick up suggestions from anyone that has been there. We are hoping to put the typical road trip. Load the rental car up with beer, twinkies and doritos. Stay in cheap hotels, and spend all day casting to rising trout. We figure on wade fishing most of the time, possibly doing float one day.
Any suggestions, GPS Coordinates, locations of dumb trout, etc. are appreciated.
George
Where are you traveling from? National Forest maps are money well spent.
Do you have access to a small tent? It could give you a lot more fishing time on some of the more remote streams.
George,
As R mentioned it would help knowing where you are traveling from/to (e.g. if you are flying into Denver or Colorado Springs on the Front Range or Grand Junction on the West Slope). The amount of fishable water in Colorado is vast and so far snow pack levels look great so that time of year should be good for fishing.
A good resource is the listing of . These are conservation easements and many are located on prime fishing waters. There is no overnight camping in these areas, but they are generally close to camping areas or cheap hotels.
Brian
Good question: I think we will both fly into Denver. My buddy lives near Baltimore and can get around cheap on Southwest. I am blessed with free air travel so does not matter to me.
I do have a friend in Salt Lake City that has a 10 year old Land Cruiser and he always said “if you want to borrow it”. I floated the Green river with him last year. Awesome day. If that approach to Colorado is better we can do it.
At any rate we are in planning stages. My long term goal is to scope out a place to retire. Looking for skiing, fishing, other outdoor sports but can’t afford Aspen area nor desire the craziness. So part of the road trip is to explore places for the future.
And yes, we can throw in a few tents and sleeping bags if that improves the trip. But a whole “regatta” of camping gear does get expensive. I ship my gear prior to and after trips. Don’t trust the airlines.
Hi George,
You might want to check out Gunnison/Crested Butte. The area has great fishing, and sounds like it would be exactly what you are looking for in terms of a retirement spot. The valley has insane mtn biking and skiing, is close to Blue Mesa Reservoir for boating, has 4 ice rinks and tons of hockey and has a reasonable cost of living. It’s definitely a haul to get there from Denver, about 5 hours from the airport, but is one of the more beautiful places you could check out and has a ton of water including the East, Taylor and Gunnison Rivers and a bunch of high mountain streams and lakes. I’m pretty sure there are some cheap motels in Gunnison, or you could camp which would cut your daily drive time depending on where you wanted to fish.
If you decide to head that direction let me know, I lived there for several years and should be able to give you some decent info.Mike
Gunnison/Crested Butte area is a great area, especially that time of year. We tried to fish it last June and the water was too fast and furious for us. But in August, you should be good. You have access to lots of streams, the gunnison and the blue mesa reservoir.
A little closer to Denver is the Arkansas around Buena Vista and the Blue River near Frisco (One plus on Frisco is some incredibly awesome cajun food). You have to contend with rafters and a little more traffic on the Arkansas, but there are enough public access areas to make it fun. You can also head north towards Rocky Mountain NP, and there are tons of places both in the park and on the east and west ends of the park.
No matter where you go, you really can’t go wrong. It’s a wonderful state with great people who are friendly and helpful. What I like is you can fish about anywhere.
Good luck!!
PS If you like craft beers, I honestly think there are more craft breweries in CO than McDonalds.
George,
If you spend any time in Denver, drop by Trouts fly shop. The guys there are very kind and willing to point you in the right direction.
If you can make it out to the Roaring Fork Valley, it’s worth the 3 hour drive.
Like Rick said, the Blue is a closer option. I would also highly recommend anything along the South Platte (Cheesman, Deckers, etc.) for great day trips near the front range.
I just moved to the east coast from Colorado and I truly miss all the great trout water out there. Make sure to bring some terrestrials (maybe even a few mouse patterns) for some evening action during that time of year.
Good Luck!
George,
If you are starting from Denver you’ve got a lot of good options already mentioned. The Blue River is about 90 minutes west and will be your closest option (short of urban fishing around Denver). I’m not familiar with Trout’s Fly Shop though I’ve heard good things about them. Another option is Charlie’s Fly Box in Arvada. Charlie (Charlie Craven) has a great staff and they are always helpful and quick with information and suggestions. If you decide to fish the Blue, Breckenridge Outfitters in Breckenridge is my go to shop and they’ll have information on all major rivers close to Breckenridge including the Blue, South Platte, Colorado and others.
http://www.southparktrout.com/ has rights to fishing leases all over Park County (South Platte and other rivers), and the daily rod fee isn’t crazy.
http://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Pages/WildlifeAreaMap.aspx is a listing of all State Wildlife Management areas in Colorado and you can filter to find those that allow fishing. I’ve fished many of them in Park County and caught some really nice fish (my daughter caught a monster 20″+ Rainbow on her first fishing trip last year in one of these management areas).Getting from Denver to the Gunnison is quite a trek (figure most of a day) so that wouldn’t be my first choice. If it’s an area you really want to fish I’d fly into Grand Junction instead.
Brian
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