Eagle River, Colorado

Minturn and the upper canyon

The Eagle rises near Tennessee Pass above Camp Hale and runs north past Red Cliff and the old Eagle Mine at Gilman to Minturn, where US 24 follows it. The pocket water from Minturn down through Dowd Junction to the Gore Creek confluence is higher gradient, mostly small browns, and lightly fished; watch for posted private ground near Minturn.

Avon to Wolcott

From the Gore Creek confluence the river follows I-70 through Avon and Edwards, growing with Lake Creek at Edwards, and the mix shifts toward more rainbows. Vail Valley Anglers' shop sits on the bank in Edwards. Frontage roads and bridges give wade access, and this middle river is where the spring caddis and the mid-June to July green drake and PMD hatches are strongest.

Eagle to Gypsum and Dotsero

Below Wolcott and Eagle the river widens and slows toward Gypsum, where this page's gauge sits, and joins the Colorado at Dotsero. This lower water warms fastest in summer; in low years CPW and local shops have asked for voluntary afternoon closures from Edwards down when temperatures pass the high 60s. Fall brings the best fishing here as pre-spawn browns move and the water cools.

Brown and rainbow trout

Browns dominate the whole river and rainbows are strongest in the middle valley. The Eagle Mine leaked zinc, cadmium and other metals into the river for decades after mining ended in 1984, turning it orange in the late 1980s and killing the fishery from Belden to Minturn; Superfund cleanup since 1988 rebuilt it into a productive wild trout river, though the reach just below the mine still favors browns over metal-sensitive rainbows.

Season and regulations

Vail Valley Anglers calls it wading season once the Gypsum gauge drops under 300 cfs, RiverReports rates 100 to 400 cfs good wade fishing and 400 to 800 cfs ideal, and Eagle River Outfitter warns wading gets dangerous above 800 cfs. This page treats 200 to 600 cfs as in range for wading; floats need roughly 500 cfs and up. Runoff peaks late May to mid-June.

The Eagle is open all year. From the East Fork and South Fork confluence down to the Colorado the trout limit is 2 and there is no gear restriction; Gore Creek, the Vail tributary, is the Gold Medal water with flies and lures only. A Colorado license is required. Confirm in the current CPW regulations.