Rio Grande

About the River

The Rio Grande rises at over 12,000 feet in the San Juan Mountains of Mineral County, carving its way east through narrow volcanic canyons before spreading across the broad San Luis Valley south of South Fork, Colorado. In Colorado the river covers roughly 175 miles from the high alpine headwaters above Creede to the state line near Antonito, draining a watershed of nearly 8,000 square miles. The upper canyon above Wagon Wheel Gap holds some of Colorado's finest wild trout habitat, designated Gold Medal water for exceptional rainbow and brown trout populations sustained by cold, clear snowmelt in a sparsely settled landscape.

Paddlers find three distinct characters on the Colorado Rio Grande. The Upper Canyon from Thirtymile Bridge is a remote Class II-III run through rhyolite gorges where the road disappears for miles, passing the celebrated narrows of Wagon Wheel Gap before taking out at the Lower Coller SWA. The Valley Run from Coller to Del Norte transitions to wide, braided channels and cottonwood-lined banks. The San Luis Valley float from Del Norte to Alamosa is a different experience entirely: wildlife-rich wetlands ideal for canoeists, small rafts, and fly fishers covering long stretches of Gold Medal water.

The USGS gauge at Thirtymile Bridge (station 08213500) monitors flows through the upper canyon; Wagon Wheel Gap (08217500) gives the best read on conditions for the valley transition sections. Spring runoff peaks in May and June as snowmelt pours off the La Garita Wilderness and the Continental Divide, pushing the canyon into the sweet spot for rafting and kayaking. By late July flows drop into the prime wade-fishing window. No whitewater permits are required anywhere on the Colorado Rio Grande, though river access on the valley sections is mainly limited to public road crossings and identified recreation areas.