South Platte River

About the River

The South Platte rises near Hoosier Pass in South Park and flows southeast through one of Colorado's most storied fishing landscapes. In the high meadows above Elevenmile Canyon Reservoir, the Dream Stream, a six-mile reach between Spinney Mountain Reservoir and Elevenmile Canyon Reservoir, draws anglers chasing giant wild rainbows and a rare landlocked kokanee salmon run each fall. Below Elevenmile the river descends through canyon country toward Cheesman Canyon, a narrow limestone gorge below Cheesman Dam, where steady tailwater releases keep the river at prime fly fishing temperatures year-round. Both stretches are Gold Medal, Wild Trout waters holding world-class rainbow and brown trout populations.

Below Cheesman Canyon the river opens into the Deckers corridor, lined with cottonwoods and campgrounds popular with wade anglers and kayakers. Strontia Springs Reservoir briefly impounds the flow before the water escapes through Waterton Canyon, a six-and-a-half-mile corridor accessible only by foot and bicycle. South of Denver the South Platte broadens through Chatfield State Park, then threads the Platte River Greenway through Littleton, Englewood, and downtown Denver to Confluence Park.

The primary guide gauge near Trumbull captures flows in the Deckers reach and represents conditions through Cheesman Canyon. Peak snowmelt runoff arrives April through June; by late July the river settles into the lower, clearer water that favors technical dry-fly fishing. No permits are required for any section.