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Home › Waters › Virginia › Bullpasture River
River · Highland and Bath County mountain water, the river through the Bullpasture Gorge from McDowell down to the Cowpasture at Williamsville · Virginia

Bullpasture River Fishing Guides

A limestone-influenced mountain trout river running through a gorge in Virginia highland country, stocked heavily and holding wild fish in the tributaries.

A river breaking over ledge rock between forested banks in the Appalachians
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Bullpasture River

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About the Bullpasture River

The Bullpasture drains the high country of Highland County – the part of Virginia locals call Little Switzerland for good reason – and runs south through a genuine gorge before joining the Cowpasture at Williamsville. It is one of the better-known trout rivers in the western part of the state and one of the prettiest, with the gorge reach running between steep wooded walls and rock outcrops that make the walk in as much of the appeal as the fishing.

Virginia stocks the river heavily through the cooler months, and the put-and-take fishery draws steady traffic in spring and fall. The more interesting fishing takes a little more effort. Limestone geology through parts of the valley moderates the water chemistry and keeps productivity higher than in the acid freestone streams elsewhere in the Alleghenies, and holdover browns and rainbows do survive in the deeper gorge pools. The small tributaries feeding in from either side hold wild brook trout for anglers willing to fight through rhododendron to reach them. Lower down, where the river warms toward the Cowpasture confluence, smallmouth bass and rock bass take over and provide good summer fishing when the trout water is too warm to fish responsibly.

The gauge at Williamsville carries discharge and stage but no temperature sensor, which matters more here than on most rivers. Summer water temperature is the limiting factor on this fishery, and anglers should carry a thermometer and stop fishing for trout when readings climb into the high sixties. Much of the gorge runs through the Highland Wildlife Management Area, and access is genuinely public, but the surrounding valley is private farmland – respect the boundaries and park only in marked pull-offs.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

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2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

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We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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Posting to Bullpasture River.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Highland Wildlife Management Area - the main public access to the gorge reach.
Williamsville bridge - access at the Cowpasture confluence.
Bullpasture Gorge trailhead - walk-in access to the upper gorge pools.
Route 678 pull-offs - roadside access along the valley reach.
McDowell area crossings - upper river access near the headwaters.
Bullpasture Mountain tributary mouths - walk-in entries for wild brook trout.
Cowpasture confluence - the transition water for summer smallmouth.

Seasons

Spring: stocking season and the busiest time of year, with strong flows and willing fish.
Summer: trout fishing tapers as water warms - shift to the smallmouth water lower down or fish the cold tributaries.
Fall: stocking resumes and the gorge fishes beautifully in cool water with far fewer anglers.
Winter: cold and quiet, with catch-and-release fishing possible in the deeper pools on mild days.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Bullpasture River?

As of Sep 17, 6:45 am, the USGS gauge BULLPASTURE RIVER AT WILLIAMSVILLE, VA reads 26 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Bullpasture River?

Anglers target Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Redbreast Sunfish, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass on the Bullpasture River in Virginia.

Where can you access the Bullpasture River?

Highland Wildlife Management Area - the main public access to the gorge reach. Williamsville bridge - access at the Cowpasture confluence. Bullpasture Gorge trailhead - walk-in access to the upper gorge pools. Route 678 pull-offs - roadside access along the valley reach. McDowell area crossings - upper river access near the headwaters. Bullpasture Mountain tributary mouths - walk-in entries for wild brook trout. Cowpasture confluence - the transition water for summer smallmouth.

When is the best time to fish the Bullpasture River?

Spring: stocking season and the busiest time of year, with strong flows and willing fish. Summer: trout fishing tapers as water warms - shift to the smallmouth water lower down or fish the cold tributaries. Fall: stocking resumes and the gorge fishes beautifully in cool water with far fewer anglers. Winter: cold and quiet, with catch-and-release fishing possible in the deeper pools on mild days.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Bullpasture River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Virginia agency site: https://dwr.virginia.gov/fishing/regulations/