Fishes Boulder Creek
Creek · Colorado Front Range, Boulder County, the plains reach below Boulder Canyon east of the city · Colorado
Boulder Creek Fishing Guides
A Front Range creek that runs out of the high country through the middle of Boulder and onto the plains, offering genuinely good trout fishing within walking distance of a city.
Map of the Boulder Creek
18 numbered points: 3 access points, 2 bait & fly shops, 5 parks and conservation areas, 1 agency office, 2 regulation section limits, 1 hazard, 1 USGS gauge, 3 points of interest. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Sep 24, 2026.
- Access / boat ramp (3)
- Bait, tackle & fly shop (2)
- Park / conservation area (5)
- Agency / conservation office (1)
- Regulation section limit (2)
- Dam / hazard (1)
- USGS gauge (1)
- Point of interest (3)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.
Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.
Open the printable mapAll 18 points on this map
| # | Point | Type | Lat, Lon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barker Dam Head of Boulder Creek · Nederland | Dam / hazard | 39.96624, -105.48237 | Boulder Creek begins below this dam. Much of Barker Reservoir is diverted through the Barker Gravity Line to the hydro plant at Orodell rather than released down the canyon, so canyon flows are managed, not natural. |
| 2 | Boulder Falls parking CO 119, Boulder Canyon · City of Boulder | Access / boat ramp | 40.00448, -105.40532 | Signed highway pullout 18 m off the creek and the canyon's main parking. The falls themselves are on North Boulder Creek a short walk up the side canyon, not on the main stem. |
| 3 | Sunnyside Pullout CO 119, Boulder Canyon | Access / boat ramp | 40.00408, -105.38032 | Named canyon pullout on the creek bank, 18 m off the water. OSM carries it as a bare name node with no tags, so capacity and surface are unknown — judge it on arrival. |
| 4 | Boulder Whitewater Park Canyon mouth, above Eben G. Fine Park | Point of interest | 40.01283, -105.30120 | Engineered drop sequence in the creek at the canyon mouth, rated Class II–III at most flows. Busy with paddlers and tubers in summer; the course carries on downstream past Eben G. Fine Park. |
| 5 | Eben G. Fine Park — special-regulation reach, upper limit City of Boulder · Arapahoe Ave at 3rd St | Regulation section limit | 40.01331, -105.29575 | CPW's Boulder Creek special-regulation reach runs from the upper end of this park downstream to 55th Street. The park is also the creek's main put-in at the canyon mouth. Check CPW for the rules in force before fishing. |
| 6 | The Peoples' Crossing Trailhead City of Boulder · 101 Pearl St | Access / boat ramp | 40.01405, -105.29538 | Signed trailhead parking 65 m off the creek at the canyon mouth, where the Boulder Creek Path leaves town for Boulder Canyon. |
| 7 | Central Park City of Boulder · Broadway at Canyon Blvd | Park / conservation area | 40.01516, -105.27826 | Downtown park on the north bank by the band shell and the Farmers Market, 40 m off the water. The creek here is inside the special-regulation reach. |
| 8 | Rocky Mountain Anglers 1904 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder · fly shop | Bait, tackle & fly shop | 40.01441, -105.26996 | Fly shop 250 m off the creek on Arapahoe Avenue, mapped in OSM as shop=fishing. Nearest shop to the special-regulation reach. |
| 9 | Front Range Anglers 2344 Pearl St, Boulder · fly shop | Bait, tackle & fly shop | 40.02077, -105.26439 | Full fly shop and guide service on Pearl Street, about a kilometre north of the creek. OSM carries the storefront only as an unnamed “Fly shop” node, so this point is placed from the published street address. |
| 10 | Boulder Creek Stream Observatory Boulder Creek Path near 30th St | Point of interest | 40.01179, -105.26027 | Below-water viewing window built into the bank so you can watch trout holding in the current. Ten metres off the water on the paved path. |
| 11 | Scott Carpenter Park City of Boulder · 30th St at Arapahoe Ave | Park / conservation area | 40.01267, -105.25488 | Creek-side city park with its own parking on the Boulder Creek Path — the usual access for the lower half of the special-regulation reach. |
| 12 | 55th Street bridge — special-regulation reach, lower limit City of Boulder | Regulation section limit | 40.02598, -105.22506 | Downstream limit of CPW's Boulder Creek special-regulation reach, which begins at the upper end of Eben G. Fine Park. Check CPW for the rules in force before fishing. |
| 13 | City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks hub 2520 55th St, Boulder · 303-441-3440 | Agency / conservation office | 40.02480, -105.22479 | OSMP's operations hub, 115 m off the creek, and the authority for the open-space land Boulder Creek crosses between town and the 75th Street ponds. |
| 14 | Sawhill Ponds Boulder County Parks & Open Space · off 75th St | Park / conservation area | 40.03944, -105.18536 | Sixteen reclaimed gravel ponds in the Boulder Creek floodplain, managed for wildlife and open to fishing. One point stands for the whole property; OSM maps the ponds individually. |
| 15 | Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat Boulder County Parks & Open Space · 75th St | Park / conservation area | 40.04488, -105.18343 | County wildlife-habitat ponds beside the creek. The ponds carry their own CPW special-regulation entry, separate from the creek's — check CPW before fishing them. |
| 16 | USGS 06730200 — Boulder Creek at North 75th Street USGS streamgage | USGS gauge | 40.05167, -105.17833 | The gauge this water page reads. A second Boulder Creek gauge, 06730500 at the mouth near Longmont, sits 20 km further down and is not the page's reference. |
| 17 | Teller Farm North Trailhead City of Boulder OSMP · East Boulder Trail | Park / conservation area | 40.04000, -105.14281 | Open-space trail parking 920 m south of the creek — the only public parking on this reach. It is trail access rather than a creek access; the East Boulder Trail reaches the water on foot. |
| 18 | Confluence with St. Vrain Creek End of Boulder Creek · Weld County | Point of interest | 40.15856, -105.01016 | Boulder Creek ends here in St. Vrain Creek, 39 river miles below Barker Dam. The last two miles are private bottomland with no public access mapped. |
Guides on the Boulder Creek
Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.
Order on this page: premium and outfitter plans first (labelled Premium placement), then claimed free profiles, then unclaimed — one published price, no bidding for position. How placement works
About the Boulder Creek
Boulder Creek runs east out of the Indian Peaks high country, down through Boulder Canyon, straight through the middle of the city of Boulder and out onto the plains toward its confluence with St. Vrain Creek. The gauge here sits on the plains reach east of town. Few trout streams in the country are this accessible, and that accessibility is the defining feature of the fishery.
The creek changes character sharply along its length. The upper canyon is steep pocket water with a cold, tumbling flow and small wild fish. Through the city the creek is channelized in places and heavily used by the public, but it still holds trout and is stocked, and the urban reach has produced surprisingly good fishing for anglers willing to work around the foot traffic. East of town the gradient flattens, the water warms and the character shifts toward slower runs and deeper pools.
Brown trout are the most reliable fish throughout, holding over well and reproducing in the canyon reaches. Rainbow trout are present and stocked in the more accessible water, brook trout occupy the coldest upper tributaries, and cutthroat trout and cuttbow hybrids appear higher in the drainage. Fish in the plains reach tend to be fewer but occasionally larger.
Water management is a real factor here. Front Range creeks carry heavy demands from irrigation and municipal supply, and diversions along the lower reaches mean flow can drop sharply in late summer in ways that have nothing to do with the weather. Checking the gauge before driving out is genuinely useful on this creek rather than a formality.
Access is the easiest part. The Boulder Creek Path follows much of the urban corridor, canyon pullouts serve the upper water, and county open space covers stretches of the plains reach. Anglers should still confirm boundaries east of town where private agricultural land takes over. Boulder itself supplies everything else, and several other Front Range streams are within an easy drive.
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The photo at the top of this page is not Boulder Creek.
It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.
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Access
North 75th Street - the road crossing at the gauge on the plains reach.
Boulder Creek Path - the paved corridor following the creek through the city.
Boulder Canyon - the upper reach, with pullouts along the canyon highway.
Eben G. Fine Park - the west edge of town where the canyon opens into the city.
Boulder County open space - the public land covering much of the lower corridor.
St. Vrain Creek - the larger stream this creek eventually joins.
Boulder - the city itself, with full services and tackle.
Seasons
Spring: runoff dominates and the canyon runs high, with the plains reach fishing first.
Summer: good fishing early and late, but diversions can pull lower flows down hard.
Fall: the best conditions of the year, with clear water and active brown trout.
Winter: cold and low, with fishing concentrated in the deeper slower pools.
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Questions
What is the current flow on the Boulder Creek?
As of Nov 2, 6:15 am, the USGS gauge BOULDER CREEK AT NORTH 75TH ST. NEAR BOULDER, CO reads 8 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.
What species can you catch on the Boulder Creek?
Anglers target Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Cuttbow, Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, White Sucker on the Boulder Creek in Colorado.
Are there fishing guides on the Boulder Creek?
GuidedFloats lists 2 guides and outfitters on the Boulder Creek. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.
Where can you access the Boulder Creek?
North 75th Street - the road crossing at the gauge on the plains reach. Boulder Creek Path - the paved corridor following the creek through the city. Boulder Canyon - the upper reach, with pullouts along the canyon highway. Eben G. Fine Park - the west edge of town where the canyon opens into the city. Boulder County open space - the public land covering much of the lower corridor. St. Vrain Creek - the larger stream this creek eventually joins. Boulder - the city itself, with full services and tackle.
When is the best time to fish the Boulder Creek?
Spring: runoff dominates and the canyon runs high, with the plains reach fishing first. Summer: good fishing early and late, but diversions can pull lower flows down hard. Fall: the best conditions of the year, with clear water and active brown trout. Winter: cold and low, with fishing concentrated in the deeper slower pools.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Boulder Creek?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Colorado agency site: https://cpw.state.co.us/rules-and-regulations