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Home › Waters › Nevada › Steptoe Creek
Creek · White Pine County in the Schell Creek Range southeast of Ely, running out of the Cave Lake country toward Steptoe Valley · Nevada

Steptoe Creek Fishing Guides

A very small stocked mountain creek below Cave Lake State Park, fished as pocket water at flows that can drop under two cubic feet per second.

Green river water in a deep sandstone canyon in northern Arizona
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Steptoe Creek

Steptoe Creek rises in the Schell Creek Range southeast of Ely and runs northeast toward Steptoe Valley, dropping out of the Cave Lake country as it goes. Cave Lake itself, a thirty two acre reservoir fed by Cave Creek, drains into Steptoe Creek, which ties the creek and the state park above it together as a single fishery for most practical purposes.

Rainbow trout are the mainstay and they are stocked. The Nevada department plants the creek regularly, with releases of a thousand fish or more in a season, and names Steptoe as one of its autumn options in the eastern part of the state. Brown and brook trout are reported here as well, though that part of the species picture comes from angler sources rather than a published state survey, so it is worth treating as likely rather than confirmed.

The thing to understand before driving out is how small this water is. Recorded flows have run as low as one and a half to six cubic feet per second, which at the bottom end is barely a trickle. At those levels the creek fishes as pocket water and nothing else: short casts into the few holding spots that still have depth, and a careful approach, because fish in water this thin see everything. After a wet spring it carries more and fishes considerably better.

Access is genuinely good for a creek this obscure. Cave Lake State Park sits above it with two campgrounds, Elk Flat and Lake View, and a yurt, and the Steptoe Creek Trail runs roughly three and a half miles along the creek with several bridged crossings, connecting on to the Twisted Pines Trail. The Success Summit and Success Loop roads off US Highway 93 south of Ely are the usual driving approach. A Nevada licence is required and general statewide trout rules apply.

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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).

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.

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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 Steptoe Creek.

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.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Steptoe Creek cfs

Now: 2.5 cfs, read 4:45 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 10244950, STEPTOE CK NR ELY, NV).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Cave Lake State Park - the park above the creek, with camping at Elk Flat and Lake View and a yurt.
Steptoe Creek Trail - roughly three and a half miles along the creek with bridged crossings.
Success Loop Road - the forest road off US Highway 93 that gives the main driving access.
Success Summit Road - the continuation over the range, useful for reaching the upper creek.
Cave Lake - the thirty two acre reservoir above the creek, holding stocked rainbows and naturalised browns.
Twisted Pines Trail - the connecting trail off the Steptoe Creek route for a longer walk.
Ely - the nearest town, about fifteen miles northwest, with lodging, food, tackle and licences.

Seasons

Spring: snowmelt gives the creek its best flows of the year, and the fishing improves as the water clears.
Summer: flows drop hard and the creek becomes pocket water, best fished early in the morning.
Fall: the state names this as an autumn option, and cooler water with fresh stocking makes September and October the pick.
Winter: snow closes the access roads over the range and the creek is effectively unfishable.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Steptoe Creek?

As of Oct 18, 4:45 pm, the USGS gauge STEPTOE CK NR ELY, NV reads 2 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Steptoe Creek?

Anglers target Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout on the Steptoe Creek in Nevada.

Where can you access the Steptoe Creek?

Cave Lake State Park - the park above the creek, with camping at Elk Flat and Lake View and a yurt. Steptoe Creek Trail - roughly three and a half miles along the creek with bridged crossings. Success Loop Road - the forest road off US Highway 93 that gives the main driving access. Success Summit Road - the continuation over the range, useful for reaching the upper creek. Cave Lake - the thirty two acre reservoir above the creek, holding stocked rainbows and naturalised browns. Twisted Pines Trail - the connecting trail off the Steptoe Creek route for a longer walk. Ely - the nearest town, abo...

When is the best time to fish the Steptoe Creek?

Spring: snowmelt gives the creek its best flows of the year, and the fishing improves as the water clears. Summer: flows drop hard and the creek becomes pocket water, best fished early in the morning. Fall: the state names this as an autumn option, and cooler water with fresh stocking makes September and October the pick. Winter: snow closes the access roads over the range and the creek is effectively unfishable.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Steptoe Creek?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Nevada agency site: https://www.ndow.org/fishing/regulations/