Livingstone River

The Livingstone is a small, clear mountain river that runs about 36 km south beside the Forestry Trunk Road (Highway 940), from the Highway 532 country down to the Oldman at the Oldman River North campground. It is a westslope cutthroat river first. Above Livingstone Falls, federal recovery work maps the river as critical habitat for pure cutthroat, and most fish you catch there are the real thing. Below the falls the river is bigger, with deeper runs and corner pools where mountain whitefish stack up and bull trout move in late in the season. Most cutthroat run 25 to 35 cm (10 to 14"), and the guides who fish it report a few much bigger. Every trout and whitefish goes back: the Livingstone is open June 16 to October 31, with bait banned and a limit of 0.

The Livingstone has no gauge of any kind, so you read it by eye. Runoff usually keeps it high and milky into early July. It is in shape when it runs clear and green and you can cross the riffles and tailouts at knee depth, which most years means mid-July through September. A hard rain on the Livingstone Range can colour it for a day or two. The nearest live signal is the Oldman at Range Road 13A, far downstream, which at least shows when the runoff has turned. Expect golden stones in late June and July, yellow sallies, PMDs and green drakes in July, caddis in the evenings, and ants, beetles and hoppers from August. A stimulator or a foam stonefly with a small nymph dropper covers most days. By late August the water is low and clear, so stay back from the bank and fish the riffles and the heads of pools.

The river is easy to reach, which is both its appeal and its problem. The Forestry Trunk Road runs beside it for most of its length, with a campground at Livingstone Falls and pull-offs along the road, so July weekends get busy. It is all public land in the Livingstone Public Land Use Zone, where off-highway vehicles must stay on designated trails. Random camping is allowed with a Public Lands Camping Pass, at least 1 km from a recreation area. Bull trout spawn in fall, so watch for paired fish on clean gravel in September and October and stay out of the water around them. In a hot, dry summer Alberta can close every ES1 stream from 2 pm to midnight, the Livingstone included, so check the advisories before a July or August trip.