Blue River

The Colorado's upper reaches in Grand County and through Middle Park — from headwaters at La Poudre Pass through Hot Sulphur Springs, Kremmling, Pumphouse, Radium, and on through Glenwood Canyon. Gold Medal water below Williams Fork at Pumphouse-Radium float with strong wild brown trout populations.

Free-flowing freestone that runs undammed from the marble quarries above Marble down past Redstone to the Roaring Fork at Carbondale. Wild browns and rainbows plus native whitefish in a wade-only pocket-water fishery that fishes on the snowpack's schedule — blown out through June, then clear and fishable July into fall.

Freestone running 75 miles from Tennessee Pass near Leadville through Minturn, Vail, Avon, Edwards, and Eagle to the Colorado River at Dotsero. Heavily affected by historic mining at the Eagle Mine but recovering — fall brown trout fishing through Edwards and Wolcott is the best of the year.

Snowmelt-driven Gunnison-basin freestone from above Crested Butte down to Almont, where it meets the Taylor to form the Gunnison. A wade-only wild-trout river of browns, rainbows, and a few cutthroat — its reputation built on the public Wild Trout Water below the Roaring Judy hatchery, since most of the valley is private ranch water.

A small, walkable high-country freestone running off Berthoud Pass through Winter Park, Fraser, and Tabernash to the Colorado near Granby. Wild browns, rainbows, and brookies in creek-sized pocket water — fishing on a fraction of its native flow after Denver Water's Moffat diversion.

Fourteen miles of legendary Gold Medal tailwater below Ruedi Reservoir, ending at the Roaring Fork in Basalt. Mysis shrimp from the reservoir grow huge trout — 'Toilet Bowl' fish below the dam are some of the largest wild rainbows in the lower 48.

Big-water Gold Medal fishery best known for the Gunnison Gorge — 14 miles of wilderness canyon below the Black Canyon with the densest population of large wild trout in the state. Easier float-and-wade fishing on the lower river through Delta and Whitewater.

A wild-trout freestone draining the northeast San Juans out of Lake City down through a string of public BLM canyon water to the Lake Fork arm of Blue Mesa. Streamborn browns run the show, with rainbows and cutthroat mixed in; it's a wade-only pocket-water fishery that blows out hard during runoff and fishes best mid-July through late October.

Gold Medal freestone running 70 miles from Independence Pass through Aspen, Basalt, and Carbondale to the Colorado River at Glenwood Springs. Big-river hopper-dropper water below Basalt and the Crystal River confluence; tighter pocket water through Aspen.

The Gunnison basin's marquee tailwater — a quarter-mile catch-and-release stretch below Taylor Park Reservoir (the mysis-fed "Hog Trough") holds some of the largest wild trout in Colorado, while 20 miles of Gold Medal pocket water and float runs drop through Taylor Canyon to Almont.

A tale of two rivers stitched together at a dam: mineralized, near-dead headwaters above Ouray, then a clean, cold, year-round tailwater below Ridgway Dam. The Pa-Co-Chu-Puk section — locals call it "Paco" — is a technical wade fishery for wild browns past 20 inches, holdover rainbows, and retired Snake River cutthroat brood fish.

A small dam-controlled tailwater below Williams Fork Reservoir in Grand County, running two miles through the Kemp-Breeze State Wildlife Area to its confluence with the Colorado. Best known for the fall run of big brown trout that push up out of the Colorado to spawn; technical, clear, walk-in wade water the rest of the year.

One of the last big free-flowing rivers in the Colorado system: a cold, technical catch-and-release tailwater below Stagecoach Reservoir, seven miles of public town water through Steamboat Springs, then a freestone float toward Hayden before it warms into pike-and-smallmouth country. Undammed downstream, so it runs warm and low in late summer and draws recurring CPW closures — check current status before you go.

A big San Juan freestone that runs Gold Medal water through downtown Durango — wide boulder pocket water holding wild browns and rainbows, best on weighted nymphs and sculpin streamers once June snowmelt drops out.

102 miles of Gold Medal water from Leadville to Parkdale — Colorado's longest continuous Gold Medal stretch. A high-elevation freestone with strong caddis hatches, a stout summer guide industry, and excellent walk-and-wade access along Highway 24 and Highway 50.

The Front Range's most accessible wild-trout tailwater — a road-side canyon of pocket water and plunge pools below Lake Estes, holding wild browns and rainbows on technical dry-dropper and tight-line nymphing water.

Colorado's only Wild & Scenic river and a classic Front Range freestone — fast, boulder-strewn pocket water tumbling down the Poudre Canyon along Highway 14, 30 minutes from Fort Collins. Wild browns dominate the canyon, with rainbows, cuttbows, and brookies mixed in; fish run modest (8-14") but the roadside access to a genuine wild-trout canyon is the draw. Snowmelt-driven, so it blows out late May into June, then drops into dry-dropper shape from July on.

The I-70 corridor freestone Denver fishes on a weeknight — tight, brushy roadside pocket water from Georgetown through Idaho Springs and Clear Creek Canyon to Golden, holding aggressive wild browns and stocked rainbows.

A long, quiet San Luis Valley freestone that falls out of the South San Juan Wilderness through a black rhyolite gorge below Platoro Reservoir — wild browns and rainbows, more stonefly species than any river in Colorado, and miles of Highway 17 pocket water most anglers drive past on their way to the Rio Grande.