Troutline

Diamond Fork

Utah·Wasatch Front·40.08° N, 111.40° W
Flow
39.1 CFS
Diamond Fork above Red Hollow, near Thistle, UT
Water Temp
—
Condition
Well Below Normal
Weather
70°F
Mostly Cloudy
near Mapleton

Insights

Wind
Wind 0 mph — calm
Easy casting and clean surface presentations.
Flow
Low flows at 39.1 CFS
Fish are spooky. Lighten tippet and lengthen leaders.

Diamond Fork is a small canyon creek in Spanish Fork Canyon, about 20 minutes southeast of Provo and roughly 45 minutes from Salt Lake City. It's the kind of water locals fish on a weeknight while visiting anglers drive right past on their way to the Provo or the Green. The draw isn't size — a 10-to-14-inch wild brown is a good fish here and anything over 16 is a story — it's the combination of easy access and a genuinely wild fishery a stone's throw from the Wasatch Front. Forest Road 029 shadows the creek for miles, so you can fish out of the truck in the lower canyon or hike up toward the Three Forks confluence where the browns turn wild and native Bonneville cutthroat show up.

What makes Diamond Fork fish more predictably than its neighbors is plumbing. It's part of the federal Central Utah Project, and water routed through the Strawberry tunnel system holds the creek to a rough 60 cfs winter minimum, so it doesn't blow out the way a freestone drainage does during runoff. Summer flows near Three Forks run around 45 cfs; in early July 2026 the gauge above Red Hollow read in the mid-30s and dropping — low, hopper-dropper water. It fishes like classic small pocket water: riffles, plunge pools, undercut banks, and short glides. A 4-to-5-weight, a 9-foot leader to 4X or 5X, and a size-14 foam hopper with a beadhead dropper 18 to 24 inches below covers most of it.

One honest warning shows up in nearly every local report: the rocks are coated in slick algae, and this is some of the most treacherous wading in Utah — felt soles or studs and a wading staff are not overkill. Worth knowing too that the lower-to-mid canyon is the trailhead corridor for Fifth Water Hot Springs, one of Utah's most-hiked trails, so it draws real weekend foot traffic; plan on early mornings or weekdays if you want water to yourself. The 2018 Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires reset parts of the drainage, and DWR and Trout Unlimited have leaned into Bonneville cutthroat restoration in the upper creek and its forks since. If Diamond Fork is off or crowded, the Middle and Lower Provo are 30 to 40 minutes north and the obvious fallback.

Species

  • Brown Trout
    Primary · Sep-Oct · 8-14"

    Wild and resident throughout the creek — the backbone of the fishery. Most run 8-14 inches; a 16-incher is the fish of the trip. Fall pre-spawn browns are the most aggressive of the year. UDWR also plants brown trout fingerlings to support recruitment.

  • Bonneville Cutthroat Trout
    Common · Jun-Jul · 8-13"

    Native and the conservation priority of the drainage. Most common above Three Forks and in Sixth Water Creek, where DWR and Trout Unlimited restoration work is focused. Catch-and-release only in the artificial-only water above Springville Crossing.

  • Rainbow Trout
    Stocked · May-Jun · 9-12"

    Planted in the accessible lower and roadside sections, not a wild population. Provides easy early-summer action near the pullouts; the fish thin out as you climb into the wild-trout water up-canyon.

Ideal wading flow40–70 CFS
Blow-out>300 CFS
Ideal water temp50–62°F

October is the standout — fall color, pre-spawn browns, the October Caddis, and thin crowds. July and August are the terrestrial peak with warm caddis evenings, and June brings aggressive cutthroat as flows settle. The creek rarely blows out thanks to CUP flow regulation, but summer thunderstorms in the burn-scarred drainage can briefly dirty it. Fishable through winter in the lower and mid canyon with midges and euro-nymphing, but slow.

Sections

3 sections on this river

Upper Diamond Fork (Diamond Campground to Three Forks)

WadeCutthroat · Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout

Tighter, wilder pocket water and plunge pools with more gradient, running from Diamond Campground up to the Three Forks confluence. This is the wild-fish stretch: brown trout turn genuinely wild and native Bonneville cutthroat trout show up as you climb, the focus of the drainage's post-fire cutthroat restoration. Artificial flies and lures only above Springville Crossing, and all cutthroat must be released. The wading is slick and the casting lanes are tight.

Best for: Wild brown trout and native Bonneville cutthroat trout on small dries, hopper-dropper rigs, and tight-line nymphing. Artificial-only water that rewards walking farther up-canyon.

Sixth Water Creek

WadeCutthroat · Rainbow Trout

A small tributary joining Diamond Fork from the north side at Three Forks. Intimate cutthroat water, most productive in its first quarter- to half-mile above the confluence, and the better small-stream Bonneville cutthroat trout bet of the two forks at Three Forks (Fifth Water, the other fork, carries geothermal hot-spring water and is not a fishery). Foot access only from the Three Forks Trailhead.

Best for: Native Bonneville cutthroat trout on small dries and attractors, catch-and-release. Bushwhacking, very small water for anglers who want solitude.

Lower Diamond Fork (Confluence to Diamond Campground)

WadeBrown Trout · Rainbow Trout

Roadside pocket water, riffles, and pools along FR-029 in the lower canyon, from the Spanish Fork River confluence up to the Diamond Campground area. Wider, slightly warmer, and the most stocked-fish influence on the creek — UDWR plants rainbow trout in the accessible pullouts here, mixing with wild brown trout. This is the easiest access on the water and the busiest, since it doubles as the Fifth Water Hot Springs trailhead corridor.

Best for: Stocked rainbow trout and wild brown trout on hopper-dropper rigs, single dries, or short nymph rigs. Family-friendly, drive-up water for a quick weeknight session.

Regulations

Current fishing rules and restrictions

Diamond Fork is open year-round. From Springville Crossing upstream to the headwaters, including the forks, it's artificial flies and lures only, and all cutthroat trout must be released. Below Springville Crossing the statewide general trout regulations apply. Always confirm the current boundary language in the UDWR Fishing Guidebook before fishing.

  • From Springville Crossing upstream to the headwaters (including the forks): artificial flies and lures only, no bait
  • Cutthroat trout: catch-and-release only in the artificial-only water
  • Below Springville Crossing: statewide general season and trout limit
  • Open year-round
  • Valid Utah fishing license required for all anglers age 12 and older

The upper creek and its forks are managed for native Bonneville cutthroat restoration following the 2018 Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires. Verify the exact Springville Crossing boundary in the current guidebook's Central Region special-regulation listing each season.

Source: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Regulations change annually — verify before fishing.

Access & Logistics

Getting there, fly shops, and lodging

Getting There

Spanish Fork, UT

20 min from Provo, 45 min from Salt Lake City, 50 min from SLC airport

Fly Shops

Camping & Lodging

Diamond Campground, Palmyra, and other Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest sites line FR-029 up the canyon. Hotels and full services in Spanish Fork, Springville, and Provo.

I-15 exit 258 to US-6 east into Spanish Fork Canyon, then Diamond Fork Road (FR-029). No fees for creek access. The road is paved and graded low but turns to rough washboard above Diamond Campground, and a winter gate closes the upper road. No cell service past the canyon mouth. Watch for rattlesnakes on the banks in warm months, and expect slick algae-coated rocks — bring felt or studs and a wading staff.

Conditions data is live from public monitoring networks. Regulations change annually — always verify current rules with your state fish & wildlife agency before fishing.

More in Utah

View all 14 rivers

Wasatch Front

Ogden RiverUT

A short cold-water tailwater below Pineview Dam with a split personality — tight, boulder-strewn pocket water through Ogden Canyon and a restored in-town trout stream that threads downtown Ogden to the Weber confluence. Wild brown trout are the backbone, mixed with heavily stocked rainbows (including Parkway trophy plants), a few Bonneville cutthroat, and mountain whitefish; it fishes year-round and stays clear when the freestone forks blow out.

Provo RiverUT

Three rivers in one within an hour of Salt Lake — the freestone Upper Provo in the Uintas, the restored blue-ribbon Middle Provo tailwater below Jordanelle, and the Lower Provo running cold through Provo Canyon below Deer Creek. Wild browns, rainbows, and whitefish on year-round BWO, midge, PMD, caddis, and the Middle's green drake.

South Fork Ogden RiverUT

A small Causey Reservoir tailwater above Pineview — roughly ten miles of cottonwood-lined canyon pocket water along Highway 39 with an outsized reputation for its fishable salmonfly hatch, one of the few in Utah that survives runoff. Wild brown trout are the backbone, with native mountain whitefish in the riffles and stocked-and-holdover rainbows around the campground corridor; it wades comfortably in a 50-150 CFS window all summer. Distinct from the main Ogden River tailwater below Pineview Dam.

Weber RiverUT

A Wasatch freestone-and-tailwater within 45 minutes of Ogden and Salt Lake that fishes for wild brown trout, mountain whitefish, and native Bonneville cutthroat — quieter and less technical than the nearby Provo, with strong streamer water and a tailwater stretch below Rockport and Echo.

Other regions

Bear RiverUT

The high-country headwaters of the 491-mile Bear River, a small snowmelt freestone draining the north slope of the Uintas along the Mirror Lake Highway. Wild browns, brook trout, and native Bear River cutthroat on attractor dries, with a genuinely short July-through-September season.

Beaver RiverUT

A small, overlooked Tushar Mountains freestone off SR-153 east of Beaver — pocket water and plunge pools for stocked and holdover rainbows, wild browns, and brook trout, plus a DWR-restored valley reach below town where the 18-20" brown stories come from. Wade-only, snowmelt-driven, and best July through October.

Blacksmith ForkUT

The Logan River's big southern tributary — a freestone canyon stream off the Bear River Range that runs down Blacksmith Fork Canyon along SR-101. Fast pocket water and boulder runs full of wild browns, plus one of the only true salmonfly hatches in Utah.

Currant CreekUT

A small, cold, dam-fed stream draining Currant Creek Reservoir southeast through a willow-choked canyon to the Strawberry River near Fruitland. Walk-and-wade beaver-pond water for wild browns and rainbows on attractors and terrestrials, with an artificial-fly-and-lure-only reach above the Water Hollow Creek confluence.

Duchesne RiverUT

The biggest freestone draining the south slope of the Uintas, and a genuinely good wild-trout river above Tabiona — pocketwater browns, native Colorado River cutthroat, and one of northeastern Utah's most reliable naturally reproducing mountain whitefish populations. Two Blue Ribbon reaches (the West Fork and the Hanna-to-North-Fork main stem), a season that opens with the second-Saturday-of-July spawning-closure lift, and terrestrial fishing that carries it through September.

Fremont RiverUT

A remote high-desert brown trout river below the Fish Lake plateau — a small, brushy freestone tailwater up top and cold spring-fed big-fish water near Bicknell, where browns to 24-30" are reported. Wade-only, low-flow, and largely private outside Bicknell Bottoms.