2023 Greenback Stocking in Williams Gulch

Following a successful rotenone treatment in 2021, Colorado Parks and Wildlife will be coordinating a stocking effort to plant greenback cutthroat trout into Williams Gulch between the Green Ridge area and Poudre Canyon. This event will require hiking into predetermined stocking locations - details are below.

Volunteers will meet at the Potbelly Restaurant in Red Feather Lakes at 10:15 to go over stocking logistics, project expectations, and break into hiking groups. The hatchery truck will arrive between 10:45-11:00 with 1-2" cutthroat trout that will be already bagged. From the Potbelly we'll travel to the trailhead which is a 45 minute drive up a semi-rugged road - AWD vehicles with at least 7" clearance will be necessary. CPW vehicles can be used to shuttle some volunteers if they have signed a CPW volunteer waiver form.

All stocking locations will require hiking on game trails, not established hiking trails, ranging from a 2 mile round trip hike with 200' elevation gain up to a 7 mile hike with 900' vertical elevation gain. Volunteers will need to be able to carry a pack with their personal gear, snacks, water, and a bag of fish/water that will weigh approximately 10-15 pounds. Please be 100% certain you are capable of this type of hiking before signing up. A daypack or backpacking pack would be ideal as a school style backpacks are too small (the insulated bags used to transport the fish are approximately 24" high). CPW has a few packs they can provide so please let us know if you need to borrow one.

Volunteers will be split into groups based on hiking ability. All groups will have a CPW or USFS leader to guide them. The plan is to leave the Potbelly by 11:15, start hiking around 12:15, and then groups getting back at staggered times depending on distance and hiking speed, ranging from approximately 2:00 PM for the shorter distance groups to about 4:30 PM for the longer groups. The ultimate goal is to spread out the trout throughout the drainage as much as possible.