Fishing · NW Larimer County
Parvin Lake
The historic flies-and-lures lake: a two-trout limit, a check-in station, and nearly a century of fisheries research.
Toggle USGS Topo / Terrain / Satellite / Street (top-right) · red = special-regulation water, confirm current rules · waters © CPW Colorado Fishing Atlas
Parvin Lake is the storied one. The state bought it back in 1925 as a spawning reservoir and hatchery, and for decades it was one of Colorado’s most important fisheries research stations — the very place where fishing by artificial flies and lures only was tested and proven before that rule spread to lakes across the state. Whirling-disease work, water-quality studies, and insect and limnology research all ran here, right through their heyday in the 1960s.
Today Parvin is a public fishing lake, open year-round, and it still fishes by those same rules: artificial flies and lures only, with a two-trout limit. Everyone checks in at the entrance station on the way in. It is a quiet, pretty lake with a real sense of place — you are casting on water that helped shape how Colorado manages its trout.
The Water
Regulations
Flies & lures only · 2-trout limit
Elevation
8,133 ft
Access
Check in at entrance station
Season
Open year-round
Good to Know
- Fishing is by artificial flies and lures only, with a two-trout bag-and-possession limit — confirm the current regulations before you go.
- Open year-round; all visitors check in at the entrance station on the way in.
- A valid Colorado fishing license is required for anglers 16 and older.
- Parvin has a deep history as a state fish hatchery and fisheries-research station dating to 1925 — effectively the birthplace of Colorado’s flies-and-lures-only regulation.
At the Water
Photos © Red Feather Lakes Travel Guide — shot on the water.
What’s Biting & What’s Stocked
The current stocking, the species, ice conditions, and the full Northwest Larimer fishing atlas — refreshed weekly — live in the app.
Coming soon — Larimer Wilds Fishing: offline maps, live GPS, and what’s stocked for every water up here, right in your pocket.
Built by Many Hands — Give a Little Back
Love this guide? Wear it. Every hat, tee, and cozy layer in our Red Feather Lakes collection helps us keep mapping the water and keeping this guide free — mountain apparel designed right here in the high country.
Shop the Collection →This fishery doesn’t sustain itself. Every trout is stocked and every acre stewarded by the public agencies we lean on for this guide — if you love these waters, please pitch in for them too:
- Colorado Parks & Wildlife — the stocking, the fishery & the Colorado Fishing Atlas Donate →
- Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forest (USFS) — the public land & lakes themselves Support →
- OpenStreetMap contributors — the Street basemap Donate →
- Google & USGS — location, ratings & topographic maps
Fishing details compiled by the Red Feather Lakes Travel Guide from the sources above. Photography by us — more of our own water images coming as we fish them.