Arizona · Tailwater · Southwest
Colorado River — Lees Ferry
Grand Canyon tailwater; verify NPS and Arizona Game and Fish rules. Access is named, not a pin.
Arizona · public-access reaches. This page is what the desk knows about the water itself. What it is doing today — flow, water temperature, weather, and the hazards those produce — is a reading with a date on it, and it lives in Trip Prep.
Plan a trip on Colorado River — Lees FerryWho manages it
Arizona Game and Fish Department
These links were checked against the live agency site on 2026-09-01. Rules for a water change inside a season, so the agency’s own page on the day you go is the only current answer — this desk does not hold one.
Directory review
Review provenance unavailable
No unique fleet-directory record matched this operational water by name and state, so the desk will not borrow another water’s review date. The agency links on this page were checked on 2026-09-01; check the agency’s own page the day you go.
How access works here
Access concentrated below the dam
On a tailwater, public access clusters below the dam and thins downstream. The outlet reach is usually the busiest water on the river and the most exposed to a release.
Launch · There is usually a ramp near the outlet. Launching and taking out on a tailwater is a timing problem as much as a facilities problem — know the generation schedule first.
Parking · Outlet parking fills early on weekends and holidays. Have a second access point in mind before you leave home.
Arizona's Fish & Boat map shows waters and launches; most trout water sits on national forest or tribal land, and tribal water needs a tribal permit, not a state licence.
Gauge
A public gauge is mapped
Flow and water temperature for this water are read from USGS site 09380000, Colorado River at Lees Ferry, AZ. It is an official public gauge, not a fishing pin: it describes the river at one point, and the reach you stand in may be doing something else.
Species · derived
3 plausible here
Derived from water class (tailwater) and Southwest range — not a stocking record. Confirm species, seasons and any closures with Arizona Game and Fish Department.
Rainbow trout
52–64°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 68°F
Brown trout
54–67°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 68°F
Cutthroat trout
48–62°F published preference · handling becomes a conservation problem at 66°F