Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

The Duchesne is home to mountain whitefish; brown, cutthroat and rainbow trout. This section of the river is maintained by natural reproduction. Angler Tip: imitate the natural foods. Match the hatches when insects emerge and look for other foods both underwater and on land. Natural aquatic foods include: stoneflies, caddis flies, mayflies, diptera larva, water beetles, amphibians, dace, sculpin, small trout, whitefish and suckers. Terrestrial species include grasshoppers, crickets, ants, cicadas and caterpillars.

Access and facilities

The river corridor is surrounded by private land. Public access along the stream corridor through some, but not all, of the private lands has been acquired as partial mitigation for the Central Utah Project. Access easements have been secured from the North Fork confluence downstream to just below the Sand Creek Bridge, approximately 3.5 stream miles. Easements for much of the corridor below that point to the town of Hanna have not been secured, and anglers are urged to respect private property. There are no immediate plans to acquire public access downstream of the town of Hanna to Hwy 208.

These easements allow pedestrian access on the relatively narrow corridor along the streambank. Access to the easement corridor is only possible from designated parking areas along Hwy 35 and at the Sand Creek Bridge. The public is not allowed to park randomly along Hwy 35 and cross private property, such as residential yards or pastures, to access the river corridor. Venturing into areas not covered by easement constitutes trespass and seriously complicates future negotiations. Easements allow access for the purpose of angling only; other uses, such as big game or waterfowl hunting, are not allowed.

Gas, food and lodging are available in the towns of Tabiona, Hanna and Duchesne. Camping facilities are found on Forest lands along the North Fork of the Duchesne.