The Fraser River is a tributary of the
Colorado River
The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
, approximately long,
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
, accessed March 18, 2011 in north central
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It drains a large portion of the
Middle Park basin in
Grand County in the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...
west of
Boulder
In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...
and southwest of
Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is s ...
. It rises at the
continental divide
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
on the north side of
Berthoud Pass in the
Arapaho National Forest. It flows NNW past
Winter Park,
Fraser Fraser may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands
Australia
* Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen
* Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...
, and
Tabernash, and joins the Colorado River from the south two miles west of
Granby.
Fishing
The Fraser holds wild rainbows, browns, brooks, and cutthroats. The Fraser River starts near
Berthoud Pass. As it runs north for its first 8 miles, it is on National Forest land and is publicly accessible. The river is narrow and shallow here, but worthy of fishing.
From Winter Park to Fraser, the river can be accessed by the Fraser River Trail (hiking or mountain bikes), from USFS campgrounds, or road turnouts. The only exception is as the river flows through private land in the town of Winter Park. You can go fishing in the forested lands, or where the river starts into the valley.
Access to the Fraser River is limited downstream from the town of Fraser. Some of the best fishing is in the canyon downstream from
Tabernash, however this is on private land.
See also
*
List of rivers of Colorado
This is a list of rivers and streams in the United States, U.S. Colorado, State of Colorado.
##Alphabetical list, Alphabetical list
##Tributary chart, Tributary chart
__TOC__
Alphabetical list
The following alphabetical list includes many import ...
*
List of tributaries of the Colorado River
References
{{Authority control
Rivers of Grand County, Colorado
Tributaries of the Colorado River in Colorado