Where to Go Middle Fork of the South Platte
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FALL HOURS: 9am TO 6pm DAILY
Updated 3/18/2025
Current Conditions:
UPDATE- All sections of the middle fork are still frozen. The flows are extremely low and that isnt helping.
Short Term- Temps have been pretty warm, but we have seen a ton of wind up here (everywhere for that matter) The next 5 days will be extremely windy and challenging. Today we will have a quick front move through the area. We could see some brief precipitation, but it shouldnt amount to much and be pretty short-lived. Temps will cool today and tomorrow and we will again see lows in the teens through Thursday. Friday looks like the nicest day, although there will still be some good wind. This upcoming weekend will be extremely windy with highs in the 40's.
Long Term- Looking ahead, some very nice weather is on tap for us next week. The best news is that the wind should calm down as well! Temps will be above seasonal averages and in the 50's and maybe even 60's. Longer range forecasts are still showing a system coming through the state at the very end of March. Its too far out to tell exactly what will happen, but the forecasts are all starting to agree that something will happen. For the sake of our snowpack and the overall situation, lets hope its something significant. We are getting too warm too fast this early spring.
Despite the recent warm weather and wind, we have seen some higher elevation storms in the South Platte basin. Our snowpack is holding strong. This basin is one of the strongest in the state actually and is sitting at 102% of average as of today. As we roll into spring we will have longer days, a higher angle of the sun, and a lot of wind. This combination can start to decrease the overall snowpack at a good pace. With our biggest snow months historically on the horizon March and April), lets hope we can keep building this for our summer water. Snow now means water later, and we can use all we can get!
About Alma SWA
Middle Fork of the South Platte River finds its headwaters above Hoosier Pass. Water is diverted from the Breckenridge area and passed through a tunnel under Hoosier Pass into Montgomery Reservoir. This augments the flow particularly in the early summer.
About Tomahawk
Tomahawk is the Middle Fork of the South Platte River. This stretch of the river is a great place to find solitude from the crowds. Summer and fall are a great time of the year to throw big hoppers to eager brown trout. In the summer, bring insect repellent because the mosquitos can get bad. In the fall, bring heavy leaders because large browns come out of their typical hiding spaces and move up river from Spinney to spawn.
This is an area we specialize and are permitted to guide, so give us a shout if you have any questions or if you are interested in allowing one of our Orvis-Endorsed guides show you how best to conquer Middle Fork of the South Platte.
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Directions to Alma - 88.9 miles - 1 Hour 42 Minutes
- From Angler's Covey head west on US 24 W/Cimarron St, go 63.2 miles
- Turn right at CO-9 N towards Fairplay, go 16.1 miles
- Turn right at US-285 N, go 1.0 mile
- Turn left at CO-9 N/ Main Street, Fairplay and through Alma, 8.1 miles
- Watch your speed, this area is famous for speed tickets.
- Turn left at Co Rd 4, Park along stream in desinated areas.
Directions to Tomahawk - 70.5 miles - 1 Hour 19 Minutes
- Head West on US-24, go 63.2 miles
- Turn right on Co-9, go 7.2 miles