It’s Show Low

Silver Creek: the creek, the hatchery and public fishing

Part of White Mountain Lake country, our guide to the lake, the golf and the juniper country north of Show Low.

Silver Creek rises at Silver Springs, about 6,119 ft up east of Show Low, and runs about 46 miles north past White Mountain Lake, Taylor and Snowflake to the Little Colorado River. Near its source, the state’s Silver Creek Hatchery has an 840-acre wildlife area open to the public for fishing, where the spring-fed creek does not freeze.

46 miSilver Springs to the Little Colorado
840 acrespublic wildlife area
1978state buys the hatchery
No icespring-fed creek in winter
An Apache trout, golden with dark spots
Apache trout, one of the two trout species in Silver Creek at the hatchery. Photo: Joe DiSilvestro, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The creek

USGS maps Silver Creek from Silver Springs north and northwest past White Mountain Lake, Shumway, Taylor and Snowflake to the Little Colorado River. Show Low Creek joins it near Shumway. A 1936 federal report described a farm belt about nine miles long on Silver Creek with 2,000 irrigated acres, and the three settlements of Snowflake, Taylor and Shumway along it. Those towns’ story starts on this creek; see our history of Show Low and the White Mountains.

Silver Creek Hatchery and wildlife area

What it isAn Arizona Game and Fish hatchery, bought by the Game and Fish Commission in 1978
Public area840-acre wildlife area open for fishing, hunting and wildlife watching, with a trail along the creek (very muddy in wet weather)
FishApache trout and rainbow trout
October 1 to March 31Catch-and-release only for trout; artificial fly and lure only; single barbless hook
April 1 to September 30Bait and barbed hooks allowed; limit 4 trout
Hatchery groundsAlways closed to fishing
Getting thereAbout 5 miles east of Show Low on Highway 60, north on Bourdon Ranch Road 5 miles to Hatchery Way Road, then east half a mile

The fishing rules above are from Arizona Game and Fish’s 2021 fishing guide for the Pinetop and Show Low area. Check the current Arizona fishing regulations before you go. Game and Fish manages the stretch from Bourdon Ranch Road up to the hatchery as a blue-ribbon coldwater fishery; native bluehead sucker and speckled dace live there too.

Silver Creek near Silver Springs and the hatchery. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

“Silver Creek” on the map

USGS also lists Silver Creek as a populated place, near the hatchery. Navajo County runs a Silver Creek flood control district and a Silver Creek road improvement district. The golf course once called Silver Creek Golf Club is now Birdie Ranch.

What we could not verify

Questions people ask

Where can I fish near White Mountain Lake?

White Mountain Lake is private. The public Silver Creek wildlife area at the state hatchery, east of Show Low off Bourdon Ranch Road, is open for fishing.

Does Silver Creek freeze in winter?

No. Arizona Game and Fish says the creek at the hatchery is fed from an underground stream and does not freeze.

What fish are in Silver Creek?

Apache trout and rainbow trout are stocked; native bluehead sucker and speckled dace also live there.

Where does Silver Creek go?

From Silver Springs north past White Mountain Lake, Taylor and Snowflake to the Little Colorado River, about 46 miles.

More in White Mountain Lake country

Sources

  1. USGS Geographic Names (geonames map service)
  2. USGS National Hydrography Dataset (lakes and streams)
  3. USGS Elevation Point Query Service
  4. USDA Soil Conservation Service: Snowflake, Arizona (Conservation Economics Series, 1936)
  5. Arizona Game and Fish: Fishing guide for Pinetop and Show Low lakes and streams (2021 edition)
  6. Arizona Game and Fish: Wildlife Conservation Strategy, Silver Creek (Bourdon Ranch Road to hatchery)
  7. Town of Taylor: About Taylor
  8. Navajo County Board of Supervisors: Aug. 13, 2024 agenda packet (special districts)

Checked October 22, 2026 by It’s Show Low. Cite this page: It’s Show Low (itsshowlow.com), checked October 22, 2026. Free to quote with a link; tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.