A wide angle photo of the concrete raceways outside of the Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery on a sunny day.

Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery

Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery is the second-largest hatchery in the state. This hatchery focuses on hatching and rearing fish for stocking into waters that allow public fishing. Clark's Fork produces millions of fish each year to bolster populations and support fisheries management in Wyoming.

Hatchery information

 

The Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery is 29 miles north of Cody, a few miles off Wyoming Highway 120, along the Clark's Fork River in the shadow of the Beartooth Mountains. Yellowstone National Park, Shoshone National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands are nearby to enjoy. The fish hatchery sits on 195 acres of deeded, Wyoming Game and Fish Department land that includes many public fishing access points. Built in 1970, it is the second-largest fish hatchery in the state.

Address


18 Hatchery Road
Powell, WY 82435-8115

(307) 645-3146

Driving directions

Hours

Open to the public 8 a.m-5 p.m. daily.

 

Video tour

Fun facts

  • The Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery stocks or transfers up to 2 million fish a year.
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  • The hatchery's distribution trucks travel around 52,000 miles a year to stock and transfer fish.
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  • It is one of the major producers of native Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Wyoming.
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  • Small fish -- also called fry -- are fed up to six times a day.
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Fish species raised at Clark's Fork Hatchery

  • Bear River cutthroat trout fish illustration
  • Yellowstone cutthroat trout illustration
  • Kokanee illustration
  • Arctic grayling fish illustration
  • Brown trout fish illustration.
  • Rainbow Trout Illustration

The hatchery raises many trout species.

The fish species raised include Eagle Lake rainbow, fall rainbow, Bear River cutthroat, Snake River cutthroat and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Kokanee salmon are raised at the hatchery, too.

Clark's Fork Hatchery water

 

Natural underground springs provide a constant supply of cold, disease-free water to the hatchery. The 12 springs furnishing water to the facility vary from a low of 4,000 gallons per minute in April to a high of 8,000 gallons per minute in October. During peak months, the springs provide approximately 11.5 million gallons of water daily at an average temperature of 52 degrees Fahrenheit. Because the water constantly flows through the hatchery, raceways do not become covered with ice, even on the coldest winter days. After passing through the facility the water returns to the Clark's Fork River.

Water flowing out of a pipe into a dual-drain circular raceway at the Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery.

Clark's Fork Hatchery images

  • Kokanee Eggs in an incubation jar at Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery
    Kokanee eggs in an incubation jar.
  • Kokanee sac fry, or a hatchling fish that still has a yolk sac attached that it depends on for nutrition.
    Kokanee sac-fry in an aluminum trough.
  • Trout fry in teal fiberglass troughs swimming up to the water's surface to eat fish food.
    Trout fry in a fiberglass tank.
  • The back of a rainbow trout coming out of the water as a burst of activity occurs right after feeding rainbow trout in a concrete raceway at the Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery
    Catchable-sized rainbow trout swimming to the water's surface in a raceway to feed.
  • Rows of teal-colored fiberglass troughs full of trout fry inside the Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery's hatchery building.
    Fiberglass tanks inside the hatchery.
  • A wide shot from inside the Clark's Fork hatchery building that shows rows of teal-colored fiberglass toughs used for rearing fish
    A wide shot of the hatchery building at Clark's Fork Hatchery.
  • A green bucket with brown fish food inside ready to be used to feed the fish at Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery
    A bucket of fish food.
  • Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery Superintendent feeding fish in the outdoor concrete raceways with a mountain in the background.
    Feeding fish in the outdoor raceways.
  • Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery Superintendent weighs and counts fish in order to estimate how many fish are being raised
    Sampling fish.
  • Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery Superintendent holds a glass full of fry as he samples the fish to estimate how many are in the fiberglass trough.
    Observing trout fry.
  • Employees inside the Clark's Fork hatchery building pick fish mortalities out of the aluminum troughs
    Hatchery work.
  • An employee in a red uniform with a green hat at Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery cleans teal-colored fiberglass troughs full of fry with a brush.
    Cleaning fiberglass tanks used for fish rearing.
  • Game and Fish employees at Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery head out to begin their raceway cleaning duties for the day
    Preparing to clean raceways for the day.
  • A shot of Game and Fish employees cleaning concrete raceways in the distance with two hatchery houses in the background
    Game and Fish employees cleaning raceways.
  • Two Wyoming Game and Fish employees clean concrete raceways outside at Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery.
    Two Game and Fish employees brush a raceway to clean it.
  • The front brick exterior of the Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery with a green lawn in the foreground.
    The front entrance of the Clark's Fork Fish Hatchery.