Fishing

Perhaps the most popular activity along the Trinity River is fishing. The spring and fall salmon runs and the fall and winter steelhead fishing have thrilled fishermen from ancient times right up to today. Weather, with particular emphasis on rainfall and water temperatures, impacts the dates and numbers of fish for the seasons. Spring salmon generally appear in the Willow Creek area around the first week of May and the fishing stays hot through mid June. Fall run salmon are plentiful in late September and early October in the Willow Creek area. In recent years there has been a substantial winter run from December into spring. Steelhead begin appearing in the Trinity in mid August with a strong run in September and October with half pounders arriving ahead of the bigger fish. In the winter months, drift boats take many fish in the 7 to 15 pound category. Returning steelhead are fished through the month of March. Local merchants, fishermen and drift fishing outfitters are good sources of fishing information.

Paddle Sports
Willow Creek has many world class rivers to run, within a 45 minute drive. The legendary Klamath is California's premier multi-day river trip. The Cal-Salmon offers a class V section of whitewater run by the experts. The versatile upper Trinity offers a classic class III run of moderate rapids, followed by the Burnt Ranch Gorge, one of the toughest runs in the state. The lower Trinity is a wonderful, wild and scenic section that attracts canoeists and tubers.

Swimming
The Lower Trinity is a superb swimming river. Warm clear waters along with 90+ summer days allow you to spend an entire day at the beach. If you like to people watch, try Kimtu or Bigrock Beach. If seclusion is your choice, a spot might be Tish Tang, Horse Linto Creek, Sandy Bar or one of the many side tributaries.