Near Payson, Below The Mogollon Rim.
Arizona Travel & Tour Pictures, Photos, & Information.
August 23, 2009
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| Tonto, Creek Fish Hatchery, Looking North. Near Payson, Arizona. Below The Mogollon Rim, Coconino National Forest. |
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| Brown Trout, Salmo trutta. In Main Entrance Pond. Tonto, Creek Fish Hatchery, Near Payson, Arizona. Below The Mogollon Rim, Coconino National Forest. |
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| Brown Trout, Salmo trutta. In Old Original Pond. Tonto, Creek Fish Hatchery, Near Payson, Arizona. Below The Mogollon Rim, Coconino National Forest. |
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| Tonto, Creek Fish Hatchery, Looking South. Near Payson, Arizona. Below The Mogollon Rim, Coconino National Forest. |
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| Main Entrance Pond Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery, Looking South. Near Payson, Arizona. Below The Mogollon Rim, Coconino National Forest. |
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| Visitor Center. Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery, Looking South. Near Payson, Arizona. Below The Mogollon Rim, Coconino National Forest. |
Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery, The hatchery is located about 21 miles east of Payson. 6291 feet elevation. The Arizona Game and Fish Department has operated this hatchery since 1938. The property was only two acres at that time. The property was expanded in 1954 and again in 1987. It now comprises 50 acres. A Google Earth Map search marks center of the Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery Main Entrance Pond at about 34o 22' 54.06" N 111o 05' 51.26" W. Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery is the most visited of Arizona’s fish hatcheries. The hatchery raises Arizona’s State Fish, the Apache trout, as well as rainbow and brown trout. It is located on Tonto Creek just below the Mogollon Rim with beautiful scenery all around it. Of course, Tonto Creek is a riparian habitat with a wide range of riparian birds year round including heron, belted kingfisher, osprey, and American dipper, particularly during the fall and winter. Other riparian breeding birds along the creek include common black-hawk, broad-tailed hummingbird, black phoebe, warbling vireo, American robin, bridled titmouse, Virginia’s and MacGillivray’s warblers, black-headed grosbeak, and occasionally an indigo bunting. Merriam’s turkey, band-tailed pigeon, acorn woodpecker, nuthatches, towhees, and a variety of other woodland birds also frequent the area. White-tailed deer, elk, black bear, Abert’s squirrel, Arizona gray squirrel, and mantled ground squirrel are also found in the area. Reptiles and amphibians inhabiting Tonto Creek include Mexican gartersnake, Sonoran mountain kingsnake, Arizona black rattlesnake, the greater short-horned lizard, plateau lizard, many-lined skink, Arizona treefrog, and the Arizona toad. A few fish-eaters such as raccoons have been known to stop by and try to sample trout at the hatchery. We saw one eating a trout the day we photographed the hatchery for this web page. When you visit the hatchery you will learn about fish production and to view trout. Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery produces and stocks over 165,000 catchable rainbow trout and 400,000 brook and cutthroat trout each year, plus about 150,000 of Arizona's State Fish - the Apache Trout. The Hatchery is open from 8 am — 4 pm daily, except holidays. There are no camping facilities at the Hatchery. However, many Forest Service and private camping areas exist along the road into the facility. Of course, the Hatchery is closed to angling, but trout produced in the facilities are stocked in surrounding streams and rivers, including Tonto Creek. Daytime temperatures vary from highs around 90°F in the summer to as cold as 0°F in the winter. For more information about camping, contact the Payson Ranger District at (928) 474-7900.
How To Get There:
We have enjoyed touring the facility since 1940.
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| Largemouth Bass, Micropterus salmoides. | Brown Trout, Salmo trutta. |
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| Channel Catfish, Ictalurus punctatus. | Walleye, Sander vitreus. |
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| Striped Bass, Morone saxatilis. | Flathead Catfish, Pylodictis olivaris. |
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| Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. | Black Crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus. |
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| Hatchery Troughs | Hatchery Troughs |
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| Fish Egg Incubation Area. | Fish Egg Incubation Area. |
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