Jackson
Plan Your Visit
Jackson National Fish Hatchery provides many exciting visitor opportunities. Located 3.5 miles north of Jackson on Highway 89, the hatchery is open daily for a close-up view of the fish production process. Every year over 10,000 people visit the hatchery to observe fish in several indoor tanks and view photographic displays of spawning and stocking activities. During summer months the outdoor raceways are full of fish and Sleeping Indian Pond on the hatchery grounds is very popular for public fishing enjoyment, complete with a disability accessible observation and fishing deck that is available to anglers daily!
Volunteer tour guides are available each summer. Tours are free and no appointment is required. Self-guided tours are available year-round. For school groups who would like a private tour of the facility, please call the hatchery to schedule a visit.
The hatchery is co-located on the National Elk Refuge and is also part of a Wyoming Fisheries Complex with Saratoga National Fish Hatchery.
Wyoming fishing regulations apply. Licenses are not available on-site.
Activities
Featured Species
Get Involved
Whether you want to further conservation, learn more about nature or share your love of the outdoors, you’ve come to the right place. National fish hatcheries provide many opportunities for you to help your community and fish and wildlife by doing what you love. Our volunteers show visitors the main tank room with fish and displays, give details on the fish production process and answer any questions. Occasionally they will assist with large school group tours as well. Applications are accepted using volunteer.gov. Volunteers arrive in mid-May and stay through Labor Day. Trailer sites with hook-ups are provided, you must have your own camper. The schedule rotates between 3-4 days per week.
Working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.
Services
Jackson National Fish Hatchery produces native cutthroat trout for federal and Tribal waters in Wyoming and Idaho. These trout help to restore fish populations, encourage sustainable fish populations and provide angling opportunities for recreational users like you. As a result of the Jackson National Fish Hatchery propagation program, economic benefits weigh-in at over 50,000 angler days of recreational fishing valued at over $5 million.
The next time you go fishing, you might just catch a fish that was raised at Jackson National Fish Hatchery. Since 1871, National Fish Hatcheries have been responding to conservation challenges affecting America’s fish and other aquatic species. Producing fish continues to be an irreplaceable tool in managing or restoring fisheries along with habitat conservation. In doing so, we help provide recreation opportunities to America’s 34 million anglers who spend $36 billion annually in pursuit of their favored pastime.
Jackson National Fish Hatchery produces close to 200,000 native Snake River cutthroat trout each year. The fish are stocked in reservoirs and lakes around western Wyoming and eastern Idaho.
In 2018, a program was initiated to hold refugia populations of endangered Kendall Warm Springs dace for future support of the declining wild population.
About
Since 1871 the National Fish Hatchery system has worked to improve recreational fishing and restore aquatic species. Jackson National Fish Hatchery specifically produces native Snake River cutthroat trout for federal water projects and the Wind River Reservation. Established in 1950 and completed in 1957, the hatchery is uniquely co-located on the National Elk Refuge.