Gardner River

The Gardner River is a tributary of the Yellowstone river and enters the Yellowstone at the park boundary in the town of Gardiner, Montana. The Gardner can be divided into three sections. The upper river consists of meadows reminiscent of Slough Creek or Soda Butte, but contains plentiful brook trout instead of cutthroats. The middle Gardner is fast canyon water with long runs of pocket water interspersed with pools and runs.

The lower Gardiner from Bolling River to the confluence with the Yellowstone is similar but with easier access from the Mammoth–Gardiner road. The middle and lower sections contain good populations of rainbow, cutthroat and brown trout. In the late fall, the Gardner is known for its annual run of spawning browns which travel up the river from the Yellowstone.

The Gardner river's pocket water, bouldered pools and runs offer good dry fly and nymph fishing, especially in the late summer and fall. Although high runoff can impair early summer fishing, the Gardner does get a reliable hatch of large stoneflies in June and July.

All whitefish and cutthroat trout caught in the Gardner river must be released. Five brook, brown and/or rainbow trout may be harvested daily.