Colorado charges a visitor a hundred and twenty-four dollars for the licence and a hundred and thirty-six seventy-seven once the compulsory Habitat Stamp is added. The five-day at forty-one dollars plus stamp is the buy for a trip, and worth knowing: the stamp is charged once per person per year, so a second trip in the same year does not pay it twice.
What you will pay
The calculator opens on the visitor rate. Change the length to see what a short trip costs instead.
Every visitor fee in Colorado
The licence year runs 1 April to 31 March.
| Licence | Length | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| One day fishing Additional days $9.13 each. | 1 day | $21.90 |
| Five day fishing | 5 days | $41.04 |
| Annual fishing, 16 and over | Annual | $124.01 |
Add the compulsory extras: Habitat stamp $12.76. That is why the headline figure on this page is higher than the licence alone.
Fees verified against CPW on 2026-09-11.
Annual or short-term?
The annual visitor licence costs $136.77. The cheapest short option is $34.66 for 1 day. That puts the break-even at about 4 trips: fish Colorado fewer times than that in a year and the short-term licence is the cheaper buy.
Worth doing the sum rather than defaulting to the annual, which is what most visitors buy out of habit.
What you are buying access to
We track 37 Colorado waters daily, with live flow, tides and conditions. A sample:
- Eagle River — Eagle County
- Blue Mesa Reservoir — Gunnison County
- South Platte River (Deckers) — County
- Blue River (Silverthorne) — Grand County
- Antero Reservoir — Park County
- Pueblo Reservoir — Pueblo County
- Aurora Reservoir — Arapahoe County
- Gunnison River — Mesa County
- Taylor River — Gunnison County
- Big Thompson River — Weld County
Questions
How much is a non-resident fishing licence in Colorado?
$136.77 for the year. A Colorado resident pays $57.63 for the same thing, which is the gap most visitors are checking.
Is the annual or a short-term licence better value in Colorado?
The cheapest short-term option is $34.66 for 1 day. At that rate the annual pays for itself on about the 4th trip, so below that the short-term licence wins.
Can I buy a Colorado licence before I travel?
Yes. Colorado Parks and Wildlife sells online, so you can buy before you leave home and screenshot the confirmation. Cell service is unreliable where the fishing is good.
Do visitors need the Colorado habitat stamp?
Yes, once per person per year whatever licences you buy. It is $12.76 and our prices include it.
Do I need the ANS stamp to fish Colorado as a visitor?
Only if you launch a motorboat or sailboat: it is charged on the vessel, not the angler, and costs $50.00 for an out-of-state boat. Wade and bank anglers do not need it.