Established in 1911, the Saratoga National Fish Hatchery is a unique facility that raises the endangered Wyoming Toad, as well as several trout species for broodstock eggs, recreation and Tribal trust.

Visit Us

Saratoga hatchery entrance
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Saratoga National Fish Hatchery welcomes visitors to the hatchery for a close-up view of the fish rearing process. With over 3,000 visitors annually, the dedicated staff will be available to answer your questions while you explore the Visitor Center and facilities. Bring the hatchery experience alive with educational programs and hatchery tours, and view the large brood fish and the endangered Wyoming toad. Be sure to stop by from late September to early November to watch the spawning activities.

Location and Contact Information

Marker
  • Saratoga National Fish Hatchery
    (307) 326-5662
    Fish Hatchery Road, County Road 207 PO Box 665 Saratoga, WY 82331-0641
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    About Us

    Saratoga National Fish Hatchery, established in 1911, has served as an egg-producing station during most of its years of operation including various strains of brook, rainbow, brown, golden, and cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden eggs. In 1966, Saratoga National Fish Hatchery was formally designated as a broodstock broodstock
    The reproductively mature adults in a population that breed (or spawn) and produce more individuals (offspring or progeny).

    Learn more about broodstock     hatchery, and in 1984, the hatchery became involved in the Great Lakes lake trout recovery program.  

    What We Do

    New lake trout eggs
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    Currently, Saratoga National Fish Hatchery produces trout and eggs to fill needs for Federal, State, and Tribal waters across the country. The trout species being reared at the hatchery are brown trout, rainbow trout and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. These fish help to replenish and encourage sustainable populations and provide angling opportunities for recreational users. 

    As the aquatic habitat changes due to natural (drought, flood, habitat destruction) or human (over-harvest, pollution, habitat lost to development and dam construction) influences, the natural production of fish declines. Stocking of these trout is one of the many management strategies used by biologists to help replenish the populations for years to come. 

    Services
    Small orange fish eggs on a white background.
    National Broodstock Program’s Egg Distribution Service

    The National Broodstock Program was established in 1970 to support healthy sustainable fisheries in waterways across the country. Every year the National Broodstock Program provides about 60 million fish eggs that are hatched and raised by our partners to meet their conservation and management...

    Service
    Fish Stocking

    Our Organization

    Orange fish eggs on a white background.
    The National Fish Hatchery System raises millions of fish and aquatic wildlife to improve sustainable recreational fishing, support fisheries that have been impacted by a federal dam, recover federally listed threatened or endangered species, fulfill our Tribal Trust responsibilities, and prevent...
    Program

    Our Species

    adult wyoming toad swimming among aquatic vegetation

    At its full size, the Wyoming toad is only two inches long. This toad looks lumpy - its body is covered with warts and its head has a humped ridge. The skin is various shades of brown - perfect for blending in and escaping would-be predators.

    Species
    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Taxonomic Rank
    Subspecies

    Projects and Research

    Adult WY toad
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    Saratoga National Fish Hatchery adopted a unique role in becoming the first hatchery in the National Fish Hatchery System to become involved in rearing endangered amphibians. The Wyoming toad (Bufo baxteri), was a common sight on areas of the Laramie Plains, Albany County, Wyoming, into the early 1970s but the populations crashed in the mid-1970s. The Wyoming toad was listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in January 1984.