Open House at Inks Fish Hatchery Sunday

The friends of Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery will host an open house Sunday, April 24, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

During the open house, visitors will have the chance to hike on five different trails, have picnics and see native plant gardens. A snake show will be presented from 1-2 p.m.

The Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery has 27 earthen ponds ranging in size from a quarter-1.5 acres, with a total of 25 surface acres of water.

The hatchery consists of 85 acres of narrow bench land along the Colorado River.

Its primary function is to produce one million channel catfish, largemouth bass, striped bass, and rainbow trout annually for stocking in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Oklahoma.

In addition to supplying fish, the hatchery is home for waterfowl and shorebird observation, study and photography.

The grounds of the hatchery include a fishing pier, a visitor center and a Monarch butterfly way station. Structures there are historical features. They were constructed of native stone by the Public Works Administration (WPA) in 1938, as part of the overall project to construct dams along the Colorado River, to stock the new lakes from a federal fish hatchery.

The Hatchery is located at 345 Clay Young Road off Park Road 4 and travelers can reach them via four different routes. One of the most popular follows the park road west from US 281 for 11 miles to the hatchery entrance.

For more information call 512-793-2474.