Photo credit: Todd Winslow Pierce, Eagle Valley Wild.

Click here to view this article in the Vail Daily.

The Eagle River Valley in 2026 is home to over 55,000 people and hosts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The river offers undeniable beauty, incredible recreational opportunities, and life-sustaining water for municipal, industrial and agricultural use. Few, however, stop to consider the rich history of the river, the multitude of humans that have relied on it, or the role we currently play in protecting it for future generations. 

Humans have lived along the Eagle River for at least 10,000 years. The Utes, specifically the Yampatika (Yampa Ute), Parianuche (Grand River Ute), Nupartka (White River Ute) and Tabeguache (Uncompahgre Ute), lived on the land that is today referred to as Eagle County for generations. Traveling between the high mountains in the summer and the warmer plains in the winter, they lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers. The Eagle River provided them with fish, water, and an easily traversable travel corridor, just as it does today. 

The first permanent European settlers along the Eagle River were miners who trekked from Leadville in search of mineral lodes. Some of these prospectors hailed from Tennessee, and they dubbed this route “Tennessee Pass.” Near the summit of this pass lies the headwaters of the Eagle River, which they followed, eventually founding the communities of Red Cliff, Gilman and Minturn in the late 1870’s and 1880’s. These settlers spent their days by the river panning for silver and gold, with larger facilities in Gilman eventually extracting deposits of zinc, lead and copper. 

Mining was a hard life, and many of these settlers would go on to follow the Eagle River westward, finding warmer temperatures and rich soils. They established cattle ranches and farms in the modern-day areas of Avon, Edwards, Wolcott, Eagle, Gypsum and Dotsero, finding the land especially suitable for lettuce, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and apples. These settlers dug irrigation ditches along the Eagle River and its tributaries to water their crops and altered streamflows to create more pasture for livestock. A carriage road followed the river to connect these communities, the waterway providing a natural clearing. Before long, a railroad was built on the north bank of the river, allowing the residents of Eagle Valley to send their goods to market.

Following the construction of Vail Ski Resort in 1962 and Beaver Creek in 1980, the Eagle Valley underwent a transition from a rural agricultural region to a world-class tourist destination. The Eagle River has come to provide locals and visitors alike with outstanding recreational opportunities. In winter, skiers and snowboarders shred on man-made snow sourced from the Eagle River watershed. Spring snowmelt turns the river into a whitewater paddler’s dream. Throughout the summer and fall, anglers can be seen throughout the 60-mile length, casting for rainbow, brown and brook trout. In place of carriage trails and passenger railways, the I-70 mountain corridor now brings travellers along the Eagle River at 75 miles per hour. These changes have contributed to exponential population growth in the valley, from 7,000 in 1970 to over 55,000 today, projected to reach 70,000 by 2050. 

As the Eagle River Valley’s current tenants, it is up to us to steward the river for the future while addressing issues from the past. The choices made by those who lived here before us have had significant impacts on the river as we know it today. Mining operations in Gilman shut down in the 1980s, contaminating the river with heavy metals and turning it orange. This event led to the founding of the Eagle River Watershed Council, today known as the Eagle River Coalition (ERC). ERC continues to work to improve the health of the Eagle River Watershed. In areas like Brush Creek Valley Ranch and Open Space or Bohr Flats, where historic streamflow has been altered, ERC and partners are restoring stream and ecologic function. Each year, hundreds of volunteers clear trash from local highways and waterways- waste that would otherwise go on to harm the river ecosystem.

In anticipation of decreasing precipitation, increasing temperature trends, and rising water demand, proactive water management is necessary to secure a bright future for the Eagle Valley. Though this responsibility can seem overwhelming, the Eagle River Community Water Plan provides a path forward. Published in 2024, it “considers past, present and future human and ecosystem riverhealth values to identify opportunities to correct historical degradation and prevent and mitigate against non-desirable future conditions.” It includes assessments of the river and its tributaries, analysis of future threats, and clear actions based on extensive community input that can be taken to ensure the river remains the incredible resource it is today. The Eagle River Coalition is spearheading the implementation of this plan through restoration projects, education and outreach programs, and continued monitoring and projecting. 

As the name suggests, the Community Water Plan requires the support of the entire community. There are many ways in which you can play a role, from volunteering for cleanup days and restoration projects, to taking part in Beyond Lawn’s turf replacement program, to simply being cautious about what liquids enter your neighborhood storm drains. 

The next time you take a look at the Eagle River, we invite you to consider those who have stewarded the river before you and those who will inherit it after you. The small splashes we make today can have untold ripple effects downstream–for better or for worse.