It's parents' day at Utah State University. I enjoy visiting Logan, a beautiful college town with tree-lined streets and a fabulous view of the Bear River Mountains. But Logan's college culture doesn't appeal to me today. At lunch, my oldest son David and I fidget with salami sandwiches, waiting our chance to slip away quietly. We escape through a door and minutes later drive through tall maples en route to a favorite stretch of water in Logan Canyon.

It's only a five-minute drive from Logan to excellent trout water, and from there, more than 50 miles of fishable water await us -- 30 in the main branch of the river, the rest in its tributaries.

Dave jumps from the car to look at the river. There is no surface action in the midday sun, so he rolls rocks in the clear water. They are covered with caddis nymph cases -- nymphs easily imitated by flies in our collection. David wades in, a fly line arcing above his head. He gauges the distance to the top of the hole and releases his line, shooting it toward the fish. His tiny yellow indicator dances across the water for an instant, then streaks across the current as a brown trout strikes. The fish shoots into the air, and David lifts the rod high above his head, holding on.

Fed by springs at the crest of the Wasatch Mountains, the Logan River looks like tailwater, but it isn't. It's all natural and filled with a trout population that rivals Utah's most famous fisheries. Best of all, with no major cities nearby, the Logan has plenty of room for anglers and perfect habitat for big fish. "This river is unique," says Craig Schaugaard, of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. "It's the only major river in the state with no major dams on its headwaters or tributaries."

Springs in southeastern Idaho make up the headwaters of the Logan River. Numerous smaller springs that emanate from limestone outcrops add to the flow along the way. These maintain a steady flow of water along the length of the river throughout most of the year. The Logan provides habitat for one of the strongest and largest populations of hybrid Bonneville cutthroat trout within their historic range. Other trout species include stocked brook trout, rainbows and browns. Whitefish are less abundant, but can be enormous.

Brown trout dominate the river's lowest nine miles, from the mouth of the canyon to Right Hand Fork, which is populated exclusively by browns. Cutthroats are found above that, in the cooler, faster water.

Fisheries biologists at Utah State University have monitored the Logan River's fish populations since 1999, when whirling disease was found. No significant trout population decline has been observed so far. Studies show brown trout populations in excess of 2,000 fish per kilometer along the river's lower stretches, and cutthroat populations as high as 1,768 fish per kilometer upstream.

It's Labor Day weekend as Dave and I drive upriver from town. Near the mouth of the canyon, we pass a small pond lined with anglers casting bait. Traffic on Highway 89 is heavy. "Oh-oh," I say as we make our way up the canyon.

"Don't worry, Dad," he replies. "They're all heading to Bear Lake."

He pulls the car off the road about six miles up, and we jump out. If this stream isn't God's gift to trout anglers -- one perfect riffle after another as far as the eye can see, and not another soul in site -- I don't know what is. We dive into the river, and all is quiet, except for the water's gentle ripple, and a faint breeze in the trees.