Yampa River Facts:
- River: The Yampa River
- Rapid Rating: Class III-V(depending on Water Levels)
- Put in: Deer Lodge Park in Dinosaur National Monument.
(1-½ hours from Vernal Utah)
- Take-out location: Split Mountain boat ramp. (45 minutes fro
Vernal, Utah)
- River Miles: 72 miles
- Number of rapids: 16 named rapids in addition to many unnamed
smaller rapids.
- First to run Westwater Canyon: Nathaniel Galloway and his son
Parley in 1909. (John Wesley Powell rowed about 2 miles up the Yampa in
1869.)
Introduction
The Yampa River, located in the heart of the Dinosaur
National Monument on the Eastern end of the Uinta Mountain Range. Beginning in
Northwestern Colorado, the Yampa is one of the last free-flowing tributaries
(The Stagecoach reservoir near Steamboat and The Elk head Reservoir are usually
spilling which makes the Yampa free-flowing.) to the Colorado River system and
is featured in National Geographic's, "Wild and Scenic Rivers" Book. The Yampa
plant (Perideridia gairdneri) or, "wild carrot," was considered a food plant
for many of the Native Americans who lived in this area. Native Americans,
prospectors, outlaws, ranchers and early river runners make the history of this
canyon interesting.
Geology
The geology of the Yampa Canyon begins with layers of
sandstones, limestones and shales, giving the viewer a unique "look back" at
the rising and dropping of an ancient sea. As you travel further into the
canyon the sheer walls of the Weber Sandstone become predominant. As the river
winds its way through a maze of walls sculpted by windblown sand, walls, such
as the 1,000' high Grand Overhang and the stripes of the Tiger Wall will leave
the viewer in awe. Once you leave the Yampa Canyon and join the Green River,
entering into Echo Park, the Mitten Park Fault will blow the viewer away. Just
after Mitten Park the river enters into Whirlpool Canyon the billion-year-old
Uinta Mountain Group formation and the Unique Sea Stacks enter into the
geologic picture. Following a leisurely float through Island Park and the
Morrison Formation (where dinosaur bones are found), the river makes a dramatic
cut right through the Split Mountain Anticline.
Human History
Human history in this region dates back to about 8,000
years ago and the time of the Paleo Indian. The Paleo Indians hunted large game
animals like the Mammoth and the Bison with arrows. More recently the Fremont
Indians lived in this area. They were hunter-gatherers living off of nuts,
berries, seeds, deer and big horn sheep. The Fremont left clues about their
mysterious history carved and painted into the canyon walls.
Trappers made their way into these river canyons to trap
beaver in the 1820's and 1830's. One trapper, Dennis Julien, left many
inscriptions up the entire Green River including one in Whirlpool Canyon dated
1838. As early as the 1870's, prospectors began mining for gold in places like
Harding Hole. Many ranchers, like the Mantles and the Ruples, tried hard to
make a life here. One of the most colorful characters of this time period was
hermit, Patrick Lynch. Following service in the Civil War, Pat moved to this
area where he lived in many caves as a hermit until his death in 1917. He was
buried in Lily Park (Deer Lodge Park).
River running for fun started around the late 1920's. In
1928 a group from the Denver Post had a disastrous low water trip, losing one
boat and hiking out at the Mantle Ranch. In the 1930's Bus and Alton Hatch
explored the river and eventually started commercial boating trips in 1931. The
biggest surprise for river runners came in 1965 after about 17 days of rain
caused a huge debris flow to completely dam the river, creating a new
rapid-Warm Springs-which is still one of the most exciting rapids today.
For dates and rates on The Yampa River rafting trips click:
- The
5 day Yampa River Rafting through
Dinosaur National Monument is magnificent blend of hiking, camping and
whitewater rafting. You'll spend your days rafting fun whitewater and hiking to
waterfalls, abandoned caves and petroglyphs, pictographs and other cultural
remains
- The
4 day Yampa River Rafting through Dinosaur
National Monument has it all! As the last free-flowing river in the entire
Colorado River drainage, the Yampa is incredibly wild in May.
