The Yampa is the longest tributary to the Green River, which is the longest tributary to the Colorado River. It is the last major entirely free flowing river in the Colorado system. From headwaters high in the Colorado Rockies, the Yampa descends through canyons and plateaus and joins the Green River at Echo Park in Dinosaur National Monument, about 100 miles east of Salt Lake City. The takeout is 26 miles further along the Green at Split Mountain.

Armando Menocal and I completed a 6-day float beginning on 15 August 2008. We spent 4 days floating 46 miles of the Yampa from the Deerlodge Park launch site to Echo Park. We finished our trip by floating the last part of the Ladore section of the Green, taking 2 more days to reach the takeout at Split Mountain. The Yampa has 5 named rapids, which were all easy at low water. We encountered 5 more rapids on the Green. The water levels were higher, but the rapids were not difficult.

It is difficult to get a rafting permit to float the Yampa. During the high water/high use season, (early-May to mid-July), a lottery is used to issue permits to the lucky winners. Odds of obtaining a permit are as low as 3% for the most desirable times. By the first of August, the water levels are too low to support raft trips, and the usage of the river drops precipitously. But there is plenty of water for multi-day trips in a canoe or inflatable. When I inquired in early July about getting a permit in August, I had the entire month to choose from.

My 14-foot, 2-person SOAR canoe is the perfect boat for a trip of this type. It has a large carrying capacity allowing multiday trips and doesn't require much water. With a self-bailing inflatable floor, it can handle intermediate rapids very nicely.

Armando and I drove from his home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Deerlodge on August 14. After camping at the put-in, we loaded the boat and launched the following morning. We had obtained our permit by mail and no one was there to do the normal equipment check that is routine in high water season. We carried PFD's, helmets for the rapids, a toilet system, and food and clothing for a 6-day trip.

We were amazed that we saw no other people for the first 4 nights of the trip on one of the most popular rivers in the West. The rapids were easy, but the paddling was fun because if required almost constant maneuvering to avoid submerged rocks. We occasionally had to exit the boat to push off of sandbars or rocks in the low water. The weather was somewhat unusual; we were actually cold on day 2 and we were rained upon several times. Normal summer temperatures here can reach over 100 degrees; another reason summer usage is light. Our wildlife sighting included seeing 4 separate groups of bighorn sheep, some with huge horns, standing next to the stream as we paddled by. There were 8 sheep in one group. We also saw beaver and a bald eagle. The scenery became better and better on the second half of the Yampa as we approached the confluence of the Yampa and Green Rivers at Echo Park. We stopped to take photos of Steamboat Rock, a huge spectacular monolith situated right at the confluence. A ranger station and a car campground were located there. But the campground was empty and our solitude continued.

I had paddled the Green in previous years, once in a kayak and once in the SOAR, so the remainder of the trip was familiar to me. On our last night, we camped at a campsite called The Cove across from a ridge that provided a spectacular viewpoint both up and down the river. The water levels on the Green were high enough for rafts, so we expected to see other rafting groups. We were very surprised that no one was on this stretch of river either. Not until a few miles above the takeout did we see some other people doing a one-day run of the lower part of the river from Rainbow Park. Our shuttled car was waiting for us. Not many people have run the Yampa without seeing people for the entire trip.

LOGISTICS AND OTHER INFORMATION

(1) All the information you need to apply for permits on the Yampa can be found at http://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/privateriverrafting.htm
You can download a 14-page guide with all the regulations, fees, and required equipment. It contains instructions for entering the lottery in high season or scoring a trip in the low season.
(2) The application fee is $15, and the permit fee is $185 regardless of how many people in the group (up to a maximum of 15 people). The entire float is in Dinosaur National Monument.
(3) Car shuttles can be arranged with the River Runners transport (1-800- 930-7238). We paid $105 for our shuttle.
(4) At low water, the Yampa can be safely run with almost any type of open canoe, kayak, or inflatable. You need to have enough carrying capacity to carry the food and equipment required for a 72-mile river trip.
(5) The Dinosaur River Guide, by Belknap is very useful. It covers the entire float, shows where the rapids and camps are located, and includes mile markers. The Deerlodge Park starting point is mile 46.5 and the confluence with the Green is mile at 0. From the confluence, mile markers on the Green start with 225 and end with199 at the Split Mountain take-out.
(6) There are 5 named rapids on the Yampa, all of which were class 2 or less at our water levels. The 5th rapid, Warm Springs, was the most difficult and can be class 4 at higher water levels. The 5 named rapids on the lower part of the Green had larger waves but were class 2 at most. The flow rate on the Yampa was 400-500 cfs while we were on the river. The Green was at 1890 cfs when we took out.
(7) Our 5 campsites were at Ponderosa (mile 37), Big Joe (mile 24), Laddie Park 1 (mile 10.8), Box Elder 3 (mile 2), and the Cove (mile 214). During the low season, you can camp at any designated site you wish on the Yampa but the last camp on the Green requires a reservation.