Yampa River
| Yampa River | |
| River | |
 The Yampa River, c. 1871–1878
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Colorado |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Bear River, Williams Fork |
| - right | Elk River, Little Snake River |
| Cities | Steamboat Springs, Craig |
| Source | Rocky Mountains |
| - elevation | 7,833 ft (2,387 m) |
| - coordinates | 40°9′30″N 106°53′59″W / 40.15833°N 106.89972°W |
| Mouth | Green River |
| - location | Dinosaur National Monument |
| - elevation | 5,080 ft (1,548 m) |
| - coordinates | 40°31′44″N 108°59′3″W / 40.52889°N 108.98417°WCoordinates: 40°31′44″N 108°59′3″W / 40.52889°N 108.98417°W |
| Length | 250 mi (402 km) |
| Basin | 7,660 sq mi (19,839 km2) |
| Discharge | for Deerlodge Park |
| - average | 2,069 cu ft/s (58.59 m3/s) |
| - max | 33,200 cu ft/s (940.12 m3/s) |
| - min | 1.9 cu ft/s (0.05 m3/s) |
 Map of the Yampa River watershed
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The Yampa River flows 250 miles (400 km) through northwestern Colorado in the United States. Rising in the Rocky Mountains, it is a tributary of the Green River and a major part of the Colorado River system. The Yampa is one of the few free-flowing rivers in the western United States, with only a few small dams and diversions.
The name is derived from the Snake Indians word for the Perideridia plant, which has an edible root. John C. Frémont was among the first to record the name 'Yampah' in entries of his journal from 1843, as he found the plant was particularly abundant in the watershed.
The headwaters of the Yampa are in the Park Range in Routt County, Colorado as the confluence of the Bear River and Phillips Creek, near the town of Yampa. The Bear River, larger of the two, flows from a source of 11,600-foot (3,500 m) at Derby Peak in the Flat Tops Wilderness. The Yampa River then flows north through a high mountain valley, through Stagecoach Reservoir and Lake Catamount, before reaching Steamboat Springs, where it turns sharply west. Below Steamboat Springs, the Yampa flows through a wider valley in the western foothills of the Rockies. It receives the Elk River from the north, then passes the towns of Milner and Hayden.
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Wikipedia