Outstanding scenery, great meals, and off-river exploration are all part of a Yampa River trip with Holiday River Expeditions/Holiday River Expeditions
Editor's note: This is a special advertiser-supported article from the 2nd Annual Essential Guide to Paddling the Parks.
There still remains, in this heavily developed country, a place where a river runs free, unfettered by a dam and surrounded by wilderness. Look towards northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah. That's Dinosaur National Monument, with the Green and Yampa rivers.
By April and into May the winter snows deep along the Flat Tops Wilderness of northwestern Colorado are melting, sending water coursing and crashing its way west down the Yampa to its confluence with the mightier Green River.
And because there are no dams strangling the flow of the Yampa, the last major tributary of the Colorado River system that can make that claim, and because the flow goes through the heart of Dinosaur, a river trip here is a throwback of sorts. There are no scheduled water releases to boost the Yampa's currents, and nothing but rugged wilderness in the surrounding scenery.
Through the years the Yampa has defied many attempts to dam its free flow. The late David Brower fought hard to prevent a dam near Echo Park, and in doing so agreed to a dam on the Colorado River known today as Glen Canyon. It was something he long regretted.
Mother Nature has also tried to dam the river, as the folks at Holiday River Expeditions will tell you. Just after dinner on June 9th, 1965, a flash flood carried tons of rock down Warm Springs draw, effectively blocking the river channel. Within 24 hours the Yampa took aim and breached the dam, and left Warm Springs Rapid in its wake. Today, that rapid is rated among the 10 biggest drops in the country.
For decades Holiday has run the Yampa on four- and five-day trips in May and June, when the river is flush with snowmelt and the air is slowly being warmed by the season. Come July, the runoff typically has waned, and the river is a bit too 'bony' for rafts, and is best run by canoeists and kayakers.
Whether kissing Tiger Wall or crashing through Warm Springs Rapid, a float trip on the Yampa is an incredible experience/Holiday River Expeditions
Other than the Warm Springs Rapid (which certainly can be tricky at certain water levels) the Yampa is not overly technical. But the landscape is gorgeous and the remoteness a joy to savor and explore.
From the outfitter's put-in at Deer Lodge you're soon surrounded by large, towering sandstone monoliths fluted by the river. The main canyon dwarfs the boaters, who swivel their heads around in awe. Side canyons harbor alcoves and pot holes bigger than hot tubs and hide patches of history, and even prehistory. Bighorn sheep graze the grassy benches in the shade of towering box elders trees.
Perched atop cliffs hundreds of feet above the river, potholes are rich with cattails and other watery vegetation. Here, surrounded by curious geologic formations, Ponderosa pines seem tall enough to snag a few clouds.
Holiday's guides can lead you through this wonderland. Though it's a national monument, many agree that it should be a national park. But thankfully, no doubt due to that monument designation, the crowds never descend on Dinosaur, and certainly not on the Yampa.
As you float down the 46 miles of the Yampa River, and then 25 more miles of the Green, Holiday's guides recount the history of the canyons, help you understand their geology, and the wildlife that lives here. When they're not leading you on hikes into side canyons the guides prepare unbelievable meals in the perfect setting: a river beach with millions of stars overhead
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