The Yampa River is a tributary of the Green River, approximately 250 mi (402 km) long, in the U.S. state of Colorado.

It rises in the Flat Tops in northwestern Colorado, in the Routt National Forest in southeastern Garfield County, and flows northeast, past Yampa, and north to Steamboat Springs, where it turns abruptly west. It then receives it's chief tributary, the Elk River, near the small town of Milner. It continues west in the plateau region along the north side of the Williams Fork Mountains, past the town of Craig. It is joined by the Little Snake River in Moffat County, just east of Dinosaur National Monument. Inside Dinosaur National Monument, it joins the Green near the border with Utah.

The Yampa forms a noticeably wide, shallow stream throughout much of it's course. The lower half of the Yampa is navigable by small craft. However the meandering, shallow nature of the river can render the river unnavigable during late summer in low water years.

The Yampa is one of the finest trophy fisheries in the United States for Northern Pike and Smallmouth Bass. However the US Fish and Wildlife along with the Colorado Division Of Wildlife are removing and killing bass and pike, throwing them on the banks to rot by the hundreds. This is because the river used to be home to endangered but undesirable species of fish and sportfish are blamed, largely unfairly, for contributing to the demise of native species. These actions are ungoing despite strong public opposition.

See also

• List of Colorado rivers

Rivers of Colorado