Yampa Gear Checklist
A private Yampa River trip through Dinosaur National Monument runs about 71 miles in roughly five days, and the rangers inspect your gear before you launch. The packing list is mostly the monument's required equipment: spare life jackets and oars, a portable toilet, a fire pan with a blanket, a kitchen ground tarp and latched food containers. People who ran it add dry boxes sealed before Warm Springs Rapid, warm layers for a cold May, shade for the beach camps, and a water plan, since one club found the main river too silty to filter.
What shapes your gear on Yampa River
- Length and days
- The monument's normal private trip on the Yampa is 5 days and 4 nights in the high-use season, with a rare one-day extension. RiverBent counts 71 miles total. The Spoke and Blossom writer says 72 miles and a 3 to 5 day range. An American Whitewater group did the Yampa and the Green below it in 4 days.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations, RiverBent, Spoke and Blossom and American Whitewater
- Camps in order
- The monument's list for the Yampa Canyon runs Anderson Hole, Ponderosa, Tepee Hole, Big Joe, Harding Hole with 4 sites, Mather Hole, Laddie Park with 2 sites, Warm Springs and Box Elder with 3. Echo Park cannot be used by multiday trips. In the high-use season you camp where your permit says. The American Whitewater group slept at Harding Hole and then Laddie Park on their first two nights.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations and American Whitewater
- Camp rules that shape the kit
- Groups leave each camp by noon. Quiet hours at multi-site camps run from 10 pm to 6 am, and one group may use up to 25 people per site. RiverBent says a group of 16 or fewer fits the Yampa camps best.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations and RiverBent
- Flow decides the boat
- The monument says any approved craft works above 900 cfs at Deerlodge Park. Between 500 and 900 cfs it wants a 14-foot craft and expects some walking, and below 500 only small inflatables and kayaks. RiverBent puts the runnable window for rafts above 1,000 cfs from early May to early July. The American Whitewater group saw about 7,700 cfs falling to about 7,200 cfs in May 2019.
From National Park Service: Noncommercial (Private) River Trips, RiverBent and American Whitewater
- Warm Springs Rapid
- RiverBent says the rapid changes above about 6,000 cfs and has a raft-flipping hole at the bottom. The Spoke and Blossom writer says a 1965 flood dropped boulders into the Yampa and made the rapid. His group scouted, talked lines and ran one boat at a time. The American Whitewater group boated through it on their third day and reached Echo Park around 1 pm.
From RiverBent, Spoke and Blossom and American Whitewater
- Fire and wood
- The monument lets you collect driftwood along the Yampa, unlike the Green above Echo Park. Wood or charcoal fires are allowed in a metal pan on a fire blanket under Stage I restrictions, and under Stage II only gas fires with an on/off switch.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations
What the agency requires on Yampa River
Boating guide, signed permit, photo ID and passenger list
Each group carries the most recent printed copy of the monument's boating guide, the signed river permit with the permit holder's photo ID, and a passenger list. Staff can stop a launch if required equipment is missing.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations and National Park Service: Noncommercial (Private) River Trips
Life jackets and spares
Each person needs a whitewater life jacket worn at all times on the water, with one spare for every 10 people. The body text adds a limit of one spare per boat when that is fewer. Helmets are required for small craft. The body text says one extra helmet per 5 small craft, while the checklist says one spare for every 3.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations
Boat safety kit
The checklist lists a spare oar for every oar boat, a spare paddle for every paddle raft, a throw bag per raft, repair kits, an air pump, a major first aid kit per group, a minor kit per boat, and a rescue kit that adds mechanical advantage.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations
A portable toilet
Each party carries out solid human waste and toilet paper. Approved systems are washable reusable containers with RV dump fittings or commercial bag systems stored in hard-sided containers or labeled heavy-duty waterproof bags.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations
Kitchen ground tarp and a fine-mesh screen
A tarp goes under every food prep and serving table. Dishwater is strained through a rigid fine-mesh screen into the river. Soap and solar showers stay in the main flow of the river.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations
A fire pan and fire blanket, if you want a fire
A rigid metal pan raised off the ground, with a fire blanket under it. The monument recommends a lip of 2.5 inches and a diameter of 12 inches, and it does not allow turkey pans.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations
Latched food containers
All food, garbage and scented items go in a durable metal or plastic container secured with a latch or strap. Camp trash goes in an animal-proof container.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations
What hikers carry on Yampa River
Dry boxes and dry bags, sealed before Warm Springs
The Spoke and Blossom group double-checked its dry boxes and coolers at the ramp before pushing off. RiverBent says the raft-flipping hole at Warm Springs matters most at high water. Together they make the case for sealing the kit before the class IV rapid on day 3.
From Spoke and Blossom and RiverBent
A portable toilet system
The Poudre Paddlers listed groovers as group gear for their July 2016 trip. RiverBent calls a river toilet required and recommends day-use kits as well.
From Poudre Paddlers and RiverBent
A kitchen ground tarp
Both RiverBent and the Poudre Paddlers pack one. RiverBent calls a kitchen floor required on the Yampa for catching crumbs.
From RiverBent and Poudre Paddlers
Spare life jackets, oars, paddles and helmets
RiverBent says staff check gear carefully and that a group short on spare life jackets or paddles heads to an outfitter before launch. The Poudre Paddlers also packed a Z-drag, a rescue kit, a group first aid kit and a throw bag for each boat.
Counts differ by source. The club's 2016 plan used one spare life jacket per 5 boats and one spare paddle per 3 boats, RiverBent gives one spare life jacket per 10 people and one spare paddle per 3 small craft, and the 2025 monument guide is the one to follow.
From RiverBent and Poudre Paddlers
A sun and rain tarp with poles
The Poudre Paddlers brought a shade-and-rain tarp, poles and a lantern for the beach camps. Spoke and Blossom's group ended up slightly sunburned, and swollen thunderclouds gathered above them before Warm Springs.
From Poudre Paddlers and Spoke and Blossom
A warm sleep system
The American Whitewater group found May conditions cold and wet. Spoke and Blossom's party spent a cool night in their sleeping bags just below Warm Springs.
From American Whitewater and Spoke and Blossom
A water filter, with a plan for silt
The Poudre Paddlers packed filters but wrote that the main Yampa is too silty to filter. Their plan was to filter at Jones Hole and at Warm Springs, and they noted Echo Park may have water.
That is one club's July 2016 plan. The monument's guide does not list a filter.
From Poudre Paddlers
A satellite communicator
The Poudre Paddlers took one so anyone who wanted could send an all-fine message home during the trip.
From Poudre Paddlers
25 people can go on one permit. Split this list between them so nobody carries two stoves.
Plan a trip hereWhat hikers regret or leave behind on Yampa River
Pool toys, inner tubes and air mattresses as boats
The monument bans swimming pool rafts, inner tubes, air mattresses and other flimsy craft. Rafts need at least three chambers. RiverBent says to leave any flimsy craft at home.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations and RiverBent
A 25-person group
The limit is 25 people. RiverBent calls that huge for the Yampa camps and says 16 or fewer is ideal.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations and RiverBent
Counting on a filter for the main river
A club that planned the trip wrote that the Yampa is too silty to filter and listed the side streams where filtering works. A pump that clogs on silt is dead weight.
From Poudre Paddlers
Gear questions for Yampa River
Do you need a permit to raft the Yampa River through Dinosaur National Monument?
Yes. Every river trip needs a permit, and multiday and single-day permits both come through a lottery. The permit does not cover the monument entrance fee. RiverBent says the lottery runs from December 1 to January 31, permits are not transferable, and the permit holder must be on the trip. The trip leader and boat operators need whitewater experience on comparable rivers.
From National Park Service: Noncommercial (Private) River Trips, RiverBent and National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations
How long does the Yampa River trip take?
The monument's normal private trip is 5 days and 4 nights. RiverBent puts the distance at 71 miles, and the Spoke and Blossom writer at 72, with 3 to 5 days as the usual range.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations, RiverBent and Spoke and Blossom
What gear is required on the Yampa River?
The monument's checklist covers a printed boating guide, a signed permit and photo ID, a passenger list, life jackets with spares, spare oars or paddles, throw bags, repair kits, an air pump, first aid kits, a rescue kit, a kitchen ground tarp, a fine-mesh screen and a portable toilet. A fire pan with a blanket is needed if you build a fire. RiverBent says staff check it all before launch.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations and RiverBent
Can you drink the water on the Yampa River?
Not straight from the main river. The Poudre Paddlers wrote that it is too silty to filter and planned to filter at Jones Hole and Warm Springs. The group also noted that Echo Park may have water.
From Poudre Paddlers
Can you have a campfire on the Yampa River?
Yes, under normal conditions, in a metal fire pan on a fire blanket. Under Stage II restrictions, only gas fires with an on/off switch are allowed. Driftwood may be collected along the Yampa.
From National Park Service: Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations
Sources
- Boating in the Monument: Information and Regulations · National Park Service · Agency
- Noncommercial (Private) River Trips · National Park Service · Agency
- American Whitewater Trip, Deerlodge to Echo Park and Continuing on the Green · American Whitewater, Thomas O'Keefe · Trip report
- Escape from Time on the Yampa River · Spoke and Blossom, Sidney Wood · Trip report
- Planning a Yampa River Trip through Dinosaur National Monument · RiverBent, Audrey Crockett and Michele Crockett · Blog
- Yampa River through Dinosaur · Poudre Paddlers · Trip report