Yampa lottery dates
Winners cancel all season. Set a cancellation alert and we tell you the moment a Yampa spot opens.
Applications open December 1, 2026 and close January 31, 2027. Results are posted February 12, 2027.
The Yampa lottery calendar
| Stage | Date | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Applications open | The first day the agency accepts an application for this draw. | |
| Applications close | The deadline. An application filed after it is not in the draw. | |
| Results posted | When winners are notified and the claim clock starts. |
Dates come from the managing agency’s own published schedule. We re-read it every day, so a date the agency moves moves here too.
Published odds
What the agency publishes about Yampa odds
~1.6% (NPS river permit lottery (Dec-Jan), 2022).
“18,325 applied for 300 permits on the Yampa River, which starts near Steamboat Springs and flows through Dinosaur National Monument … the odds of getting a Yampa permit are nearly 1 in 60.”
How the Yampa draw works
- Cost
- $15 non-refundable application fee, plus $185 on confirmation, a flat per-permit recreation fee, not per person. An Extended Stay Fee of $35 applies. Park entrance fees are separate.
- Max group size
- 25 people
Applications are filed through Recreation.gov. Open the official Yampa page
Apply as a crew
Most lotteries let every member of a party apply, and only one entry has to win. A pool keeps the applications, the dates and the result in one place so nobody in the crew misses the deadline.
Start a pool for YampaYampa lottery questions
What if I miss the Yampa lottery?
Set a cancellation alert. Winners cancel all season, and PermitSnag tells you the moment a Yampa spot opens. We remind you about the lottery dates too.
When does the Yampa lottery open?
Applications open December 1, 2026 and close January 31, 2027. Results are posted February 12, 2027.
What are the odds of winning the Yampa lottery?
~1.6% (NPS river permit lottery (Dec-Jan), 2022), published by The Colorado Sun — West river permit system demand reporting.