How to Prepare for Your Visit
Pack your insect repellant. Consider visiting the Conservancy's Carpenter Ranch while you're in the area. Please leave pets at home while you enjoy the native plants and animals at this preserve.
When to Visit
Open year-round, dawn to dusk
Why You Should Visit
The Yampa is one of the few rivers remaining in the West that can support an extensive riparian (streamside) ecosystem.
The scenic Morgan Bottoms section of the preserve is open to the public. You can enjoy a lovely walk (two miles roundtrip) through the heart of the cottonwood forest, which is nestled within a canyon along the banks of the Yampa. On a good day, you might see an elk pausing for a cool drink, or a bald eagle keeping watch from a tree by water's edge.
This preserve protects acres of lush riparian forest and upland habitats that provide home to an abundance of wildlife. During the winter, this is a great place for a short, peaceful outing on cross-country skis or snowshoes.
Things To Do
Spend time exploring the preserve and keeping watch for a variety of plants and animals.
Plants
The Conservancy's Yampa River Preserve contains some of the highest-quality occurrences of the globally rare box elder-narrowleaf cottonwood/red-osier dogwood plant community. The preserve includes about three miles of river frontage.
Animals
-Beaver
-Elk
-Bald eagles
-Mink
-Mule deer
-Swainson's thrush
-River otter
-Grey cat bird
Plan Your Visit
Pack your insect repellant and a pair of binoculars. Also consider visiting the Conservancy's Carpenter Ranch while you're in the area.
Directions
From Denver:
-Take Interstate 70 west
-Near Silverthorne, take State Highway 9 north to Kremmling
-At Kremmling, take U.S. Highway 40 northwest to Steamboat Springs
-Drive approximately 17 miles west of Steamboat Springs; you will cross railroad tracks and then immediately cross a bridge ("5-Mile Bridge") over the Yampa River. Make an immediate left into the parking area.
