Buffalo Mirage to Duck Creek Bridge
Yellowstone River · 12.5 river miles · Laurel, Montana
At an estimated 2,297 cfs, Buffalo Mirage to Duck Creek Bridge is about 5h 07m of continuous drifting over 12.5 river miles.
Conditions right now
Typical float time by month
Typical flow is estimated by adding the typical flows of the gauges above this stretch, since no gauge measures it directly. Float times are continuous drifting at that flow. Flow by month has the full record.
| Month | Typical flow | Float time |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,711 cfs | 5h 43m |
| February | 1,670 cfs | 5h 46m |
| March | 1,818 cfs | 5h 35m |
| April | 2,580 cfs | 4h 53m |
| May | 9,259 cfs | 3h 00m |
| June | 19,090 cfs * | 2h 17m |
| July | 9,877 cfs | 2h 56m |
| August | 4,233 cfs | 4h 03m |
| September | 2,996 cfs | 4h 37m |
| October | 2,776 cfs | 4h 45m |
| November | 2,377 cfs | 5h 03m |
| December | 1,940 cfs | 5h 27m |
* Above the 16,698 cfs the velocity measurements covered, so that row is an extrapolation.
How long it takes at different flows
| Flow | Estimated drift time |
|---|---|
| 1,200 cfs | 6h 33m |
| 2,000 cfs | 5h 23m |
| 3,000 cfs | 4h 37m |
| 5,000 cfs | 3h 48m |
| 8,000 cfs | 3h 11m |
| 12,000 cfs | 2h 43m |
Where this flow number comes from
No USGS gauge measures the Yellowstone at this stretch. The nearest mainstem gauges are Livingston, well upstream, and Billings, downstream; the gauges that once covered this water at Springdale and Big Timber are both inactive. So the figure above is not a reading — it is the sum of the gauges upstream of here:
Checked against the Billings gauge, which sits below every tributary in that sum, over 153 days of last season: mean error +2.6%, typical spread 10%, worst case -23% to +22%. Because water speed rises with roughly the cube root of discharge, a 20% flow error moves the float time by about 7% — inside the range already shown above.
On this stretch
- Clarks Fork Yellowstone River joins, river mile 179.2
Access
Put-in
Buffalo Mirage
Last access above the Clarks Fork confluence.
Take-out
Duck Creek Bridge
Below the Clarks Fork confluence. Downstream end of the registered network.
Measured along the NHDPlus flowline, not straight-line distance.
Shuttle
14.4 miles by road, about 34 minutes driving. The drive is 1.15x the river distance.
Gradient
This reach is close to typical for this river, which is why its drift time differs from another stretch of the same length.
Plan this float- The estimate does not account for irrigation withdrawal, which in this stretch is substantial in midsummer and removes water the tributary gauges have already counted.
- The velocity curve behind this estimate was measured between Corwin Springs and Livingston. Whether it holds on a channel this far downstream is adjusted for by gradient but not yet confirmed by reported float times here.
Floated this stretch? Tell us how long it took
No name, no email, no account. How reports are used.
Sources
Flow from USGS stream gauges 06192500, 06195600, 06200000, 06205000, summed: Yellowstone River near Livingston; Shields River near Livingston; Boulder River at Big Timber; Stillwater River near Absarokee. River miles from USGS NHDPlus; wind from the National Weather Service; access facts from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Every source and how the estimate is made · Terms.