Crystal Cross to Emigrant

Yellowstone River · 16.2 river miles · Gardiner and Yankee Jim Canyon

At today's flow of 1,340 cfs, Crystal Cross to Emigrant is about 10h 11m of continuous drifting over 16.2 river miles.

Conditions right now

Flow now1,340 cfs · 27th percentile for this date

Estimated float time10h 11m

Range7h 38m to 12h 44m

Wind8 mph NE

Sunset today7:10 PM

Typical float time by month

Typical flow is the median day for the month at the gauge that represents this stretch. Float times are continuous drifting at that flow. Flow by month has the full record.

Month	Typical flow	Float time
January	830 cfs	12h 13m
February	814 cfs	12h 19m
March	909 cfs	11h 48m
April	1,300 cfs	10h 18m
May	5,780 cfs	5h 50m
June	10,800 cfs	4h 36m
July	6,240 cfs	5h 40m
August	2,840 cfs	7h 39m
September	1,800 cfs	9h 06m
October	1,410 cfs	9h 59m
November	1,145 cfs	10h 49m
December	938 cfs	11h 40m

How long it takes at different flows

Flow	Estimated drift time
1,200 cfs	10h 37m
2,000 cfs	8h 45m
3,000 cfs	7h 30m
5,000 cfs	6h 10m
8,000 cfs	5h 09m
12,000 cfs	4h 25m

On this stretch

Point of Rocks access, river mile 20.9
Flow read from USGS gauge 06191500, Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs, MT

Access

Put-in

Crystal Cross

Hand launch, no trailer ramp. Parking limited. FWP lists Boating.

FacilityHand Launch

LaunchHand launch

FWP activitiesBoating, Fishing, Hunting

River mile16.53

Coordinates45.20224, -110.89983

Take-out

Emigrant

FacilityRamp (Gravel)

LaunchBoat ramp

FWP activitiesBoating, Fishing

FWP river marker525

River mile32.75

Coordinates45.36703, -110.72550

Measured along the NHDPlus flowline, not straight-line distance.

Shuttle

14.9 miles by road, about 17 minutes driving. The drive is 0.92x the river distance.

Gradient

This reach is gentler than typical for this river, which is why its drift time differs from another stretch of the same length.

Hazards and landmarks in this stretch

This float enters Yankee Jim Canyon -- Class III-IV whitewater. Class III-IV whitewater. Named rapids -- Yankee Jim's Revenge (III+), Big Rock (III), The Pinch (III), Boxcar (III+) -- are concentrated in the upper part of the canyon. Class III at moderate and low flows, closer to Class IV at high water. Not a drift-boat or innertube stretch. Scout it, and do not treat a float time from this page as permission to run it.

Connecting stretches

Float times are estimates from river flow, not a judgement that conditions are safe for you or your craft. They assume continuous drifting; anglers working the banks often take two to three times as long. Check current Montana FWP regulations before you go. What the estimate leaves out.

This reach is gentler than typical for this river by enough to imply a larger speed adjustment than the model will apply; it is capped, because steeper reaches are also rougher and slope alone overstates the effect.

Floated this stretch? Tell us how long it took

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Sources

Flow from USGS stream gauges 06191500 (Corwin Springs) and 06192500 (near Livingston). 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.