Sheep Mountain to Springdale

Yellowstone River · 12.2 river miles · Springdale, Montana

At today's flow of 1,700 cfs, Sheep Mountain to Springdale is about 5h 20m of continuous drifting over 12.2 river miles.

Conditions right now

Flow now1,700 cfs · 21st percentile for this date
Estimated float time5h 20m
Range4h 00m to 6h 41m
Wind13 mph WNW
Sunset today7:08 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.

MonthTypical flowFloat time
January1,200 cfs6h 06m
February1,190 cfs6h 07m
March1,280 cfs5h 57m
April1,730 cfs5h 18m
May6,450 cfs3h 13m
June12,550 cfs2h 30m
July6,830 cfs3h 09m
August3,240 cfs4h 11m
September2,230 cfs4h 49m
October1,920 cfs5h 06m
November1,635 cfs5h 25m
December1,360 cfs5h 49m

How long it takes at different flows

FlowEstimated drift time
1,200 cfs6h 06m
2,000 cfs5h 01m
3,000 cfs4h 18m
5,000 cfs3h 33m
8,000 cfs2h 58m
12,000 cfs2h 32m

On this stretch

Access

Put-in

Sheep Mountain

FacilityRamp (Gravel)
LaunchBoat ramp
FWP activitiesBoating, Fishing
River mile72.35
Coordinates45.73056, -110.40705

Take-out

Springdale

Long, open reach above here. Wind exposure.

FacilityRamp (Gravel)
LaunchBoat ramp
FWP activitiesBoating, Fishing
River mile84.54
Coordinates45.74353, -110.23135

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

Shuttle

20.1 miles by road, about 35 minutes driving. The drive is 1.65x the river distance. The shuttle is much longer than the float. The road takes a significant detour around this reach -- budget the drive.

Gradient

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

Connecting stretches

Keep going downstream

Start further upstream

Plan this float
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.

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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.