The Yellowstone River

The Yellowstone River. The Lifeblood of the Plains. The origin of the Yellowstone River name came from early French fur traders who called it La Roche Jaune, the 'River of the Yellow Rock,' after the orange and yellow colored rimrocks rising from the river valley. , The Yellowstone River is led by the snowfall in the mountains surrounding Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park and extends through easter Montana to merge with the Missouri River in North Dakota. It is 678 miles ling and is the largest undimmed river in the lower 48 of the Untied States. The Crow and Northern Cheyenne referred to it as Elk River. , As the Yellowstone River moves west to east, it changes in water temperature, turbidity (sediment), and fish species. Near Billings, the Yellowstone River begins to transition from cold swift water to warmer wider channels, where you might as easily hook a trout (a cold water species) as a walleye (a warm water species). The Yellowstone River flow at Billings varies from 2.500 cubic feet per second (cfs) during the winter months to over 25,000 cfs during late spring flooding.