Collections

The Yampa River Botanic Park is home to a huge collection of exquisite gardens, plants, trees and sculptures.

Gardens

The Botanic Park is home to 66 individual gardens.

Plants

The Park gets an average of only 60 days a year without a killing frost, non-predictable days.  These low temperatures, together with very dry summers and high levels of ultra-violet make this a challenging environment for plants.  Only a few non-native trees survive these conditions, but many cultivated varieties of lower-altitude plants thrive here. Most plants in the Park are labeled with common and scientific names.  

Native Plants

Steamboat has the Park Range to the north and the Flat Tops to the south. Both have a wide array of natives we have only begun to cultivate. Plants native to Northwest Colorado are identified on their plant signs. Of those, a few plants originating only in Northwest Colorado (endemics) are to be found. Here is a selection of some of the Park’s most notable native species.

Plant Select ® Plants

Plant Select® is a nonprofit collaboration of Colorado State University, Denver Botanic Gardens and professional horticulturists. Plant Select plants exhibit these eight attributes:

  • Flourish with less water
  • Thrive in a broad range of conditions
  • Habitat-friendly
  • Tough and resilient in challenging climates
  • One of a kind/unique
  • Resist disease & insects
  • Long-lasting beauty
  • Non-invasive

Typically, these plants provide more beauty with less work so gardeners of all levels can achieve smart, stunning and successful gardens using fewer resources and with a more positive environmental impact.

Plants from South America

Many plants from the Andes mountains and south American Steppe do well in the Yampa Valley. The climate is similar to Patagonia, but the adaptations are very different. In a friendly partnership with the Denver Botanic Garden, the Park receives plants from them to trial here in our gardens.

Unusual Ornamentals

Plants of Historical Significance to Steamboat Springs

Trees

The Botanic Park is home to almost 200 evergreen coniferous trees (cone-bearing) of 16 different species and 300 deciduous trees (lose their leaves in winter) of 20 different species.

The Park is in an environment that is challenging for trees because:

  • Temperatures occasionally get down to minus 40° F.
  • Heavy snows bury young trees and bend older ones.
  • Steamboat gets 27 inches of precipitation in an average year but much of this is lost to evaporation because of low humidity at high altitude.
  • There is less protective atmosphere than at sea level and therefore much more ultra-violet light.

Native trees that have adapted to this harsh environment are the predominant trees in the Park.

Evergreens

Deciduous trees and shrubs

Sculptures

Nineteen pieces of sculpture are placed in the gardens throughout the Park. All the pieces were donated to the Association. Some were donated in memory of loved ones.