The Yakima River is a tributary of the Columbia River in south central and eastern Washington state, named for the indigenous Yakama people of the Yakama Nation.
The first western explorers to visit the river were Lewis and Clark on or about October 17, 1805. They stopped briefly at the confluence of the Yakima and the Columbia, although they did not proceed upriver. Lewis and Clark mention in their journals that the Chin-nâm pam (or the Lower Snake River Chamnapam Nation) called the river Tâpe têtt (also rendered Tapteete), possibly from the French tape-tête, meaning "head hit".
Click any point for details. Sections without stored geometry are drawn as straight put-in → take-out lines — actual courses follow the river.