Maybell, Colorado

A Brief History of Maybell

Maybell’s history is closely tied to ranching and irrigation along the Yampa River. Completed in the early 1900s, the Maybell Ditch supplied hayfields on the river’s south side. Irrigated grasses and alfalfa helped livestock producers adapt after severe late-nineteenth-century blizzards had devastated cattle on the open range. The ditch became part of the working landscape supporting this unincorporated Moffat County community. A 2023 Bureau of Land Management heritage report described improvements to its historic intake intended to deliver irrigation water more efficiently while leaving more water in the river for downstream users and native fish.