Yellow House Canyon is about 32 km (20 mi) long, heading in Lubbock, Texas, at the junction of Blackwater Draw and Yellow House Draw, and trending generally southeastward to the edge of the Llano Estacado about 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Slaton, Texas; it forms one of three major canyons along the east side of the Llano Estacado and carries the waters of the North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River.

[1] The name has an XIT Ranch heritage, according to Gary and Margaret Kraisinger, in that "the yellow cliffs which from a distance resembled houses with open doors.

"[2] Within the city limits of Lubbock, Yellow House Canyon remains a narrow and shallow channel with a typical width of less than 0.5 km (0.31 mi) and a typical depth of not more than 20 m (66 ft).

Downstream of Ransom Canyon, the North Fork is finally allowed to flow freely across sparsely populated ranchland as the canyon continues to deepen and widen.

Where the North Fork crosses Texas Farm to Market Road 400, the canyon is nearly 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and 60 m (200 ft) deep.