We developed this spatial database of historic and current floodplains to analyze trends in vegetation conditions, identify areas more at risk of degradation, and assess the relationship between riparian vegetation dynamics and climate conditions.Our study area is the riparian areas along the San Carlos River and Gila River within the San Carlos Apache Reservation and the Upper Gila River Level-4 Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) watershed. The product was developed by digitizing the active channel and primary riparian floodplain using historic 1935 aerial imagery (Arizona State University GeoData, 2021) and National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) aerial imagery from 2019 (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2021). This data was used in the development of the following data release: Petrakis, R.E., Norman, L.M., Middleton, B.R., 2023, Mapping Riparian Vegetation Response to Climate Change on the San Carlos Apache Reservation and Upper Gila River Watershed to Inform Restoration Priorities: 1935 to Present - Database of Trends in Vegetation Properties and Climate Adaptation Variables: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9HL0N5T. And in support of the following publication: Petrakis, R.E., Norman, L.M., Middleton, B.R., 2023. Riparian Vegetation Response amid Variable Climate Conditions across the Upper Gila River Watershed: Informing Tribal Restoration Priorities. Frontiers in Environmental Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1179328. This Parent data release consists of three shapefiles, or Child Items. The first two shapefiles show the extent of the historic (i.e., 1935) and current (i.e., 2019) riparian floodplain, including the active channel and primary riparian floodplain portions, along the San Carlos River and Gila River within the San Carlos Apache Reservation. The first shapefile - 1935 Riparian Floodplain and Active Channel Boundaries for the San Carlos River and Gila River - was produced for 1935, representing historic conditions, by digitizing the active channel and primary riparian floodplain using 1935 aerial imagery. The second shapefile - 2019 Riparian Floodplain and Active Channel Boundaries for the San Carlos River and Gila River - was produced for 2019, representing current conditions, by digitizing the active channel and primary riparian floodplain using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) aerial imagery from 2019. The final shapefile - 2019 Riparian Floodplain for the San Carlos River and Gila River within the Upper Gila River Level-4 Hydrologic Unit Code Watershed - shows the boundary of the riparian floodplain for the Gila River and San Carlos River across the entire Upper Gila River Level-4 HUC.