Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area is a

national recreation area A national recreation area (NRA) is a protected area in the United States established by an Act of Congress to preserve enhanced recreational opportunities in places with significant natural and scenic resources. There are 40 NRAs, which emphasiz ...

established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, following the construction of the

Yellowtail Dam Yellowtail Dam is a dam across the Bighorn River in south central Montana in the United States. The mid-1960s era concrete arch dam serves to regulate the flow of the Bighorn for irrigation purposes and to generate hydroelectric power. The dam an ...

by the

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

. It straddles the border between Wyoming and Montana. The dam, named after the famous Crow leader

Robert Yellowtail Robert Summers Yellowtail (August 4, 1889 – June 20, 1988) was a leader of the Crow Nation. Described as a "20th Century Warrior", Yellowtail was the first Native American to hold the post of Agency Superintendent at a reservation. Early ...

, harnesses the waters of the

Bighorn River The Bighorn River is a tributary of the Yellowstone, approximately long, in the states of Wyoming and Montana in the western United States. The river was named in 1805 by fur trader François Larocque for the bighorn sheep he saw along its ban ...

by turning that variable watercourse into Bighorn Lake. The lake extends through

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, of which lie within the national recreation area. About one third of the park unit is located on the

Crow Indian Reservation The Crow Indian Reservation is the homeland of the Crow Tribe. Established 1868, the reservation is located in parts of Big Horn County, Montana, Big Horn, Yellowstone County, Montana, Yellowstone, and Treasure County, Montana, Treasure counties ...

. Nearly one-quarter of the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range lies within the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area."Wild Horses." Billings Field Office. Bureau of Land Management. United States Department of the Interior. May 2, 2011.
Accessed 2011-05-18.

Park features

Afterbay Lake, located below Yellowtail Dam, is a popular spot for trout fishing as well as for viewing

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

geese A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...

and other animals. The Bighorn River below the Afterbay Dam is likewise a world-class

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

fishing area. In addition, the area features many archeological and historical resources. Visitor centers and other developed facilities are located in

Fort Smith, Montana Fort Smith is a census-designated place (CDP) in Big Horn County, Montana, United States. The population was 161 at the 2010 census. The town is named for the former Fort C.F. Smith. The Crow name for this town is Annu'ucheepe, “Mouth of the ...

, and near

Lovell, Wyoming Lovell is the largest town in Big Horn County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 2,360 at the 2010 census. History Lovell was named for Henry Lovell, a local rancher. Built in 1925, the EJZ Bridge over Shoshone River is listed on th ...

. Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area has four historic ranches within its boundaries: * L Slash Heart Ranch was owned by

Caroline Lockhart Caroline Cameron Lockhart (1871–1962) was an American journalist and writer. Biography Caroline Lockhart was born in Eagle Point, Illinois on February 24, 1871./ref> She grew up on a ranch in Kansas. She attended Bethany College in Topeka, K ...

, a notable journalist and novelist in the early 1900s. Two of her books were made into silent films in the 1920s. * Mason-Lovell Ranch was operating during the

open range In the Western United States and Canada, open range is rangeland where cattle roam freely regardless of land ownership. Where there are "open range" laws, those wanting to keep animals off their property must erect a fence to keep animals out; th ...

days of the 1880s; the ranch once had 25,000 cattle roaming the entire Bighorn Basin. * Cedarvale Ranch, located in the

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

Hillsboro, Montana Cedarvale, also known as Hillsboro Ranch, was a dude ranch and working ranch in Carbon County, southern Montana, United States. The ranch was established about 1903 by prospector Grosvener W. Barry on the South Fork Trail Creek. Barry used the ra ...

, was a

dude ranch A guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism. History Guest ranches arose in response to the romanticization of the American West that began to occur ...

owned by native New Yorker Grosvener W. "Doc" Barry, and attracted people for vacations. Visitors included Doc Barry's friend President

Teddy Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

, but attracting other vacationers proved more difficult. *

Ewing-Snell Ranch The Ewing-Snell Ranch was established between 1896 and 1898 by Erastus Ewing in Carbon County, Montana, on Layout Creek between Bighorn Canyon and the Pryor Mountains in a region called Dryhead Country. Ewing took up ranching after failing as a ...

is a former family ranch started by Erastus Ewing. Ewing went west to get rich in gold mining, but he was not successful in the gold fields and turned to ranching. North of Lovell along the Sullivan Knob's Trail is one of the national recreation area's more unusual claims to fame. There a visitor can stand in a certain spot on the canyon rim, shout across the canyon and then hear a "triple

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...

" in reply.

References

External links

* * Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
{{authority control 1966 establishments in Montana 1966 establishments in Wyoming Bighorn National Recreation Area National Park Service areas in Montana National Park Service areas in Wyoming National Park Service National Recreation Areas protected areas established in 1966 protected areas of Big Horn County, Montana protected areas of Big Horn County, Wyoming protected areas of Carbon County, Montana

Park features

See also

References

Further reading

External links