Medicine Bow–Routt National Forest is the official title to a

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

managed area extending over in the states of

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

and

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. What were once three separate areas, Medicine Bow National Forest, Routt National Forest, and

Thunder Basin National Grassland The Thunder Basin National Grassland is located in northeastern Wyoming in the Powder River Basin between the Big Horn Mountains and the Black Hills. The Grassland ranges in elevation from , and the climate is semi-arid. The Grassland provide ...

were administratively combined in 1995 due to similarity of the resources, proximity to each other and for administrative purposes.

The Medicine Bow National Forest section (1,096,891 acres) is located in southeastern Wyoming and was originally created as a forest reserve in 1902. It was named after the Native American

powwow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native Americans in the United States, Native American and First Nations in Canada, First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity fo ...

s in which numerous tribes would congregate here in search of

mountain mahogany ''Cercocarpus'', commonly known as mountain mahogany, is a small genus of at least nine species of nitrogen-fixing flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native to the western United States and northern Mexico, where they grow i ...

, which was an excellent wood for the manufacturing of bows, and to perform rituals hoped to cure diseases and thus make "good medicine". Areas of interest include the Snowy Range where the highest peak is Medicine Bow Peak at and is visible from Snowy Range Pass, , on Wyoming highway 130. The Encampment River, Huston Park, Savage Run and

Platte River Wilderness The Platte River Wilderness is primarily located in south central Wyoming, with a small section extending into Colorado in the United States. Located entirely within Medicine Bow - Routt National Forest, the wilderness was created in 1984 to pro ...

es are all located within the Medicine Bow portion of the National Forest. (A small part of the Platte River Wilderness extending into Colorado is shared with Routt National Forest, as indicated below.)Platte River Wilderness acreage breakdown, Wilderness.net
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Vedauwoo Vedauwoo () is an area of rocky outcrops (Sherman Granite) located in southeastern Wyoming, United States, north of Interstate 80, between Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming, Cheyenne. Its name, according to some, is a romanized ve ...

is located immediately north of

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

and consists of numerous rock outcroppings popular with

rock climbers Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and o ...

. In descending order of land area the forest is located in

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

, Albany, Converse, Natrona, and Platte counties. There are local ranger district offices located in Laramie, Saratoga, and

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

. Routt National Forest lands (1,125,438 acres) are located in northwestern Colorado. The

Steamboat Ski Resort Steamboat Resort is a major ski area in the Western United States, located in northwestern Colorado at Steamboat Springs. Operated by the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation, it is located on Mount Werner, a mountain in the Park Range in the R ...

is located in the forest, on

Mount Werner Mount Werner is a mountain summit in the Park Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The peak is located in Routt National Forest, east-southeast ( bearing 107°) of the City of Steamboat Springs in Routt County, Colorado, United ...

. The forest is named after John Routt, the first

Governor of Colorado The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor (United States), governor is the head of the Executive (government), executive branch of Government of Colorado, Colorado's state government and is cha ...

. It was established in 1905 by President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

. The forest encompasses . The

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

divides the forest in half, with the eastern part drained by the

North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 I ...

and the west drained by the

Yampa River The Yampa River flows through northwestern Colorado, United States. Rising in the Rocky Mountains, it is a tributary of the Green River and a major part of the Colorado River system. The Yampa is one of the few free-flowing rivers in the weste ...

. Routt National Forest contains seven wilderness areas entirely or partially within it. Entirely within Routt are the Mount Zirkel and the

Sarvis Creek Wilderness The Sarvis Creek Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area located south of Steamboat Springs, Colorado in the Routt National Forest. The area is named after the Sarvis Timber Company, which once logged the area. The area contains no alpine tundr ...

es. Lying mostly within neighboring forests but extending into Routt are the Flat Tops ( White River NF 83.5%), Neota ( Roosevelt NF 97.3%), Never Summer ( Arapaho NF 68.4%), Platte River (Medicine Bow NF 96.8%), and

Rawah Rawa () or Rawah is a city in Iraq situated on the Euphrates river. It lies on the north bank of the river, upstream by approximately 20 kilometers (12.5 mi) from the much larger town of Anah. People from this town are known by the appella ...

(Roosevelt NF 98.0%) Wildernesses. In descending order of land area the forest is located in Routt,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

, Rio Blanco,

Grand Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

Moffat Moffat is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire. Part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland, it lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. Moffat is arou ...

, and

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...

counties. There are local ranger district offices located in Steamboat Springs,

Walden ''Walden'' (; first published as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is an 1854 book by American transcendentalism, transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. T ...

, and Yampa.

(547,620 acres) is located in northeastern Wyoming and consists primarily of lands leased to cattle interests. In descending order of land area the grassland is located in

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

, Converse, Campbell, Niobrara, and

Crook Crook is slang for criminal. Crook or Crooks may also refer to: Places Canada * Crooks Inlet, former name of Kangiqturjuaq, Nunavut England * Crook, County Durham, a town * Crook, Cumbria, a village and civil parish * Crook Hill, Derby ...

counties. There are local ranger district offices located in

. The forest headquarters is in

Laramie, Wyoming Laramie () is a List of municipalities in Wyoming, city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States, known for its high elevation at , for its railroad history, and as the home of the University of Wyoming. The population wa ...

Climate

There is a weather station by Sand Lake (Wyoming), about 5 miles (8 km) north of Medicine Bow Peak. Sand Lake has a

subalpine climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfc''). North French Creek is another weather station located near Medicine Bow Peak, roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of the peak and 10 miles (16.1 km) from Sand Lake.

References

External links

Climate

See also

References

Further reading

External links