www.bighornlake.com
This is a land that time forgot. From Yellowtail Dam across the Bighorn River in Montana to the 47 river-miles of Bighorn Lake, the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area rewards the visitor with spectacular scenery.
This section of the sparsely vegetated West is a geologist's delight, since textbook examples of the earth's changing face stand out sharply, testimony to earth forces which have distorted and bowed the once-level layers of rock into immense walls.
Upstream from the dam, the Bighorn River slices deep through the mountains. Spectacular nearly half-mile high cliffs loom over the river. These and other colorful cliffs lining the canyon contain fossils, relics of when this region was a shallow sea, a coastal area of tropical marshes and dinosaur inhabited conifer forests. A paved highway, with frequent turn-outs, takes the visitor through the wild horse range and to Bighorn Canyon.
The first fort in Wyoming was started as a fur trade post in 1834, known as Fort John. Located near the Laramie River, it had become Fort Laramie by 1849 when the military took control. The fort's grounds just west of the town of Fort Laramie in southeast Wyoming have an open parade ground surrounded by military-era buildings. One structure, Old Bedlam, is the oldest standing building in the State of Wyoming. At or near Fort Laramie, fur traders, overland emigrants, the frontier army and Indians gathered as they came to trade, work and meet. read more
The reservoir offers a variety of fishing and water sports opportunities, in addition to camping, picnicking, hiking and bird-watching. read more
