About the Forest

 

The Shoshone National Forest is located in the northern Rocky Mountains in northwest Wyoming. The Shoshone's 2.4 million acres are an integral part of the 10-million acre Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which is centered in Yellowstone National Park.

With terrain ranging from sagebrush flats to rugged mountain peaks, the Shoshone encompasses an area from the Montana state line south to Lander, Wyoming, and includes portions of the Absaroka, Wind River, and Beartooth Mountains. The western boundary of the Shoshone south of Yellowstone National Park is the crest of the Continental Divide.

Fast Forest Facts

• The Shoshone is America's first national forest, set aside by President Benjamin Harrison in 1891 as part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve
• Total acres: 2,466,577
• Elevation range: 4,600 feet at the mouth of Clarks Fork Canyon, to 13,804 feet at Gannett Peak, Wyoming's highest point
• Home to: Over 335 species of wildlife, including the largest population of bighorn sheep and one of the few remaining grizzly bear populations in the lower 48 states.
• Wilderness: 1.4 million acres (56 percent of the Shoshone's acreage) in five designated wilderness areas - Absaroka-Beartooth, Fitzpatrick, North Absaroka, Popo Agie, and Washakie.