Leigh Creek

Leigh Creek spans 19,180 acres of montane country on the western flank of the Bighorn Mountains in the Bighorn National Forest. The named ground includes Leigh Canyon, Leigh Creek Vee, Sand Draw, Post Draw, Canyon Ridge, High Park, and Pasture Park. The area drains the Leigh Creek headwaters and gathers Prospect Creek, High Park Creek, Childs Creek, Stovepipe Creek, Indian Creek, and Tepee Creek, with steady cold output from Sand Spring, Rice Spring, and Moses Spring. Water moves from high parks and limber-pine ridges down through canyon cuts and out toward the Bighorn Basin.

Forest communities sort by elevation, aspect, and the deep cut of the canyon system. The high parks carry Rocky Mountain Subalpine Meadow and Northern Rockies Subalpine Grassland in open expanses across High Park and Pasture Park. Surrounding stands of Rocky Mountain Dry and Wet Subalpine Spruce-Fir Forest hold Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and grouseberry (Vaccinium scoparium) below the canopy. Rocky Mountain Lodgepole Pine Forest fills middle slopes, and Central Rockies Douglas-fir Forest holds the warmer aspects in stands of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). Southern Rockies Ponderosa Pine Woodland reaches in on dry exposures. Rocky Mountain Aspen Forest opens disturbance-shaped patches with quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) and choke cherry (Prunus virginiana) understory. Rocky Mountain Limber and Bristlecone Pine Woodland clings to Canyon Ridge in stands of limber pine (Pinus flexilis); Intermountain Mountain Mahogany Woodland holds dry rocky benches with curl-leaf mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius). The streamside corridors carry Rocky Mountain Subalpine Streamside Woodland and Streamside Shrubland with box-elder (Acer negundo) and mountain maple (Acer glabrum). Lower benches drop into Intermountain Mountain Sagebrush Steppe and Wyoming Basin Dwarf Sagebrush with big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata). Showy green-gentian (Frasera speciosa) and sticky geranium (Geranium viscosissimum) hold the meadow margins; Wyoming Indian-paintbrush (Castilleja linariifolia) and Brandegee's Jacob's-ladder (Polemonium brandegeei) appear on the rock outcrops, alongside the Wyoming endemic Purpus' sullivantia (Sullivantia hapemanii).

Wildlife uses the area in vertical bands. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and moose (Alces alces) work the streamside willow and aspen edges; pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) range over the sagebrush benches. Yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) hold the talus on Canyon Ridge. Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, IUCN near threatened) occupy the sagebrush steppe on the lower margins. Lewis's woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis) and Williamson's sapsucker (Sphyrapicus thyroideus) work the aspen and ponderosa edges. Olive-sided flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) call from the spruce-fir, and Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) cache limber pine seed on Canyon Ridge. Broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) and calliope hummingbird (Selasphorus calliope) feed at Wyoming Indian-paintbrush in the meadows. Rocky Mountain cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus virginalis), brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) hold the cold pools of Leigh Creek and its springs. American dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) work the riffles; American beaver (Castor canadensis) shape the streamside woodlands. Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species; see the Conservation section for details.

A walker descending Leigh Canyon moves from the open parks of High Park through aspen and Douglas-fir into the cooler shade of spruce-fir, then back out onto the canyon ridges where limber pine and mountain-mahogany hold the dry exposures. The sound of Leigh Creek and the springs is steady. Mule deer cross the trail at edges; sage-grouse hold the open sagebrush below. From Canyon Ridge, the Bighorn Basin opens to the west.

Leigh Creek is a 19,180-acre Inventoried Roadless Area within the Bighorn National Forest in Washakie County, Wyoming, administered by the Powder River Ranger District in the USFS Rocky Mountain Region and protected under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

The Bighorn Mountains hold deep significance for Apsáalooke (Crow) people, on whose homelands the forest sits. "The Bighorns are the most sacred of the mountains in Crow Country" [1]. "The entire range is an integral part of their history, having been used for hunting, rituals and as a respite from the heat of the low lands" [1], with "the northern most twenty miles of this 120-mile long uplift" today within the Crow Reservation [1]. The high range carries the Medicine Wheel and other sites; "the Medicine Wheel, a sacred Native American site, has been used by many tribes throughout history, from before Euro-American contact to today" [2].

Industrial use of the range followed Anglo-American settlement. "The railroad tie industry began in the 1860s to support construction of the first transcontinental railroad across southern Wyoming" [3]. The Bighorns were one of the four major tie-cutting regions in the state: "Wyoming's tie hacking industry was developed in four regions around the state, including the eastern slopes of the Bighorn Mountains" [3]. "The first cutting operation in the Bighorns was started in 1891 on Sheep Creek to provide 1.6 million ties for the expansion of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad" [3]. Tie production continued for over four decades — "The last major tie cutting operation in the Bighorn National Forest started west of Buffalo in late 1925. Operations ended around 1933" [3] — alongside large-scale Forest Service timber sales, including, in 1909, a sale of "100 million feet of timber" advertised on the new forest [4]. A 1905 contract for fifty million board feet of lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce noted the wood would be "used largely for railroad ties and mine props" [4]. Sheep and cattle grazing scaled up just as quickly: by 1909 applications had been received for "35,000 cattle and horses, and 150,000 sheep" on the forest [4].

Federal protection arrived early in the national-forest era. "The Bighorn National Forest, created on February 22, 1897, is one of the oldest national forests in the United States" [4]. President Grover Cleveland's proclamation established it as the Big Horn Forest Reserve [4]; "President Grover Cleveland established the Bighorn Forest Reserve in 1897, making it one of the first federally protected forest areas in the country" [2]. Administration evolved quickly: "In July 1908 the name was changed from the Big Horn Forest Reserve to the Bighorn National Forest through an executive order by President Theodore Roosevelt" [4], and the headquarters moved to Sheridan in 1909 [4]. By the end of the 1930s the framework that still governs Leigh Creek — federal ownership, established ranger districts, regulated grazing and timber sales — was in place. The Powder River Ranger District now manages the area; the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule holds it as undeveloped backcountry.

Leigh Creek protects 19,180 acres of montane country on the western flank of the Bighorn Mountains in the Bighorn National Forest. Leigh Creek headwaters rise within its boundaries, joined by Prospect Creek, High Park Creek, Childs Creek, Stovepipe Creek, Indian Creek, and Tepee Creek, with cold steady output from Sand, Rice, and Moses Springs. The roadless condition holds a continuous gradient from sagebrush steppe and mountain mahogany on the lower benches through Douglas-fir, lodgepole, and ponderosa into spruce-fir, subalpine meadow, and limber pine.

Vital Resources Protected

• Cold Headwater Stream Integrity: Leigh Creek and its tributaries flow through undisturbed Rocky Mountain Subalpine Streamside Woodland and Streamside Shrubland, with steady supplemental flow from three named springs. Roadless terrain keeps cut slopes and culverts off these unconfined channels, preserving the cold, sediment-poor water and stable streambanks that downstream cutthroat, brook, and rainbow trout populations rely on.

• Sagebrush–Forest Transition for Sage-Grouse and Mule Deer: The area protects intact Intermountain Mountain Sagebrush Steppe and Wyoming Basin Dwarf Sagebrush on the lower benches, transitioning directly into forested cover without intervening road corridors. This unfragmented transition holds greater sage-grouse leks and forage on the open sagebrush and provides mule deer with the protected winter range and concealment cover needed across seasons. Roadless condition keeps oil and gas, road-edge effects, and human disturbance off this critical sagebrush habitat.

• Limber Pine and Mountain Mahogany Refugia on Canyon Ridge: The area protects Rocky Mountain Limber and Bristlecone Pine Woodland and Intermountain Mountain Mahogany Woodland on the dry rocky ridges. With no roads to introduce blister rust spread vectors, invasive understory, or firewood cutting, these slow-growing, fire-sensitive woodlands continue to function as seed-bearing refugia and as habitat for Clark's nutcracker, Lewis's woodpecker, and other species tied to mature stands.

Potential Effects of Road Construction

• Sedimentation of Leigh Canyon Headwaters: Road construction on the steep slopes feeding Leigh Creek, High Park Creek, and Childs Creek cuts into unstable soils and exposes mineral subgrade. The resulting chronic surface erosion and culvert undercutting deliver fine sediment into headwater channels, smothering spawning substrate for cutthroat, brook, and rainbow trout and degrading the cold, oligotrophic conditions on which downstream populations depend. The road prism remains a sediment source for decades regardless of decommissioning.

• Fragmentation of the Sagebrush–Forest Mosaic: Linear road corridors through Intermountain Mountain Sagebrush Steppe and the forested transition fragment greater sage-grouse seasonal habitat, displace leks, and concentrate human disturbance in winter range used by mule deer and moose. Road density is a documented driver of sage-grouse decline; once roads cut the sagebrush bench at the foot of the area, the lek and brood-rearing function of the open ground is reduced.

• Invasive Species Spread along Disturbed Corridors: Construction-disturbed ground in sagebrush and foothill grassland is the primary entry point for cheatgrass and other annual exotics that alter fire regimes and displace native understory. Once established along a road, these species spread outward into adjacent Mountain Mahogany Woodland and aspen forest. The non-native white pine blister rust that already threatens limber pine spreads more easily along road-disturbed corridors. Reversal requires sustained treatment with uncertain success.

Leigh Creek covers 19,180 acres of montane country on the western flank of the Bighorn Mountains in the Bighorn National Forest, with named landmarks including Leigh Canyon, High Park, Pasture Park, Canyon Ridge, Sand Draw, Post Draw, and Leigh Creek Vee. Access is from the Salt Lick Trail Head, and the Leigh Creek Campground sits at the foot of the area in the Tensleep Canyon corridor. Travel through the area is overwhelmingly non-motorized, with the documented trail system designed for horse and foot use.

The trail network is short, connected, and built for backcountry pack travel. Pasture Park (410) covers 4.6 miles of native-surface trail across the open subalpine grassland of Pasture Park into the surrounding forest. Leigh Cabin (412) is a 1.6-mile route reaching a historic cabin site along the upper creek. Leigh Creek Crossing (413) is a 1.2-mile linkage that crosses the drainage between the cabin route and the meadow systems. All three are open to horse use, and on-foot travel works for the same routes; the surfaces and grades favor multi-day pack-in trips out of the Salt Lick Trail Head and overnights at Leigh Creek Campground.

Hunting is a primary use. The interleaved Douglas-fir, lodgepole, spruce-fir, aspen, and mountain mahogany on the canyon slopes, broken by sagebrush steppe at lower benches and subalpine meadow at High Park and Pasture Park, holds mule deer, moose, dusky grouse, and the predators that follow them. Pronghorn occupy the sagebrush benches. Greater sage-grouse hold the sagebrush. Mule deer move between the open parks and timber edges; moose work the streamside willow along Leigh Creek and Indian Creek. Hunters typically pack from the Salt Lick Trail Head or base at Leigh Creek Campground. Wyoming Game and Fish hunting regulations and area-specific seasons apply.

Fishing on Leigh Creek and its tributaries is a documented draw. Rocky Mountain cutthroat trout, brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, and the cutbow cross hold the cold pools of Leigh Creek, Prospect Creek, High Park Creek, Childs Creek, Stovepipe Creek, and Tepee Creek; the steady output of Sand Spring, Rice Spring, and Moses Spring supports flow through dry months. Anglers fish from the Leigh Creek Campground reach and walk upstream into the canyon. Wyoming Game and Fish fishing regulations apply.

Birding is well-supported. The Tensleep Canyon–Leigh Creek Campground eBird hotspot has documented 72 species across 85 checklists, with the nearby Meadowlark Lake area at 108 species and Tensleep town at 104 species providing broader access for visitors based in the area. Canyon wren and American dipper work the creek and rock walls; mountain bluebird, vesper sparrow, and Brewer's sparrow hold the open sagebrush; Cassin's finch, mountain chickadee, and ruby-crowned kinglet work the conifers; Clark's nutcracker and Lewis's woodpecker are tied to the limber pine and ponderosa edge habitat. Photographers find consistent subjects in the limber pine and mountain mahogany on Canyon Ridge, the open parks, and the canyon cuts above Leigh Creek at the spring runoff.

Every one of these uses depends on the area's roadless condition. The short trail system out of Salt Lick Trail Head draws its value from the absence of competing roads — Pasture Park and Leigh Cabin both work as backcountry pack routes rather than as roadside walks. Trout fishing on Leigh Creek depends on the low sediment and stable bank conditions only intact forested watersheds produce. Hunting success on mule deer and sage-grouse depends on the unbroken sagebrush-to-forest mosaic that allows animals to move with the seasons. Without roads cutting the canyon slopes between Leigh Canyon, High Park, and Pasture Park, this section of the Bighorn west slope works as a single connected backcountry unit.