Trout Creek

The Trout Creek roadless area covers 44,034 acres on the north face of the Absaroka Range in Park County, Wyoming, within Shoshone National Forest. The terrain rises sharply from sagebrush benches into the volcanic core of the Absarokas, with Jim Mountain, Chalk Mountain, and Trout Peak as the dominant summits. The Palisades and the Chinese Wall form sheer cliff bands along the upper slopes, and small glaciers and ice fields persist in shaded north-facing pockets. Twenty named streams — Trout Creek, Big Tree Creek, Jim Creek, Wall Creek, Iron Creek, Burnt Timber Creek, Laughing Water Creek, Singing Brook, and others — gather from these summits and feed the North Fork of the Shoshone River below.

The area spans an exceptional elevation range and reads as a transect through the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The lower slopes carry Wyoming Basin Dwarf Sagebrush, Intermountain Mountain Sagebrush Steppe, and Intermountain Semi-Desert Shrub-Steppe, with plains pricklypear (Opuntia polyacantha), arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), fringed sagebrush (Artemisia frigida), and scarlet globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea). Intermountain Mountain Mahogany Woodland marks the steep mid-elevation pitches. Central Rockies Douglas-fir Forest occupies the canyons, giving way to Rocky Mountain Lodgepole Pine Forest and Rocky Mountain Dry Subalpine Spruce-Fir Forest carrying limber pine (Pinus flexilis) and whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis, globally endangered) on the highest ridges. Above treeline, Rocky Mountain Alpine Meadow and Rocky Mountain Alpine Rocky Terrain hold sky pilot (Polemonium viscosum) and yellow columbine (Aquilegia flavescens), with permanent glaciers in the shaded cirques.

The Trout Creek country supports the full Greater Yellowstone mammal community. Wapiti (Cervus canadensis) summer in the high meadows; mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) move through the sagebrush-mahogany transition; bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) and Rocky Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) hold the cliff bands of The Palisades and the Chinese Wall. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) range the lower benches, and American bison (Bison bison, near threatened) move through the wider Yellowstone landscape. Brown bear (Ursus arctos), American badger (Taxidea taxus), and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) hunt across all elevations. On the high talus, American pika (Ochotona princeps) call from rock piles. Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), and dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) take their places by habitat. Portions of this area fall within the potential range of several federally listed species; see the Conservation section for details.

A rider on the Trout Creek Trail climbs 11.6 miles from sage flats into spruce-fir, with the Jim Mountain Trail (8.5 miles) and Trout Peak Trail (10.5 miles) reaching the high ridges and the Chinese Wall above. The Big Creek Trail (12.0 miles) opens the eastern drainages. The smell of crushed sage at the trailhead gives way to the cold mineral scent of glacial meltwater above, and the call of a golden eagle carries down through the lodgepole.

The Trout Creek roadless area lies along the north flank of the Absaroka Range in the Wapiti Valley west of Cody, within the Shoshone National Forest. The Shoshone National Forest is named for the Shoshone people, who have called this part of northwestern Wyoming home for thousands of years; the Crow, Shoshone, and Bannock all inhabited and ranged across these lands, relying on the abundant wildlife and the cold mountain waters [1]. The Mountain Shoshone, often called the Sheepeaters, lived at high elevations in what is now northwestern Wyoming from prehistoric times through the mid-1800s [3]. The Eastern Shoshone signed treaties with the United States in 1863 and at Fort Bridger in 1868, the second of which established the Wind River Reservation southeast of this country in the Wind River Valley [3].

On March 30, 1891, President Benjamin Harrison signed the proclamation creating the Yellowstone Park Timberland Reserve, the first land withdrawal of its kind in the United States and the foundation of what became the National Forest System [4][2]. The reserve covered approximately 1.2 million acres to the south and east of Yellowstone National Park, on what is now primarily the Shoshone National Forest [1]. In the following years, millions of acres were added; the reserve became the Yellowstone Forest Reserve and, after the U.S. Forest Service was created in 1905, was renamed the Yellowstone National Forest [1]. The Yellowstone was later divided into several national forests, including the Shoshone, making the Shoshone the oldest national forest in the United States [4].

In 1903, the Wapiti Ranger Station was built about 30 miles west of Cody, on the North Fork of the Shoshone River in the Wapiti Valley adjacent to the Trout Creek country. It was the first ranger station constructed in the United States at federal expense, built as the supervisory station for the Shoshone division of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 21, 1963 [2]. A. A. Anderson, a New York portrait painter who maintained a summer ranch in the area, served as the first Supervisor of the forest [4]. Anderson's Palette Ranch, with its hunting lodge along Piney Creek, became a base for early forest administration.

The early twentieth century saw mining camps, the rise and fall of the cattle business in the lower valleys, the arrival of domestic sheep — the "woollies" — on the high range, and the gradual breakup of large stock ranches into smaller farms [4]. The Shoshone became known in Forest Service circles as the "dude" forest for the dude-ranch and outfitter trade that grew up around guided hunting and pack trips along the North Fork of the Shoshone River [4]. Buffalo Bill Cody promoted the development of Yellowstone's East Entrance through the Wapiti Valley in the early 1900s, drawing tourist traffic to the country adjoining Trout Creek. The 44,034-acre Trout Creek roadless area lies today within the Wapiti Ranger District in Park County, Wyoming, and is protected under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Vital Resources Protected

• Headwater Protection for the North Fork of the Shoshone. Twenty named streams — Trout Creek, Big Tree Creek, Jim Creek, Wall Creek, Laughing Water Creek, and others — head in the high country and feed the North Fork of the Shoshone River. The roadless condition protects cold, sediment-free flow critical to the downstream fishery, and maintains the seeps and springs (Spout Springs, Bear Springs, Trough Spring) that hold water through dry late summers and contribute steady baseflow to the river.

• Greater Yellowstone Carnivore Habitat. The area lies within the potential range of federally threatened grizzly bear, Canada lynx, and North American wolverine, and connects the higher Absaroka Wilderness with the sagebrush winter range of the lower Wapiti Valley. Continuous habitat without roads supports den security, prey availability, and seasonal movement for all three species — particularly grizzly bear movement between summer high-country forage and lower-elevation berry patches.

• Whitebark Pine and High-Elevation Plant Communities. The roadless tract includes stands of federally threatened whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) on the high ridges below the Chinese Wall and Trout Peak. Whitebark pine seeds are a major fall food source for grizzly bear and Clark's nutcracker, and the species is in steep decline from white pine blister rust and mountain pine beetle. Unfragmented habitat without ignition sources from road traffic is the best available protection for surviving stands and for natural regeneration.

Potential Effects of Road Construction

• Sedimentation from steep volcanic slopes. The Absaroka volcanic terrain above Trout Creek is highly erodible; road cuts and ditches on slopes feeding Trout Creek and its tributaries would deliver chronic sediment to the North Fork of the Shoshone River, embedding spawning gravel and degrading the downstream fishery. The fine volcanic ash and tuff in the parent material is particularly susceptible to mass movement once stabilizing vegetation is removed, and recovery from a single road failure can take decades.

• Grizzly bear conflict and habitat fragmentation. Roads in grizzly bear habitat create predictable conflict points where bears encounter humans at vehicle speed, and where roadside attractants (garbage, livestock carcasses, berry-bearing shrubs along sunny edges) concentrate bears in places they are likely to be killed. Permanent road surfaces also fragment lynx and wolverine habitat, breaking corridors that connect the Trout Creek country with the Washakie Wilderness and the higher Absaroka Range.

• Loss of cliff and alpine habitat security. Roads providing access to the upper slopes of Jim Mountain, Trout Peak, and the Chinese Wall would disturb bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain goat habitat at the most sensitive times — lambing and rutting. Increased disturbance pushes these cliff-dwelling species into smaller and less productive habitat patches. The alpine meadows above are slow to recover from physical disturbance; tracks and cuts persist for centuries in the cold, short-season high country.

The Trout Creek roadless area carries about 77 miles of native-material trail across 13 designated routes, all designated for horse use on Shoshone National Forest land. The principal access is the Jim Mountain Trailhead off the North Fork of the Shoshone River west of Cody. The Trout Creek Trail (763), 11.6 miles, climbs from the trailhead through Douglas-fir and into the high meadows below Trout Peak; the Trout Peak Trail (761), 10.5 miles, reaches the summit ridge; the Big Creek Trail (761.5), 12.0 miles, opens the eastern drainages. The Jim Mountain Trail (762), 8.5 miles, and Jim Mountain Cutacross (762.1A), 2.4 miles, ring the prominent western peak. The Dead Indian Creek Trail (600), Rattlesnake Creek/Mooncrest Trail (792), Grizzly Ridge Trail (795), Pat O'Hara Trail (633), and shorter spur routes — Bear Springs, Morning Creek, West Fork Trout Creek, and Four Bear Mountain — give access into named drainages and ridgelines.

There are no developed campgrounds within the area; dispersed backcountry camping is permitted on national forest land throughout, with no designated sites required. The trail mileage supports multi-day horseback pack trips through the high Absaroka country, with grazing for stock available in the named meadows along Trout Creek and Big Creek. Outfitters licensed by Shoshone National Forest commonly base trips out of the Jim Mountain Trailhead and ride into the backcountry for fall hunting season.

Trout Creek country supports some of the most productive big-game hunting on the Shoshone National Forest. Under Wyoming Game and Fish Department regulations, hunters pursue wapiti (Cervus canadensis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), Rocky Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), and pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) in season; the area is grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) country, and hunters must comply with carcass-storage and bear-safety regulations. Dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) provide upland bird hunting in conifer cover. Cold-water angling is supported on Trout Creek and its named tributaries; the springs at Spout Springs, Bear Springs, and Trough Spring contribute steady flow to the lower reaches. Hunters and anglers enter on foot or horseback from the Jim Mountain Trailhead; with no roads inside the boundary, all travel is by trail or off-trail with stock, which limits pressure and distributes use across the high country.

The Wapiti Valley below the area is one of the most productive wildlife corridors in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Four eBird hotspots within 24 km record 125 species at Buffalo Bill State Park (82 checklists), 117 species at the Wapiti and Elk Fork Campgrounds (96 checklists), 89 species at the State Park's North Shore Campground (178 checklists), and 57 species at Sunlight Bridge and overlook (55 checklists). Birders use these access points to record golden eagle, great horned owl, black rosy-finch, broad-tailed hummingbird, calliope hummingbird, and the calling chukar (Alectoris chukar) of the lower benches. Photographers find subject matter on the cliff bands of The Palisades, the glaciers below Trout Peak, and the wapiti herds of the lower meadows.

What Trout Creek country offers — long horseback pack trips through high Absaroka country, big-game hunting for sheep, goat, elk, and bear, and grizzly bear habitat security — depends on the absence of roads. The 77 miles of horse trail are valuable precisely because they end in country no vehicle can reach. The fishery downstream depends on the sediment-free flows produced by intact volcanic slopes. The wildlife concentrations the birders and photographers come to see depend on unfragmented habitat across the elevation range.