7116

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7116
• Author: Baxter, G. and J. Simon
• Title: Editor
• USFW Year: Series
• USFW - Doc Type: 1970
• Copyright Material: YES

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The extremes of elevation are at about 3,300 feet near the Wyoming-South
Dakota state line where the Belle Fourche River leaves Wyoming, and 13,786 feet,
the summit of Gannet Peak in the Wind River Mountains. The mean elevation of
the state is about 6,000 feet.
Four of the major drainage systems of North America have headwaters in
Wyoming: the Colorado River Basin, the Great Basin, the Columbia River Basin,
and the Missouri River Basin. Approximately three-fourths of the area of the state
lies within the Missouri River Basin (Fig. 5).
The Continental Divide enters Wyoming near the northwest corner in
Yellowstone Park, crosses the state diagonally to form the backbone of the
Absaroka and Wind River mountains, divides to encircle the Great Divide Basin in
southcentral Wyoming, and finally forms the crest of the Sierra Madre Range to
the Colorado state line.

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Fig. S. Drainage basins, major impoundments, and large lakes in Wyoming.

The drainage basins of the state may be summarized as follows:
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A. Missouri River Basin.
1. Madison River.
This system drains the west-central section of Yellowstone Park; major
tributaries include the Gibbon and Fire Hole rivers.
2. Yellowstone River.
This river system drains parts of the Absaroka and Beartooth ranges in
and adjacent to Yellowstone Park; major tributaries are the Lamar and
Gardner rivers in Yellowstone Park and Clarks Fork of the
Yellowstone in Park County.

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