Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area — Attraction in Lovell

The vast, wild landscape of Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area offers visitors unparalleled opportunities to immerse themselves in the natural world, and experience the wonders of this extraordinary place. With over 120,000 acres, one can find an astounding diversity in ecosystems, wildlife, and more than 10,000 years of human history to explore.

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, following the construction of the Yellowtail Dam by the Bureau of Reclamation. This dam, named after the famous Crow chairman Robert Yellowtail, harnessed the waters of the Bighorn River and turned this variable stream into a magnificent lake. Bighorn Lake extends approximately 60 miles through Wyoming and Montana, 55 miles of which are held within spectacular Bighorn Canyon. The Recreation Area is composed of 70,000+ acres, which straddles the northern Wyoming and southern Montana borders. There are two visitor centers and other developed facilities in Fort Smith, Montana and near Lovell, Wyoming. The Afterbay Lake below the Yellowtail Dam is a good spot for trout fishing and wildlife viewing for ducks, geese and other animals. The Bighorn River below the Afterbay Dam is a world class trout fishing area. Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area is a lesser known treasure waiting to be discovered. It boasts breath-taking scenery, countless varieties of wildlife, and abundant recreational opportunities, such as boating, fishing, ice fishing, camping, and hiking. Bighorn Canyon offers visitors what few other National Park areas can, that of solitude, serenity, and beauty. In the midst of our chaotic world, this is a truly...

We started the day by visiting the visitor centre which had some interesting displays on the ranches, animals and geology of the canyon. The rangers were very helpful, gave us a map of the canyon and gave us some tips on where to see animals and which roads were a bit slick in the Wintery weather. One if the rangers also showed us a wonderful photo of a bobcat one of their team had taken in the park. There is a small gift shop which had some nice gifts and were you can stamp your national park passport. There are some restrooms and picnic tables outside. We visited a few sites in the park although the weather was extremely cold and despite being layered up we had to head back to the car after a while as the windchill was making our faces numb. . A 4x4 was needed in parts as the road was slippy in parts. The views from Devil’s outlook were beautiful, the river was frozen solid. The park is do-able in Winter but layer up and take it slow on the roads.We were able to see Mustangs and deer but...

Crow Fair attracts on the order of 1,000 teepees, and many thousands of visitors! Amazingly wonderful gathering of people, often ignored by locals, and national media.

The Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area is also overlooked by many people who rely upon corporate advertising to guide them. The towering canyon walls frame a dramatically shifting series of ecosystems, which change dramatically when the canyon walls change alignment. The N-S canyon vegetation is so very different from places where the sunlight is restricted when the canyon walls run East-West. Go around the bend, and see “just another incredible vista!”

While you are looking around, get up on the plateau off of Highway 14-A, and look from the top down! You might enjoy seeing some bighorn sheep, but you will see the gaps where the canyon walls snake along the river....