page_title: Wyoming
section_title: Mountain ranges
hierarchical_section_title: Wyoming / Geography / Natural landforms / Mountain ranges
caption_attribution_description: The Upper Green River Valley is a stronghold for greater sage-grouse, which benefit from grouse-friendly ranching practices on many public and private lands. Moving cattle around the landscape leaves grasses and forbes that grouse use for cover and for seasonal food sources. This bunch is being moved from high-elevation summer allotments to the rancher's private land for the winter. Photo Credit: Theo Stein / USFWS
context_page_description: Wyoming is a doubly landlocked state in the western United States. The 10th largest state by area, it is also the least populous and second most sparsely populated state in the country. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Colorado to the south, Utah to the southwest, and Idaho to the west. The state population was estimated at 578,759 in 2019, which is less than 31 of the most populous U.S. cities. The state capital and the most populous city is Cheyenne, which had an estimated population of 63,957 in 2018.
  Wyoming's western half is mostly covered by the ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the eastern half of the state is high-elevation prairie called the High Plains. Almost half of the land in Wyoming is owned by the U.S. government, leading Wyoming to rank sixth by area and fifth by proportion of a state's land owned by the federal government. Federal lands include two national parks—Grand Teton and Yellowstone—two national recreation areas, two national monuments, several national forests, historic sites, fish hatcheries, and wildlife refuges.
context_section_description: The Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming. The state is a great plateau broken by many mountain ranges. Surface elevations range from the summit of Gannett Peak in the Wind River Mountain Range, at 13,804 feet (4,207 m), to the Belle Fourche River valley in the state's northeast corner, at 3,125 feet (952 m). In the northwest are the Absaroka, Owl Creek, Gros Ventre, Wind River, and the Teton ranges. In the north central are the Big Horn Mountains; in the northeast, the Black Hills; and in the southern region the Laramie, Snowy, and Sierra Madre ranges.
  The Snowy Range in the south central part of the state is an extension of the Colorado Rockies both in geology and in appearance. The Wind River Range in the west central part of the state is remote and includes more than 40 mountain peaks in excess of 13,000 ft (4,000 m) tall in addition to Gannett Peak, the highest peak in the state. The Big Horn Mountains in the north central portion are somewhat isolated from the bulk of the Rocky Mountains.
  The Teton Range in the northwest extends for 50 miles (80 km), part of which is included in Grand Teton National Park. The park includes the Grand Teton, the second highest peak in the state.
  The Continental Divide spans north–south across the central portion of the state. Rivers east of the divide drain into the Missouri River Basin and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. They are the North Platte, Wind, Big Horn and the Yellowstone rivers. The Snake River in northwest Wyoming eventually drains into the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean, as does the Green River through the Colorado River Basin.
  The Continental Divide forks in the south central part of the state in an area known as the Great Divide Basin where water that precipitates onto or flows into it cannot reach an ocean—it all sinks into the soil and eventually evaporates.
  Several rivers begin in or flow through the state, including the Yellowstone River, Bighorn River, Green River, and the Snake River.
caption: Green River valley
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