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Buffalo Creek

Written in collaboration with Tom Laurion and John McCullough
(010‑220)

Location and Access
The Buffalo Creek area is located just southeast of the Honeycombs and 8 miles south of Tensleep in Washakie County. Access is from the southern Nowood River road from Tensleep (State Road #434).

Highlights
The undulating plains and deep draws of the Buffalo Creek Area with awe inspiring views of the Bighorn Mountains truly represent the open range that is so unique to Wyoming. The proposed wilderness includes portions of Buffalo Creek, Buffalo Springs Creek, and Blue Bank Draw, which drain to the Nowood River. As the name suggests, bison once roamed in vast herds over the wide open spaces here.

Wilderness Qualities
Visitors to Buffalo Creek discover remote open spaces, and wide vistas of the Nowood River country and Bighorn Mountains. Large white cliffs of the Chalk Cliff area are surrounded by badland plains. Wildflowers are abundant in the spring. Buffalo Creek provides crucial and year-round mule deer and pronghorn antelope winter range (Berry and Goldbach 1991; WGFD Completion Report 1991). Small mammals also inhabit the area, and all provide a prey base for large numbers of golden eagles. While reviewing this study area, volunteers saw a group of seven eagles circling together, and another eagle nesting.

Survey work for rare plants or animals has not been done for the Buffalo Creek area (WNDD, 1993).