Bighorn River

Bighorn River Great Horn River
The CQA Four Mile Bridge over Bighorn River
Map of the Wind-Bighorn River
Native name	Iisaxpúatahcheeaashisee (Crow)
Location
Country	United States
State	Wyoming/Montana
Cities	Dubois, Crowheart, Johnstown, Riverton, Thermopolis, Lucerne, Kirby, Winchester, South Flat, Mc Nutt, Worland, Washakie Ten, Manderson, Basin, Greybull, Fort Smith
Physical characteristics
Source	Two Ocean Mountain
• location	Wind River Range, Teton County
• coordinates	43°44′50″N 110°04′27″W / 43.74722°N 110.07417°W / 43.74722; -110.07417[1]
• elevation	9,760 ft (2,970 m)
Mouth	Yellowstone River
• location	Bighorn, Montana, Treasure County
• coordinates	46°09′18″N 107°28′28″W / 46.15500°N 107.47444°W / 46.15500; -107.47444[2]
• elevation	2,687 ft (819 m)
Length	185 mi (298 km)
Basin size	22,885 sq mi (59,270 km2)
Discharge
• location	Bighorn
• average	3,954 cu ft/s (112.0 m3/s)[3]
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	East Fork Wind River, Greybull River, Shoshone River
• right	Little Wind River, Nowood River, Little Bighorn River

The Bighorn River is a tributary of the Yellowstone, approximately 461 miles (742 km) long, in the states of Wyoming and Montana in the western United States. The river was named in 1805 by fur trader François Larocque for the bighorn sheep he saw along its banks as he explored the Yellowstone.^[4]

The upper reaches of the Bighorn, south of the Owl Creek Mountains in Wyoming, are known as the Wind River. The two rivers are sometimes referred to as the Wind/Bighorn. The Wind River officially becomes the Bighorn River at the Wedding of the Waters, on the north side of the Wind River Canyon near the town of Thermopolis. From there, the river flows through the Bighorn Basin in north central Wyoming, passing through Thermopolis and Hot Springs State Park.

At the border with Montana, the river turns northeast, and flows past the north end of the Bighorn Mountains, through the Crow Indian Reservation, where the Yellowtail Dam forms the Bighorn Lake reservoir. The reservoir and the surrounding canyon are part of the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.

The Little Bighorn River joins the Bighorn near the town of Hardin, Montana. Approximately 50 miles (80 km) farther downriver, the Bighorn River ends where it joins the Yellowstone.