Shell Creek is a tributary of the

Bighorn River The Bighorn River is a tributary of the Yellowstone, approximately 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 b ...

, approximately long, in

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Lying entirely within Big Horn County, Shell Creek begins above the Shell Lakes in the

Bighorn Mountains The Bighorn Mountains ( or ) are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately northward on the Great Plains. They are separa ...

. Starting at an elevation of over , it drops to below as it descends the western side of the Bighorn Mountains through

Shell Canyon Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

and enters the

Big Horn Basin The Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles (160 km) wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Pryor Mountains on the north, the B ...

near

Shell, Wyoming Shell is a census-designated place (CDP) in Big Horn County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 83 at the 2010 Census. The community is named for the abundance of fossil shells located in the area. Nearby exposed formations such as the ...

. It flows into the

, a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Yellowstone River The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountain ...

, just north of Greybull.

Watershed

The Shell Creek watershed consists of of native rangeland (73%), forest (24%), irrigated cropland, pasture and hayland (3%). There are over of irrigated lands in the Shell Creek watershed; the greater part (92%) of which is in the lower portion-downstream from the town of

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

. About are irrigated from Shell Creek itself. Also, the part of the creek is diverted above Shell and conveyed via pipeline to the town of Greybull as a municipal water supply.

Transportation

US 14 U.S. Route 14 or U.S. Highway 14 (US 14), an east–west route, is one of the original United States Numbered Highways of 1926. It is about long. It is roughly parallel to Interstate 90 (I-90). The highway's eastern termi ...

, the Bighorn Scenic Byway, travels along Shell Creek through the canyon. This modern highway is relatively young. Much of it was completed in the mid-1960s, with major improvements in the 1980s.

References

External links

State of Wyoming: Bighorn River Basin

External links

* {{authority control Rivers of Wyoming Tributaries of the Yellowstone River Rivers of Big Horn County, Wyoming

Watershed

Transportation

See also

References

External links

External links