Shell Creek

Shell Creek is a tributary of the Bighorn River, approximately 50 mi (50 km) long, in Wyoming in the United States. Lying entirely within Big Horn County, Shell Creek begins above the Shell Lakes in the Bighorn Mountains. Starting at an elevation of over 11,000 ft (17700 m), it drops to below 3800 ft (6100 m) as it descends the western side of the Bighorn Mountains through Shell Canyon and enters the Big Horn Basin near Shell, Wyoming. It flows into the Bighorn River, a tributary of the Yellowstone River, just north of Greybull.

Watershed

The Shell Creek watershed consists 370,500 acres of native rangeland (73%), forest (24%), irrigated cropland, pasture and hayland (3%). There are over convert|10500|acre|km2 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. About convert|7500|acre|km2 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.cite book|author=Author not specified.|title= Upper and Lower Shell Creek Watersheds-Field Examination Report |publisher=USDA Soil Conservation Service]

Transportation

US 14, the Bighorn Scenic Byway, travels along Shell Creek through the canyon. This modern highway is rlelatively young. Much of it was completed in the mid-1960's, with major improvements in the 1980's.cite book|author=Bighorn National Forest|title=Shell Falls |publisher=Bighorn National Forest; Sheridan, WY]

ee also

* Shell Falls

External links

* [http://waterplan.state.wy.us/basins/bighorn/bighorn.html State of Wyoming: Bighorn River Basin]
* [http://wyomingpartners.fws.gov/wy3c.htm U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Wind/Bighorn River Drainage]

References