Unit 16

The Shirley Mountains and Medicine Bow Breaks define the topography. Key navigation features include the Fort Steele Breaks on the western flank, Fossil Ridge running north-south through the unit, and Saint Marys Ridge as a prominent east-west divide. Alkali Flat and Smith Park offer open glassing vantage points.

Chalk Bluff, Mount Steele, and Flattop Mountain serve as distant reference points. The Shirley Basin and Little Basin anchor low country, while creeks like Saint Marys and Lost Creek provide travel corridors and water sources through otherwise open terrain.

Terrain spans from 5,250 feet in the lower basins to just over 9,150 feet on the higher summits, with most hunting occurring in the 6,500 to 8,500-foot band. The country transitions from sagebrush and grassland flats in lower basins to scattered ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir on north-facing slopes and ridges. Upper elevations feature more consistent forest cover with alpine meadows at the highest points.

This is not dense timber country—timber tends to cluster in draws, creek bottoms, and north-facing ridges, leaving extensive open parks and benches for glassing.

Roughly 482 miles of road cross the unit, but most are rough county roads suitable only for high-clearance or four-wheel-drive vehicles. Road density is low, concentrating initial pressure around obvious parking areas and trailheads. Highway 487 provides eastern access, Highway 220 serves the north, and Highway 30-287 accesses the south.

Bolton Creek Road, Bates Hole Stock Trail, and Shirley Ridge Road open interior basins to motivated hunters. The lack of highway-quality roads means solitude is achievable a few miles from access points. Glassing spots and ridgetop camping locations exist, but reaching them requires boot travel.

Unit 16 occupies the transitional country between the North Platte River valley and the Medicine Bow Range, bounded by Interstate 80 on the south and Wyoming Highway 220 to the northeast. The unit sprawls across portions of Natrona and Carbon counties, centered around the Shirley Basin and the Freezeout and Pedro Mountains. Access corridors follow Highway 487 along the eastern edge and Highway 30-287 to the south near Medicine Bow.

The landscape is defined by isolated ridges and basins rather than continuous mountain terrain—broken country that rewards exploration but punishes careless navigation.

Water is moderately distributed but requires knowledge to locate efficiently. Saint Marys Creek, Lost Creek, and Sage Creek drain major basins and flow year-round in their upper reaches. Numerous named springs dot the ridges and benches—Red Spring, Difficulty Spring, Sheep Spring, and others—making foot travel viable during early and late season.

Alkova Reservoir and Froehner Reservoir sit along the North Platte corridor but lie outside prime elk country. Small lakes including Allen Lake, Pine Draw Lake, and Ferris Lake provide reliable water in the high basins. Seasonal consideration matters—upper drainages can dry by late summer.

Unit 16 holds resident and migratory elk using the basins and ridge systems for summer and early fall range. Early season hunting focuses on higher elevation timber where bulls retreat during warm days, glassing open parks and benches for evening movement. The scattered timber pattern means elk often spend days in small stands, making quiet draws and shaded north slopes key hiding spots.

Mid-elevation parks and meadows concentrate elk during rut season, particularly around Saint Marys Creek and Lost Creek drainages. Late season finds surviving animals dropping to lower sagebrush basins. Success depends on foot travel, water knowledge, and patience reading country that looks open but holds animals in unexpected places.