Unit 60

The Thorofare Plateau anchors navigation as a high, open bench. Younts Peak and Hawks Rest provide distant reference points for orientation; Ishawooa Cone and Thunder Mountain mark drainage divides. Two Ocean Pass and Deer Creek Pass are critical geographic features defining water and game corridors.

Bridger Lake offers a landmark at high elevation. The South Fork Yellowstone River, North Fork Yellowstone River, and Pass Creek form major navigation corridors through timber. These drainages become your route-finding tools in country where dense forest can obscure direction quickly.

Nearly all terrain sits above 8,000 feet, with many peaks exceeding 11,000. The landscape transitions from upper-elevation spruce-fir and lodgepole forest on lower slopes to windswept alpine meadows and tundra on the plateaus and summits. Petrified Ridge, Yellowstone Point, and the Thorofare Buttes mark the high backbone. Moderately forested terrain dominates hunting-accessible elevations—dense enough to provide thermal cover and travel corridors, open enough to find meadows and parks where elk feed.

Early seasons may see snow at elevation, compressing huntable windows.

Fair road access on the unit's periphery contrasts sharply with interior remoteness. About 173 miles of roads exist, but they're marginal—old service roads and rough tracks rather than maintained highways. This limits casual access significantly.

Most hunters must pack in from trailheads, typically from the south or west sides. The remoteness means low pressure, but also few convenient routes once you're in country. Most travel corridors concentrate along major drainages.

Serious preparation—maps, GPS, horse support, or exceptional fitness—separates serious hunters from the curious.

Unit 60 encompasses all Yellowstone River drainage upstream from Yellowstone Lake outside park boundaries, creating a wedge of public land between the lake and the park's eastern border. The unit's spine follows the Thorofare Plateau and surrounding ridgelines, with access limited to the western and southern margins. Nearby communities like Cody provide the nearest staging points, but distance and road conditions mean this isn't casual-drive-in country.

The geographic isolation is the unit's defining characteristic.

Water exists but requires understanding drainage patterns. The Yellowstone River system and its major forks (South Fork, North Fork) provide reliable flow, but they're often in deep canyons requiring deliberate access. High mountain lakes like Bridger Lake hold water seasonally.

Scatter Creek, Senecio Creek, Snowslide Creek, and Valley Fork offer supplemental sources. Springs exist but aren't dependable everywhere—water strategy involves knowing which creeks hold flow throughout the season and planning camps accordingly. The high elevation means winter snowmelt feeds drainages early and mid-season reliability varies.

This is pure elk country, with herds using the high plateaus and ridge systems as core habitat. Early season hunting targets elk in alpine meadows and high parks before they drop elevation. By mid-season, cooler temperatures and snow push animals lower into timbered terrain along drainages.

Rut timing often aligns with descent into lower-elevation creeks and canyons. The steep, complex terrain demands deliberate glassing from ridge vantage points—peaks like Hawks Rest and Pinnacle Mountain offer potential observation points. Water access determines camp location; proximity to Yellowstone River drainages or high lakes is essential.

This unit rewards hunters who invest in maps, understand elk migration patterns, and accept the physical demands of pack-in hunting.