Unit 14

The Hams Fork Plateau dominates the central landscape, providing broad high-country orientation. Named drainages like Salt Creek, Spring Creek, and multiple South Fork streams offer navigation corridors through otherwise open terrain. Key summits include Bridger Hill, Whiskey Buttes, Church Butte, and Mount Isabel—visible reference points useful for glassing and establishing location.

Notable passes and gaps (Salt River Pass, Wagner Pass, Rocky Gap) serve as natural travel routes. These landmarks help break up vast basin country into recognizable segments for trip planning.

The unit spans from roughly 6,000 feet to over 10,500 feet, creating distinct habitat zones as elevation increases. Lower elevations feature open sagebrush basins and flat parks with minimal timber—country that appears almost prairie-like from a distance. Mid-elevation benches and flats support scattered juniper and pinyon stands, while ridges and higher slopes transition to sparse aspen and conifer forest.

The forest cover remains light throughout; this is predominantly open country punctuated by timbered drainages and ridge systems rather than continuous forest.

Roughly 1,700 miles of road cross the unit, but no major highways intersect it internally—all roads are local two-tracks or county routes. This creates limited but functional access from surrounding towns. Most hunters stage from Kemmerer, Evanston, or Cokeville and penetrate the unit on existing roads.

The road network's sparse density means large areas remain distant from vehicle access, which can mean lower pressure deep inside the unit despite the 'Limited' accessibility badge. Navigation on the ground without reliable water sources and amid vast open country is where the real challenge lies.

Unit 14 occupies Wyoming's southwestern corner, bounded by Interstate 80 on the south, the Utah state line on the south and west, and the Idaho state line on the north. The Green River and Salt River drainages frame portions of the unit, with major communities including Evanston, Kemmerer, and Cokeville serving as regional anchors. This is high plateau and basin country sitting well above lower elevation valleys, spanning the Hams Fork Plateau and numerous named basins including Pomeroy, Whiskey, and Fontenelle.

The unit encompasses significant elevation range despite a median around 6,890 feet.

Water is the limiting factor across this unit. The Green and Salt Rivers exist but may not be accessible throughout the unit. Named springs—including Crompton, Jenkins, Wild Horse, and Gooseberry Springs—are scattered but unreliable or seasonal.

Small lakes like Huff, Spring, and Twin Creek Lakes exist but are few and far between. Multiple reservoirs dot the landscape (Woodruff Narrows, Holland, Utah Power and Light Company Hams Fork), some public-accessible, others not. Hunting strategy must account for limited reliable water; planning water access in advance is critical.

Unit 14 holds mountain lion as its primary game species, and the sprawling basin and plateau terrain with scattered timbered draws and ridges provides classic lion habitat. The open sagebrush country supports mule deer and pronghorn, creating prey bases that support a lion population. Success depends on understanding how lions move through drainages and use timbered benches as cover between basin hunts.

Early morning glassing from ridge vantage points can reveal mountain lion sign and movement patterns. Water sources become critical—lions need water, so concentrating near springs and seeps increases encounter probability. The moderate complexity and limited roads mean hunters who can navigate without constant GPS and manage water logistics gain significant advantage.