Unit 100

Major rim systems dominate the visual landscape: the Cherokee Rim, Adobe Town Rim, Powder Rim, Wells Bluff, and Prehistoric Rim provide both navigation references and glassing vantage points. The Haystacks and related ridge features offer observation points across the open country. Named benches and buttes—Salazar Butte, Courthouse Butte, Poison Buttes, and Flat Top Mountain—break the horizon and serve as focal points for route-finding.

Sand Creek Lake, Eightmile Lake, and various named reservoirs (Twin Fork, Water Can, Hunter) mark locations worth investigating for water and potential bedding areas, though reliability varies seasonally.

This is medium-elevation, sparsely timbered high-desert country. Elevations cluster around 6,800 feet across broad sagebrush basins and flats, with prominent rimrock benches and cliff formations rising above the surrounding terrain. Vegetation is dominated by big sagebrush and grassland with scattered juniper and pinyon; scattered higher benches support more consistent tree cover.

The landscape is fundamentally open—long sightlines across flats, with relief provided by rim systems, ridges, and numerous named draws and gulches that break the monotony. This is classic high-desert mule deer habitat: exposed terrain requiring patience and glassing skill.

The unit has limited developed road infrastructure—368 miles of roads without highways suggests sparse access patterns and minimal pressure, but also requires self-reliance. Wyoming Highway 789 provides eastern boundary access with staging opportunities at Creston. County roads from Wamsutter and the Bitter Creek Road system offer western entry.

The vast, exposed terrain means hunting pressure concentrates around accessible water and near roads; remote basin country receives light hunting if you're willing to glass and walk. Most hunters focus on lower-elevation draws and near-road rim systems, leaving open flats and distant basins relatively quiet for those with patience and optics.

Unit 100 is bounded on the south by the Wyoming-Colorado state line near Powder Wash, on the east by Wyoming Highway 789 at Creston Junction, and on the north by Interstate 80. The Cow Creek-Powder Wash Road and Bitter Creek Road (Sweetwater County Road 19) form the western edge. The unit encompasses the Red Desert and Adobe Town country—high-elevation basin terrain characteristic of southwest Wyoming's driest regions. Several small communities including Tipton, Creston, Robinson, and Wamsutter serve as access points, though Baggs to the south provides the nearest larger supply hub.

Water is the critical limiting factor in Unit 100. Reliable sources include Sand Creek (the most substantial perennial stream), Willow Creek, Red Creek, and associated tributaries—typically found in deeper draws and canyons. Multiple named springs (Hartt Cabin, North and South Barrel, Patterson Springs, Grindstone, Peeler, Upper Powder, Echo, Wild Rose) exist but vary seasonally and require verification before hunting. Numerous reservoirs and small lakes dot the unit (Sand Creek Lake, Eightmile, Coal Bank, Frewen, Twin Fork, Water Can, Hunter, and others), though many are stock ponds dependent on runoff.

Plan water locations carefully—this is not a unit for wandering without knowledge of available sources.

Mule deer are the primary species in this unit; white-tailed deer occupy riparian areas along major creek bottoms. Early season hunting focuses on higher benches and rim systems where deer migrate to feed on fresh vegetation. Rut periods concentrate animals near water sources and along movement corridors connecting basins.

Late season pushes deer into protected draws, especially those with sagebrush cover and southern exposure. Success demands glassing patience—scan rims and basin edges from distance, then stalk into wind across open country. Water knowledge is essential; locate deer by finding reliable springs and reservoirs, then glass approach routes.

Foot traffic pressure is minimal but visibility is maximum, favoring stillhunting and glassing over driving roads.