Most Americans envision the Continental Divide to be a continuous range of high peaks, dividing the watersheds that flow toward the Atlantic from those that drain toward the Pacific. While this is, in general, true, there are some relatively low ridges that connect the component ranges and, in one area, a bifurcation of the Divide itself.
In south-central Wyoming, the Continental Divide, dropping from the crest of the Park Range in northern Colorado and from the Wind River Range in central Wyoming, splits to encircle a broad, desert basin. Known as the Great Divide Basin, this remote and scenic area is rimmed by mesas and covered by sand dunes, alkali flats, badlands and sage grasslands. Much of the Basin exceeds 7000 feet in elevation and its 5 million acres, part of the Red Desert of southwest Wyoming, stretch between Rawlins and Rock Springs; I-80 crosses its southern portion. This topographic basin is bordered by the Sweetwater watershed to the north, the Green River watershed on the west, the North Platte watershed on the east and the Yampa watershed to the south; streams draining inward from the basin's rim end in shallow, ephemeral lakes on the flat, desert floor.
Home to a wide variety of high desert wildlife, the Basin also harbors large quantities of uranium, oil and gas, setting the stage for an ongoing struggle between industrial powers and environmentalists. Most of the area is owned by the Bureau of Land Management, a sign that industry will likely have the upper hand. If it were up to the plentiful pronghorn, this vast, scenic landscape would soon be a National Park.
