BLM continues to make improvements in North Big Horn County

The Cody Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management has been hard at work on projects and improvements in our neck of the woods to increase local outdoor opportunities and experiences.

Their office encompasses 2.2 million acres of the Big Horn Basin, including portions of Park and Big Horn counties, and is bordered by the Shoshone and Bighorn national forests.

According to their website, the department manages 1.1 million acres of public land and 1.5 million acres of federal mineral estate in this area. These public lands provide a variety of resource values including wildlife habitat, scenic vistas, wild horses, recreational opportunities, minerals, livestock grazing and paleontological and cultural resources.

“We try to spread out all over the basin,” said Richard Tryder, outdoor recreation planner of the Cody Field Office. “But, in the last couple of years, we have put more focus on this area, because it deserves it.

“It is such an awesome area with so many cool recreation opportunities out here for people,” he added. “It is our job as public servants to help get things accomplished that the community wants. Whether it is providing more access or fixing up campgrounds or trailheads, getting our hands dirty is the fun part of the job.”

DARNELL HILLS

One of the projects in the works for several years has been the development of Darnell Hills into a family-friendly OHV (off-highway vehicle) area, which means there are no designated routes or trails.

“We are looking to add a children’s learning course, so families can bring their kids to learn how to ride their four-wheelers, dirt bikes or whatever they want to ride,” said Tryder. “We also put in five campsites that include picnic tables and fire rings.”

There will soon be a kiosk installed at the location to provide visitors with rules and information about the area.

“The whole idea behind Darnell Hills is to provide a place where people can come, camp, ride and have a great time,” Tryder said. “There is a little bit of something for everyone out there.”

Recently, a mud pit was created at the location to help funnel sediment after significant rainfall and provide riders some muddy fun to ride through.

“This has been a project in the making for a while now,” he said. “We partnered with Wyoming State Trails, and it has been a fun project, but it still needs a lot of work because of the erosive soils out there.”

JOHN BLUE CABIN

With the high levels of interest in the Lovell-Kane Museum’s bus tours, board president Karen Spragg reached out to the BLM office over the winter regarding some vandalization in the John Blue Cabin and the quality of the trails leading to it.

“We are coming up with a plan with our archaeologist to restore logs that were damaged by a small fire that had been started inside the cabin,” Tryder said. 

The BLM crew also made significant improvements along the trail simply by clearing out some brush and smoothing the path to allow easier accessibility.

“We want to make sure we are listening to our community members and do things they are wanting to see,” he said. “This was an example of her taking initiative, and we were happy to help so that she could continue educating visitors of our local history.”

COTTONWOOD

After the efforts of a local group to spearhead the creation of new mountain bike trails, analysis has begun to create nearly 27 miles of trail stemming from the Cottonwood campground along both sides of Cottonwood Road down to a parking area at the bottom.

“Jed Nebel has been an amazing partner and has done a lot of the legwork with public meetings and getting key players and organizations involved in this project,” Tryder said. “Although it is still in the early stages, it has been fun to see the community engagement in making it happen and has a lot of momentum.”

Once the environmental assessment is complete and funding is secured, building the actual trail will be done in phases to make sure they are built correctly and sustainable.

“There has been a lot of positive feedback about this in general,” he added. “Usually there is a little pushback from certain groups with cultural concerns, but people are really excited about this, and we want to make sure we’re doing things in the correct way.”

RAINBOW CANYON

Tryder credits co-worker Melissa Higley on starting an effort to build an accessible, interpretive trail that goes out to an overlook at Rainbow Canyon where visitors can go and learn geology, flora, fauna and other facts about the area.

Right now, there is a bridge built by the BLM that crosses Five Springs Creek that has a rough trail leading to the overlook, but making that trail more manageable is the goal.

There are two picnic tables with charcoal grills there, but the BLM will be installing a shade shelter over those areas soon.

“Last year, we installed a fossil table,” Tryder explained. “When people pull into the parking area, there is a large table that is meant for children to have fun digging in its sand with tools to look for fossils inside of it. We want to make it fun and educational, and Rainbow Canyon is an ideal location to do so, because it is closer to town and the trail is not very long.”

BLUE WAY TRAIL

Although it is part of a much larger project, and there are multiple people and groups working to bring it to fruition, the Blue Way Trail is underway. 

It will be a waterway trail that would stretch from Thermopolis, through the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, up to Montana, and would give people more access to the Big Horn River and make it more accessible.

For now, the BLM is making sure there are adequate maps and signage along the river to distinguish public or private lands, and other details are in the planning process.

The Cody Field Office manages everything from Greybull to the Montana state line. The portion of the Blue Way Trail they would be focusing on would be the portion between Greybull and Lovell.

“There’s a huge stretch of river that’s pretty much inaccessible for users,” Tryder said. “Whether it’s based on topography, terrain, landlocked parcels of BLM or some private spots, we really reached out to locals in the area to try to figure out what makes sense and where the best access points are located.”

There have been three major access points identified, and construction will begin at the first location this summer off Crystal Creek Road.

“This will allow us to put in a primitive boat ramp, parking areas for trucks and trailers, information kiosk and picnic tables,” he said. “Further down the line, we would like to add some campsites along the river so that people can make it a multi-day trip to camp, float, fish, hunt and hike on public land.”

FIVE SPRINGS

“So, we have been really busy up at Five Springs the last couple of years,” Tryder said. “We have been working to expand some of the sites because certain spots were not being used due to their small size that could only accommodate a small tent.”

The BLM identified a few of the campsites and have begun expanding the spots. With help from groups like CORE Kids (Conservation, Outdoor, Recreation, Education) and Rocky Mountain Youth Corps to do trail work, projects like this can happen.

Tryder said that maintenance worker Zach Cowfer has been instrumental and is tasked with maintaining the facilities in the 1.1 million acres the office covers.

“He does a great job on the upkeep of the campsites, but partnering up with these other organizations is vital,” Tryer added. “We have a limited staff, and he is just one person. I will never turn down any volunteers and groups like those who help us accomplish so much.”

The BLM has installed eight new bear boxes for campers to store their food at the Five Springs Campground, along with bigger picnic tables, and has fixed up the trails and will continue performing a little TLC in the area.