Area 69 covers the Owl Creek Mountains and the surrounding country between Thermopolis and the Wind River Reservation boundary. Elevations run from about 4,500 feet on the Bighorn Basin floor to over 10,000 feet on the higher Owl Creek peaks. The Owl Creeks are a transitional range bridging the Absaroka and the Wind River Range—drier, more open, and lower than either, with a semi-arid character on the south aspects. Vegetation grades from sage and bunchgrass on the basin benches, through mountain mahogany and juniper on the foothills, into Douglas fir, lodgepole, and scattered limber pine on the higher slopes, with aspen pockets in the wetter folds. The Wind River canyon between Thermopolis and the reservation is one of the most dramatic short canyons in Wyoming—red and gray rock walls, the river in the bottom, the train track threaded through. Shoshone NF covers the higher country, BLM fills in the lower benches, and significant private ranch in the foothills. The Wind River Reservation borders the south—do not cross. WY-120 frames the north, US-20 cuts through Wind River Canyon, and county roads thread the foothills. Thermopolis is the supply town—gas, the Hot Springs State Park (the world's largest mineral hot spring, free public soaking), real grocery, motels. Cell service is fair on the highway. Elk in the higher timber, mule deer in the mahogany and lower timber, antelope on the basin benches. The Owl Creeks are genuinely overlooked—the Absarokas to the north and the Winds to the south absorb most of the attention, leaving this transitional range to locals and those who've done the homework.