Sinks Canyon - Corridor to the Winds

The panel's mammal list leaves out the animal the canyon is known for losing. Rock art in Sinks Canyon shows bighorn sheep, early Lander settlers wrote of bighorns abundant on this winter range, and through the 1980s Game and Fish moved sheep from the Whiskey Mountain herd near Dubois to the mountains above Lander. The canyon's own band dwindled to one ram, Bam Bam, who died in state custody; his mount stands in the park visitor center. Game and Fish has since removed bighorns that wandered back into the canyon, citing disease risk from domestic sheep.

What the plaque says

Sinks Canyon-Corridor to the Winds. The heavily timbered slope before you provides excellent habitat for many species of wildlife. Douglas Fir trees with Oregon Grape, Mountain Lover, Snowberry, Wild Rose and many other shrubs in the under story, cover the slope. Vegetation is thicker on this north-facing hillside because it remains in the shade much of the winter. Lack of sun keeps snow from melting, providing the extra moisture needed by the trees. This slope is home to wildlife that prefers dense forest habitat. Found here are the tiny pygmy owl, the agile goshawk, brilliant red and yellow western tanagers, blue grouse and the Townsend's solitaire. Mammals seen here include black bear, mule deer, moose, porcupines, pine martens, snowshoe hares, and red squirrels. Canyon walls rise from the riparian zone along the river. wet, lush riparian habitat along the middle fork of the Popo Agie River provide water, food and a travel corridor through the canyon for wildlife. The crumbling tan cliffs visible through the trees are comprised of Madison formation limestone. It is in this thick, soft rock that "The Sinks" are found. The Middle Fork flows down the canyon and into cracks in this limestone where it sinks, disappearing underground until the river reappears in "The Rise", 1/4 mile downstream. During the 1940s and 50s most of the lower half of Sinks Canyon was purchased by the Wyoming Game & Fish Department to preserve and manage important habitats for wildlife. Through a cooperative management agreement with the State Parks and Historical Society the canyon continues to provide critical winter habitat for many animals because it remains relatively snow free and has food, shelter and water available during even the toughest winter months. "Wyoming's Wildlife--Worth the Watching®" is funded in a large part through interest earned from the Wildlife Trust Account.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sinks Canyon State Park — 4.6 mi
  A river that vanishes into a limestone cave and comes back a quarter mile on, slower than it should, warmer, and with more water than went in.
• Chief Washakie's Grave — 18 mi
  The Army buried the Eastern Shoshone leader with full honors in 1900; his gravestone praises his loyalty to whites and leaves the rest out.
• South Pass City State Historic Site — 20 mi
  The Carissa lode built the town in a year; the mine outlived the boom by eight decades, and its mill runs again for visitors.
• St. Stephen's Mission — 25 mi
  A Jesuit mission on land the Arapaho leader Black Coal chose, its church painted with Arapaho designs, its boarding school named for what it was.

More markers nearby

• Site of Fort Thompson or Camp Magraw — 8.3 mi
• Bonneville Cabins — 15 mi
• The Atlantic City Project: The Iron Ore Boom and Bust — 16 mi
• Fort Stambaugh, 1870-1878 — 16 mi