
Location map of Great Divide Basin, shown in pink.
The 'Great Divide Basin' is a 3,860 square mile (10,000 km²)
endorheic drainage basin in south central
Wyoming,
United States, located between the
Atlantic and
Pacific drainage basins. North and south of it, the
water divide is defined by the
Continental Divide. The water divide
bifurcates to the eastern and western perimeters of the Great Divide Basin. The Basin is formed by a geologic
anticline.
Though not without some grasses, the occasional shrub, and even small trees in some ravines, the land is dominated by numerous
sand dunes, bluffs and
alkali flats due to a combination of low precipitation and a high
evaporation rate. The average altitude is over 6,000 feet (1,800 m). The basin is a part of the larger
Red Desert region which is under the supervision of the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management, an agency within the
U.S. Department of the Interior which manages rangeland and other multiple-use lands that have not been designated as
National Parks or a
National Monuments.
Many birds are found in the basin, such as the
sage grouse and
pheasant.
Mammals include
pronghorn antelope,
mule deer, wild or feral
horses, and the occasional
elk. No major
towns or
cities are located in the basin, which has a
human population of less than 500.
Wamsutter is the only incorporated settlement.

Bluffs in eastern section of the Great Divide Basin
The basin is considered one of the more promising locations for the
mining of
uranium and many
oil and
natural gas wells are found in the basin with more expected to be built. There is an ongoing debate between those that wish to utilize the resources within the basin and those that wish to see the basin become either a National Monument or a designated
U.S. Wilderness Area.
Interstate 80 bisects the basin east to west and
U.S. Highway 287 heading north from
Rawlins, Wyoming traverses the eastern regions of the area.
External links
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Programs - Red Desert - Great Divide
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Great Divide Closed Basin
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The Buffalo Hump Site : late prehistoric occupation in the Great Divide Basin, Wyoming, , Lynn, L., Harrell, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1989,
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Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council Passes Resolution Supporting Protection of Southern Wyoming’s Great Divide Basin
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Energy Metals Corporation Adds 5 Uranium Deposits And 39.5 Million Pounds In The Great Divide Basin, Wyoming
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Stratigraphic Framework of the Fox Hills Sandstone and Lewis Shale, Great Divide Basin, Wyoming