Wyoming is the headwaters state for much of the American West, and its Wild and Scenic Rivers reflect that geographic centrality. The interactive Wyoming Wild and Scenic Rivers map below plots both designated rivers and all 27 protected segments — 474.3 miles of free-flowing water across 4 counties. The Snake River Headwaters system, covering 453.8 miles across 26 segments, is the dominant feature: it protects the Snake and its major tributaries as they gather in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem before spilling west into Idaho. The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone adds a further 20.5 wild miles in the Absaroka Range. The US Forest Service administers most of the mileage, with the National Park Service managing segments within Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. Click any segment for details on classification and managing agency.

Wild and Scenic Rivers in Wyoming at a Glance

Wyoming’s Wild and Scenic system is defined by the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The Snake River Headwaters designation protects the Snake and its major tributaries — the Gros Ventre, Hoback, Fall River, and others — as they originate within and around Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and the adjacent Bridger-Teton National Forest. The designation was created to prevent future dam construction on these rivers, which drain one of the most ecologically intact temperate ecosystems remaining on Earth. The Clarks Fork Wild and Scenic River, a separate designation in the Absaroka Range near Cody, protects a spectacular canyon reach that is one of Wyoming’s most technical whitewater runs.

Classification Breakdown

Wild segments account for 60 percent of Wyoming’s protected mileage, reflecting the genuinely roadless character of much of the Snake River Headwaters system in the Yellowstone backcountry. Scenic segments are found along reaches with limited access, while the Recreational segments occur near the valley floor in the Jackson Hole area where roads approach the river. The Clarks Fork is entirely Wild, dropping through a roadless canyon from Wyoming into Montana.

Managing Agencies

The NPS manages segments within Grand Teton National Park (the Snake River through the park valley floor) and Yellowstone National Park (the Snake’s origin reaches). The Bridger-Teton National Forest administers the backcountry segments where the Snake and its tributaries drain the wilderness areas surrounding both parks. The joint USFS/NPS segment reflects the boundary zone between Grand Teton NP and the adjacent Bridger-Teton NF along the Snake corridor.

Longest Designated Rivers in Wyoming

The Snake River Headwaters system is a multi-tributary designation unlike almost anything else in the national Wild and Scenic inventory — it protects not a single river corridor but an entire headwaters complex, including the mainstem Snake as it flows south through Jackson Hole, plus the Gros Ventre, Hoback, Fall River (Bechler), Lewis River, and smaller tributaries. The Clarks Fork, at 20.5 Wild miles, drops through a dramatic gorge between the Absaroka Range and the Beartooth Plateau before exiting into Montana — it is arguably Wyoming’s most technically challenging designated river reach.

Where to Run, Hike, or Fish Wyoming’s Wild and Scenic Rivers

For multi-day whitewater

The Snake River through Grand Teton National Park offers Class II rafting that is accessible to families and beginners, with multiple commercial outfitters in Jackson operating daily trips during the summer season. The upper Snake above the park, on the Scenic and Wild reaches in the Bridger-Teton backcountry, is a wilderness float through grizzly bear country requiring serious logistics. The Clarks Fork canyon is a serious Class IV–V run accessible to expert kayakers only and in a very limited water window in May and June.

For hiking and access

The Snake River corridor through Grand Teton NP is accessible from multiple trailheads and paved roads along the park valley — the river oxbows near Oxbow Bend and Schwabacher Landing are among the most photographed landscapes in the American West. The Gros Ventre River valley east of Kelly offers a gravel road leading into designated Wild reaches and the Gros Ventre Wilderness, with the striking Kelly Warm Springs and Slide Lake adding geological interest along the way.

For native fish

The Snake River drainage in Wyoming supports the Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout, a subspecies endemic to the upper Snake system and prized by fly anglers worldwide. The Snake through Grand Teton NP is a blue-ribbon fishery where the cutthroat average larger than in most Western trout streams. The Hoback River, a Wild and Scenic tributary of the Snake, is also a strong cutthroat fishery in a less-crowded setting. Wyoming Game and Fish manages these fisheries cooperatively with the National Park Service and Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Maps for Neighboring States

For Wild and Scenic River coverage across the Rocky Mountain region, see our maps for neighboring states: Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Utah, and South Dakota. Nebraska has no designated Wild and Scenic rivers that border Wyoming. For the full national picture, see our US Wild and Scenic Rivers map covering all 249 rivers across 42 states and Puerto Rico.

Data Sources

River segment geometry, classification, mileage, and managing-agency attributes come from the US Forest Service Enterprise Data Warehouse, specifically the National Wild and Scenic River Segments dataset jointly maintained by the USFS, NPS, BLM, and US Fish and Wildlife Service. Source service: USFS EDW Wild Scenic River Segments. Authoritative national index: rivers.gov. State recreation and fish-management context: Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Grand Teton National Park, and the Bridger-Teton National Forest.