Uinta County, Wyoming

An abandoned gas station along I-80 near Lyman, in Uinta County, Wyoming.

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Interstate 80 between Rock Springs and Salt Lake City divides Wyoming’s Uinta County into two landscapes. North of the highway are dry rolling shrublands interrupted by a few small towns, while to the south, complicated badlands erode into rivers, including the Bear and the Black’s Fork, that flow out of the Uinta Mountains of Utah. I’ve spent little time exploring this part of Wyoming, but last fall Ed Sherline and I headed there for a weekend in hopes of answering a call for a photo of Uinta County as part of the art to be installed in the remodeled gymnasium at the University of Wyoming. We spent most of our time south of I-80 in the badlands, but also enjoyed exploring towns along and north of the interstate, which used to be the iconic Lincoln Highway.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend, including a few from southern Sweetwater County to the east. 

Flaming Gorge, in Sweetwater County, viewed from the west.  

The Black's Fork River, brought to its knees by the depleted Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

The zone of intermingling between what was once the Black's Fork River and what is now Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Sweetwater County.

Looking southwest across the Black's Fork valley from our camp in badlands near Cedar Mountain.

Eroding badlands between Lyman and the Black's Fork.

Rabbitbrush along the Black's Fork River.

A window in the abandoned general store at Carter, Wyoming, named for the prominent Judge,  William A. Carter, who lived in nearby Fort Bridger from 1859 until he died in 1881.  

An ad hoc sculpture, seen through a window in an abandoned bar at Carter.  

Building decoration, Carter, Wyoming.

There's a fine line between Evanston, Wyoming, and the surrounding shrublands.

An old train platform in an industrial area at the north end of Evanston.

Xotic fireworks, Evanston, Wyoming.

An abandoned house at the ghost town of Piedmont, Wyoming.  The town was originally a logging camp supplying railroad ties for the Union Pacific Railroad in the 1800s and later charcoal for iron smelting in Salt Lake City.

Graffiti in an abandoned house.  Piedmont, Wyoming.

Charcoal making kilns.  Piedmont, Wyoming.