Honeycombs WSA

---

Location: Washakie County

Nearest Town: Worland (16 miles)

BLM Acreage: 21,000 acres

Recommended for Wilderness: 0 acres

Access Points & Directions:
The boundaries of Honeycombs WSA are formed by the Blue Bank Road (BLM Road 1411) to the north and east. Primitive routes, state owned land and the East Fork of Nowater Creek constitute the western and southern boundary.

To access the eastern side of Honeycombs WSA, travel east from Worland on US Highway 16 for approximately 16 miles. Turn south (right) onto Blue Bank Road (BLM Road 1411). After travelling about 3 miles, you will reach the northern border of the WSA. This road follows the eastern boundary for 4.75 miles and then splits off to the east and travels just over 1 mile parallel to the WSA. Spur routes along this section of Blue Bank Road can be used to access Honeycombs WSA.

To reach Honeycombs WSA from the west, take US Highway 16 from Worland east for approximately 7 miles. Turn south (right) on Macaroni Road (BLM Road 1402) and follow for about 8.5 miles where it intersects with Mobile Road (BLM Road 1401). Turn east (left) on Mobile road. You will reach the western boundary of Honeycombs WSA in 6 miles.

Allowable Uses & Restrictions:
Motorized use is limited to existing routes. Motorized use off of routes is strictly prohibited. Please abide by all posted regulations.

Primitive & Unconfined Recreation:
Honeycombs WSA contains outstanding opportunities for primitive and unconfined recreation, ranging from passive activities to those requiring much physical exertion and endurance. The opportunities for trapping furbearers and hunting deer and antelope are widespread in the WSA. The quality of deer hunting is greater because the topography and vegetation creates habitat more favorable to deer. Outstanding opportunities for solitude exist because the rugged terrain, steep-sided hills and winding drainages limit sight distances.

Resources in the WSA also support passive activities such as nature study, photography, rock hounding, bird watching, reflection and contemplation, and sightseeing. The colorful and heavily eroded Willwood Formation provides an excellent opportunity for geologic study.

Features:
The Honeycombs WSA encompasses 21,000 acres of BLM-administered land and 260 acres of split-estate land with minerals held by the state of Wyoming. It consists of sharply eroded, strongly dissected badlands rolling to steep hills. Elevations range from 4,400 feet to 5,000 feet where the western boundary crosses the east fork of Nowater Creek. The soil colors vary from reds, pinks and purples to shades of brown and tan. The badland character of most of the WSA increases the visual interest of the area.

Naturalness:
The Honeycombs WSA consists of two land forms. The core area is comprised of sharply eroded, strongly dissected badlands. The area around the core is rolling to steep hills. Elevations in the WSA range from about 5,000 feet above sea level along the eastern boundary to about 4,400 feet where the western boundary crosses East Fork Nowater Creek.

The density of vegetation decreases as the badland topography becomes more prevalent. Sagebrush and grasses are the most common vegetation. Drainages exhibit substantially more greasewood and scattered rabbitbrush, leaving most hillsides and ridge tops sparsely vegetated.

The overall impact of intrusions on the naturalness of the WSA is slight. Surface disturbance by humans is substantially unnoticeable because of their dispersal and size, the natural screening provided by very rugged terrain and the natural healing of scars through erosion and revegetation.

The most common human-made features in the WSA are bladed trails and reservoirs. The majority of these trails are the result of oil and gas exploration during and prior to the 1960s. Others undoubtedly resulted from reservoir construction, which was intensively undertaken in the early 1960s. As a result of time, the erosive nature of the soil and natural revegetation, most of these trails are not usable by motor vehicles. Those that remain are used by ranchers and recreationists to access reservoirs and fence lines.

Twenty-one reservoirs are located in the WSA; they range in size from small stockponds to substantial catchments that may approach an acre in area with dikes up to 200 feet long. Many of the reservoirs were dry at the time of the intense inventory, but a surprising number held water with seemingly little maintenance.

Solitude:
Honeycombs WSA contains outstanding opportunities for solitude. Much of the WSA consists of rugged sharply eroded, strongly dissected badlands. Solitude exists because of limited use within the WSA and its size. Livestock grazing and most forms of recreation use are seasonal. Oil and gas activity is common around the perimeter of the WSA but has not penetrated the interior of the WSA.

Special Features:
The exposure of the Willwood Formation provides an excellent opportunity to study scenic erosional patterns. The soil colors vary from reds, pinks and purples to shades of browns and tans. The badland character of most of the WSA, with its abrupt topographic changes, increases the visual interest of the area. The area is also known to have the potential for deposits of large mammalian fossils from the Tertiary Period.