Bighorn Scenic Byway
Shell Falls, WY

About sixty million years ago the area that is now the Big Horn Mountains began to bow upward, and the basins on either side began to sag downward. Today the highest point is Cloud Peak, about twenty-six miles south of the Bighorn Byway, a respectable 13,175 feet high. Millions of years of erosion have removed almost all the sedimentary rocks from the top of the Big Horns, exposing the ancient "basement" rocks, the granite over which Shell Falls now roars. Colorful layers of sedimentary rock still clothe the flanks of the Big Horns, making the ride over the byway one of the most spectacular in the west.

You are now about half-way down Shell Canyon. The canyon has been formed by the headward erosion of Shell Creek over millions of years. The creek has incised a deep chasm through the three billion year old granite you see around you. The water of Shell Falls, falling at the rate of some 3,600 gallons per second, follows the course of fractures in the resistant granite. This gray and pink granite is among some of the oldest rock on earth, while the softer Flathead sandstone which rests on top of it, some 550 million years old, contains some of the earliest fossils of hard shelled creatures you can find. Such ancient shells gave Shell Canyon, and Shell Falls, their names.

There is a quality of the sublime in all waterfalls, but especially in Shell Falls. The thudding sensation of falling water can be felt through the soles of your feet, and the water's voice has a way of soothing the traveler. The memory of Shell Falls, cool and green, has stayed with generations of visitors as they traveled on through the harsher basins bordering the Big Horn Mountains.