The Buffalo Bill Scenic Byway runs 27.5 miles from the Shoshone National Forest boundary to Yellowstone National Park, following the North Fork of the Shoshone River Valley between the North Absaroka and Washakie wilderness areas. Originally built in 1901, it is part of the Northern Travel Corridor known as Passage to Adventure. The route provides access to hiking, hunting, horseback riding, fishing, camping in developed sites, winter recreation, and Yellowstone, while the surrounding area supports wildlife including elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, moose, bison, black bear, grizzly bears, and peregrine falcons. Its geologic formations reflect ancient volcanic activity, and excavated sites show nearly 10,000 years of human occupation in the valley, one of the most complete records of human use on the Northern Plains. Shoshone National Forest was the first national forest in the United States, with its original ranger station still standing at Wapiti Wayside, and the forest grew from the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve created in 1891 as the nation’s first reserve of its kind to protect and use natural resources. The forest later expanded from an emphasis on commodity use and conservation to a broader approach that also maintains wildlife habitat, scenic beauty, recreation, and the entire living system through partnerships with federal, state, local, and private agencies. It also provides critical winter range for large herds of bighorn sheep and elk, with many animals migrating to lower valley ground where forage is more available during harsh winters.