Wyoming Highway 28

Wyoming Highway 28 (WYO 28), also known as the South Pass Highway, is a 96.46-mile (155.24 km) state highway in Sweetwater, Sublette, and Fremont counties in Wyoming, United States, that connects Wyoming Highway 372 (WYO 372), southeast of Fontenelle, with U.S. Route 287 / Wyoming Highway 789 (US 287 / WYO 789), south-southeast of Lander.

Wyoming Highway 28
South Pass Highway
WYO 28 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by WYDOT
Length	96.416 mi[1] (155.167 km)
History	1986: Extended south from US 191 to WYO 372
Major junctions
West end	WYO 372 southeast of Fontenelle
Major intersections	US 191 in Farson
East end	US 287 / WYO 789 south-southeast of Lander
Location
Country	United States
State	Wyoming
Counties	Sweetwater, Sublette, Fremont
Highway system
Wyoming State Highway System Interstate US State
← WYO 26 → US 30

Route description

Sweetwater County

WYO 28 begins at a T intersection with WYO 372 (La Barge Road) in Sweetwater County, just north of a western arm of the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge (Seedskadee NWR) and roughly 14 miles (23 km) southeast of the census-designated place (CDP) of Fontenelle. (WYO 372 heads north toward Kemmerer and La Barge and south through the arm of the Seedskade NWR and then on toward Green River and Rock Springs.)^[2]

From its western terminus WYO 28 proceeds northwesterly as a two lane road for its entire length. After approximately 2.8 miles (4.5 km), WYO 28 enters the Seedskadee NWR, crosses the Green River, and then leaves the Seedskadee NWR. At about 28.82 miles (46.38 km) along its route, and just after crossing the Big Sandy River, WY0 28 has its junction with U.S. Route 191 (US 191) on the southern border of the CDP of Farson in Eden Valley.^[3][4] (US 191 heads north toward Pinedale and Jackson and south toward Eden and Rock Springs.)^[2][5]

East of its junction with US 191, WYO 28 very briefly passes through the southern edge of Farson before continuing roughly 2.4 miles (3.9 km) along the southern border of the CDP, with the meanders of Little Sandy Creek^[6] to the south. As WYO 28 crosses the Little Sandy Creek, it leaves Farson CR 108 and continues for about 14.5 miles (23.3 km) before leaving Sweetwater County.^[2][5]

Sublette County

Upon leaving Sweetwater County, WWO 28 enters Sublette County. With the exception of a single paved turnoff, there are only a few unnamed dirt side roads along the 3.75 miles (6.04 km) section of WYO 28 that are within Sublette County. The nearly 1,900-foot (580 m) turnoff includes a historical marker and gravestone.^[7] Upon leaving Sublette County, WYO 28 enters Fremont County.

Fremont County

After 5 miles (8.0 km), it spurs north to Farson Little Sandy Road, leading to Big Sandy.^[8] It continues northeast out of Sweetwater County, cuts through a small corner of Sublette County and enters Fremont County.^[9] It crosses the Continental Divide at South Pass, one of the lowest passes on the continental divide, at 7,550 feet (2,300 m). South Pass was used by settlers on the Oregon Trail. From there, there are spurs to the south leading to the South Pass Historic Site and Atlantic City. From there it curves north, travelling about 17 miles (27 km) until its merge with US 287, near Lander.^{[citation needed][2]}

History

Wildlife warning signs on WYO 28 between the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge and Farson, October 2013

WYO 28 generally follows the route followed by settlers on the Oregon Trail.^[10] A section of the highway 17 miles (27 km) due south of Lander and just north of the census-designated place of Atlantic City was realigned around a new U.S. Steel mine in 1962. (The mine was known as the Columbia-Geneva Mines.)^[11] The realignment created sharp and narrow turns. Although the mine closed in 1983, the section was not removed until the original alignment was restored in 2005.^[12]

The western end of WYO 28 was originally at the former U.S. Route 287 (now US 191) in Farson,^[7] but was extended southwest to the Fontenelle area in 1986 in response to increased soda ash shipments by truck, which required a paved road.^[13] The project was led by the Federal Highway Administration, which was granted the necessary right-of-way by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); the agreement between the two federal agencies required that any future wildlife fence on the corridor be approved by the BLM.^[14] A 15-mile (24 km) was proposed in 1991 to redirect herds of Sublette antelopes as well as livestock which had caused vehicular accidents since the extension opened. The BLM initially approved a plan with the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) to fence the corridor, but WYDOT later retracted the plan following public opposition and pushback from the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish.^[15] A series of eight warning signs was installed as an alternative to the fencing plan.^[16]

Major intersections

Actual mileposts begin at 100 at WYO 372 and increase heading northeast to Farson, where they reset to 0 and increase continuing northeast toward Lander.

County	Location[17]	mi[1]	km	Destinations[2]	Notes
Sweetwater	​	0.000	0.000	WYO 372 north (La Barge Rd) / California National Historic Trail / Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail / Oregon National Historic Trail / Pony Express National Historic Trail north – Kemmerer, La Barge WYO 372 south (La Barge Rd) / California National Historic Trail / Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail / Oregon National Historic Trail / Pony Express National Historic Trail south – Seedskade NWR, Green River, Rock Springs	Western terminus; T intersection
	​	2.805	4.514	Bridge over the Green River
	​			CR 8 west (Lower Farson Cutoff Rd) – Fontenelle	T intersection
	​			CR 8 east (Lower Farson Cutoff Rd) – WYO 28	T intersection
	​			CR 8 west (Lower Farson Cutoff Rd) – WYO 28	T intersection
	​			CR 8 east (Lower Farson Cutoff Rd) – Farson	T intersection
	​	28.970	46.623	Bridge over the Big Sandy River
	Farson	28.217	45.411	US 191 north – Pinedale, Jackson US 191 south – Eden, Rock Springs	Former southern terminus (pre-1986)
				CR 109 north (Farson Station Rd) – CR 100	T intersection
				CR 105 north (Farson 1st East Rd) – CR 100, CR 101, CR 102	T intersection
				CR 106 north (Farson 2nd East Rd) – 101, CR 102, CR 103, CR 104, CR 108	T intersection
		31.448	50.611	Bridge over Little Sandy Creek
	​	32.617	52.492	CR 108 north (Farson 4th East Rd / Farson Little Sandy Rd / Eden Reservor Rd) – Farson, CR 106, WYO 353	T intersection
	​			CR 102 west (Farson 3rd North Rd) – CR 108, CR 107, CR 106, CR 105	T intersection
	​	34.384	55.336	Bridge over Eden Canal
	​			CR 21 east (Bar X Rd) – CR 83, CR 74, CR 15, CR 20, CR 82, I-80	T intersection
Sublette	No major junctions
Fremont	​			Continental Divide at South Pass (elevation 7,550 feet [2,300 m])
	​			CR 446 north (Lander Cutoff Rd) – Boulder CR 445 south (Oregon Buttes Rd) – Sweetwater County CR 74
	​	62.322	100.298	Bridge over the Sweetwater River
	​	62.527	100.627	Sweetwater Rest Area
	​	66.317	106.727	Unnamed dirt road north CR 479 east (South Pass Rd) – South Pass City, WYO 28
	​			FR 313 north – FR 300 CR 479 west (South Pass Rd) – South Pass City, WYO 28
	​			FR 300 north – FR 313, WYO 131, Lander	T intersection
	​	72.917	117.349	CR 315 east (West Atlantic City Rd / Winter Rd)	T intersection
	​	75.137	120.921	Skyline Rd north Dickinson Ave / WYO 28 Loop east – WYDOT maintenance facility & CR 237, Atlantic City, WYO 28	Dickinson Ave is former routing of WYO 28
	​	75.137	120.921	Dickinson Ave / WYO 28 Loop west – WYDOT maintenance facility & CR 237, Atlantic City, WYO 28	T intersection Dickinson Ave is former routing of WYO 28
	​	80.316	129.256	Bridge over the Beaver Creek
	​	87.717	141.167	CR 235 north (Red Canyon Rd) – WYO 28	T intersection
	​	95.434	153.586	Bridge over the Little Popo Agie River
	​	95.887	154.315	CR 235 south (Red Canyon Rd) – WYO 28	T intersection
	​	96.416	155.167	US 287 north / WYO 789 north / California National Historic Trail / Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail / Oregon National Historic Trail / Pony Express National Historic Trail – Muddy Gap, Rawlins Calvert Ln west	Eastern terminus; southbound US 287 / WYO 789 heads east from the intersection
				US 287 south / WYO 789 south / California National Historic Trail / Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail / Oregon National Historic Trail / Pony Express National Historic Trail – Lander, Yellowstone National Park	Continuation north from eastern terminus
	1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• Wyoming portal

• List of state highways in Wyoming