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The upper reaches of the Bighorn, south of the Owl Creek Mountains in Wyoming, is called the Wind River. The two rivers are sometimes referred to as the Wind/Bighorn. For practical purposes, Boysen Reservoir in the Owl Creek Mountains is considered to the be the start of the Bighorn. Northward of the dam, it flows through the Bighorn Basin in north central Wyoming, passing east of the town of Thermopolis and Hot Spring State Park.
At the border with Montana, it turns northeastward, and flows past the north end of the Bighorns, through the Crow Indian Reservation, where the Yellowtail Dam forms the reservoir Bighorn Lake. The reservoir and the surrounding gorge are part of the Bighorn Canyon National Recreational Area.
It is joined by the Little Bighorn River near the town of Hardin, Montana. Approximately fifty miles further downriver, it joins the Yellowstone.