The Shoshone National Forest was set aside in 1891 as part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve, making the Shoshone the first national forest in the United States. It consists of some 2.4 million acres of varied terrain ranging from sagebrush flats to rugged mountains. The higher mountains are snow-clad most of the year. Immense areas of exposed rock are interspersed with meadows and forests. With Yellowstone National Park on its western border, the Shoshone encompasses the area from the Montana state line south to Lander, Wyoming which includes portions of the Absaroka, Wind River and Beartooth Ranges.

The Shoshone National Forest was first created in 1891 as the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve. Later this became the Shoshone National Forest, the first national forest in the nation. It is named for the Shoshoni Indians who lived in this area. The Arapahoe, Blackfeet, Commanche, Crow, Nez Perce, Northern Cheyenne, and Souix tribes also hunted, traveled, traded and fought in the area. Such mountain men as John Colter and Jim Bridger were early visitors as well. The ghost town of Kirwin, an early-day mining town, is a window to the past, recalling one of the colorful eras in Wyoming's history. The remains of tie hack flumes and cabins on the southern end of the forest are reminders of another era during which millions of railroad ties were produced.