The Great Divide Basin A caveat to the widely held belief that water falling on the continental divide ends up in either the Atlantic or Pacific... In central/lower Wyoming there is an area, sitting astride the divide, where water is ambivalent, and so it goes nowhere (save evaporation). This basin is nearly 4,000 square miles in area. These two images were taken at the western edge of the basin—which would be the true divide if the basin got full enough with water to overflow. The first image is near Robinson, Wyoming, and the second two miles to the east, at Tipton. The former, Robinson, is closest to the actual divide, but the highway department put their huge sign, CONTINENTAL DIVIDE, at the latter. I always rely on the fine maps of the USGS for details such as this, particularly in areas where the divide runs over relatively flat ground so as to make it difficult to discern. This happens to be where the first transcontinental railroad came through in 1867 (I-80 followed right around 100 years later). I believe someone on the Union Pacific, aware of the topography, named the spot Tipton to mark the divide, but have not been able to confirm.
Two photographs by Richard Koenig; taken September 23rd 2025.
