The town of Burgess Junction lies at the edge of the Great Basin Plains of Wyoming. Just to the west lies the imposing Bighorn Mountains, a sister range of the Great Rockies. U.S. Route 14 weaves its way through the foothills, then up into the steep mountain range toward Granite Pass. This scenic route winds through alpine meadows and the Bighorn National Forest. The forest land covers over a million acres, dotted with lodgepole pines and boasts mountain peaks over 13,000 feet.
When American Indians spoke about the area, topics included sighting great herds of bighorn sheep. Lewis and Clark transformed the bighorn name to the entire mountain region.