The Great Divide Basin is a drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 of the Continental Divide of the Americas. The basin is between the Green River

Green River (Utah)

The Green River, located in the western United States, is the chief tributary of the Colorado River. The watershed of the river, known as the Green River Basin, covers parts of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The Green River is long, beginning in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming and flowing...

 watershed on the west (drains to the Pacific Ocean/Gulf of California) and the Medicine Bow River

Medicine Bow River

The Medicine Bow River is a tributary of the North Platte River, in southern Wyoming in the United States.It rises in the Snowy Range, flowing out of the North Gap Lake, in southeastern Carbon County...

 watershed on the east (drains to the Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico). From the northwest, the basin begins in the "Wind River Range

Wind River Range

The Wind River Range , is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW-SE for approximately 100 miles . The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and includes Gannett Peak, which at 13,804 feet , is the highest peak...

 ... near South Pass

South Pass

South Pass is two mountain passes on the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Wyoming. The passes are located in a broad low region, 35 miles broad, between the Wind River Range to the north and the Oregon Buttes and Great Divide Basin to the south, in southwestern Fremont...

", extending southwest to "historic Bridger Pass

Bridger Pass

Bridger Pass is a mountain pass in Carbon County, Wyoming on the Continental Divide of the Americas at the south Great Divide Basin bifurcation point....

 south of Atlantic Peak" on the crest of the Sierra Madre Range

Sierra Madre Range (Wyoming)

The Sierra Madre Range is located in south-central Wyoming. Geologically, it may be considered an extension of the Park Range or Front Range of Colorado. Its terrain lies within the US Continental Divide. Its western basins drain into the Colorado River and its eastern into the North Platte River...

, ~20 miles southwest of Rawlins, Wyoming

Rawlins, Wyoming

Rawlins is a city in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 8,538 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carbon County...

.

The basin is a high desert dominated by sand dunes, bluffs and alkali flats

Salt pan (geology)

Natural salt pans are flat expanses of ground covered with salt and other minerals, usually shining white under the sun. They are found in deserts, and should not be confused with salt evaporation ponds.A salt pan is formed where water pools...

. Flora and fauna include small trees in some ravine

Ravine

A ravine is a landform narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a fluvial slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order of twenty to...

s and the occasional shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

, along with many birds (e.g., sage grouse

Sage Grouse

The Sage Grouse is the largest grouse in North America, where it is known as the Greater Sage-Grouse. Its range is sagebrush country in the western United States and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. A population of smaller birds, known in the U.S. as Gunnison Sage-Grouse, were recently...

, pheasant

Pheasant

Pheasants refer to some members of the Phasianinae subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have...

) and pronghorn

Pronghorn

The pronghorn is a species of artiodactyl mammal endemic to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the prong buck, pronghorn antelope, or simply antelope, as it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and...

, mule deer

Mule Deer

The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...

, feral horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

s, and the occasional elk

Elk

The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...

. The basin includes uranium ore deposits and many oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 and natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 wells. U.S. Highway 287 (north-south) through Rawlins, Wyoming

Rawlins, Wyoming

Rawlins is a city in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 8,538 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carbon County...

 and Interstate 80

Interstate 80

Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...

 (east-west) traverse the basin. In addition to the town of Wamsutter

Wamsutter, Wyoming

Wamsutter is a town in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 261 at the 2000 census.The original inhabitants of the area were the Shoshone and Ute tribes. Westerners did not really settle in the county until the coming of the railroad in the 1860s. Originally, the town was...

, the basin includes Eagles Nest Draw at 6501 ft.

A westward traveler on Interstate 80 crosses from Gulf of Mexico drainage to the Great Divide Basin at about 41.776°N 107.323°W a few miles west of Rawlins, and crosses to Colorado River drainage at about 41.6305°N 108.313°W At 41.2755°N 110.802°W he enters the Great Basin and stays in it until the crest of the Sierra Nevada.