The best way to know a place is to spend time in it. These maps and guides are meant to help you find your way to favorite fishing holes, riding trails, river access points, and corners of the ranch worth knowing.
As you explore, remember that Lansdowne is part of a larger shared landscape, and that moving through it with awareness and respect helps preserve the experience for everyone.
The ranch was gathered slowly. Beginning in 1929, one parcel at a time, Lansdowne grew through the relationships, trust, and stewardship of the families who came before us. What feels today like a single place was once many.
Fishing
The fishing here has remained special because generations have treated it with care. Please help leave it that way for those who follow.
Licenses & Regulations
A Wyoming fishing license is required, even when fishing on private property.
License information may be found here:
Non-residents must purchase a non-resident license, including family members visiting from out of state.
Wyoming residents must purchase a resident license.
The current citation for fishing without a license is $235
General fishing good practices
Maximum of four rods per day.
Catch and release only.
Leave gates, banks, and access points as you found them.
Respect other anglers and those enjoying the creek.
Fishing on Lake Creek (East of the Highway)
Enjoy 7 days a week.
Fishing is catch-and-release only, and fish should be returned to the water as quickly as possible to give them the best chance of survival.
Guests may fish only when accompanied by a family member. Please do not send friends or visitors to fish on their own.
Fishing on Fish Creek (West of the Highway)
Please bring your orange dashboard SRR sign (available in dining room) for your vehicle
If you would like to fish Fish Creek west of the highway, please contact Derek Helms at (507) 382-5650 in advance. Derek manages fishing access on behalf of both the family and the ranch fishing club and helps ensure that everyone enjoys the resource responsibly.
Please do not arrive unannounced.
To help preserve the quality of the fishery:
Limit use to two rods at a time.
Large fishing groups (over 4) should be directed to Lake Creek rather than Fish Creek.
When fishing Fish Creek, please park at the Fish Creek Bridge.
Hunting
Understanding Elk Management on the Upper Ranch
The Upper Ranch occupies one of the largest privately held landscapes within Wyoming Game & Fish Unit 78. Over many years, elk populations in the unit have grown well beyond what wildlife managers consider sustainable for the available habitat.
As a result, Wyoming Game & Fish has encouraged harvest within Unit 78 as part of its long-term management strategy, including the creation of special hunting opportunities designed to reduce herd numbers and improve the health of both the elk population and the land that supports it.
The Upper Ranch has historically focused its harvest efforts during the first weeks of September. The goal is to complete hunting activity before the peak of the rut, when elk gather to breed and seek the safety, water, forage, and cover that the ranch provides.
Elk move throughout much of the ranch but spend much of their time near water and within the wooded creek corridors that provide shelter and security. The combination of feed, cover, and water makes the ranch important habitat for resident herds throughout the year.
While hunting is not the only factor in wildlife management, it remains the primary tool available to Wyoming Game & Fish for managing elk numbers within Unit 78 and maintaining a healthier balance between wildlife and habitat.
Safety Precaution
The Ranch leases exclusive hunting rights to a professional, licensed guide who always accompanies all hunting clients.
The hunting guide will send out a group text each morning with the targeted area they are going to hunt. As they pursue elk, they will update the group text with their location, as well as when they are finished hunting each day.
Add your cell phone to the hunting text chain.
Wear bright colored clothing and a hat when near the areas where hunting may take place.
We require Wildman Adventures to provide a 100yd buffer from any property line or “no hunting” area of the ranch, which include Lansdowne, Ranch Headquarters, Giltner houses, and Gray Cabins.
Wildman Adventures is required to follow gun safety rules as well as local Game and Fish regulations.
Guides will not allow hunting clients to shoot a firearm toward any building, highway, or structure.
If you come across an orange cone on a road, please don’t go around it as this means there is hunting occurring beyond the cone.
General Guidelines
Any family hunting, or any hunting by anyone staying at the ranch must be coordinated through Ben Tibbits and Carter of Wild Man Adventures.
Game should be dressed and processed outdoors in appropriate areas. Please do not gut or butcher animals inside any cabin, garage, or ranch building.
If guests will be staying at Lansdowne with or without you present, it is your responsibility to review these guidelines, maps, and ranch expectations with them in advance.
You must hunt with a license and stay in your designated area