Hell's Half Acre

Hell's Half Acre is a deep erosional scar, where a creek and the weather have cut down into soft sedimentary rock to expose a badlands of pinnacles, gullies, and steep colored walls. Despite the name, it covers far more than half an acre, spreading across many acres of broken ground below the surrounding flats.

The rock here holds fossils from the Eocene epoch, tens of millions of years old, hinting at the ancient environments once laid down in these layers. The contrast is what makes it memorable: level, ordinary plains right up to the edge, then a sudden plunge into a maze that looks like another planet.

Long before highways crossed this country, Native peoples of the plains used Hell's Half Acre as a natural bison trap. Hunters would guide herds toward the hidden rim so that the animals, unable to see the drop until too late, would be funneled into the chasm, providing meat, hides, and materials essential to survival.

Such buffalo jumps and drive sites are found across the northern plains, and they reflect deep knowledge of the land and the animals. This chapter of the site's story deserves as much attention as its scenery, a reminder that this dramatic ground was a place of sustenance and skill for the peoples who knew it first.

The otherworldly landscape of Hell's Half Acre caught the eye of filmmakers, and it stood in for an alien planet in the 1997 science-fiction movie Starship Troopers, its spires and ravines serving as a hostile world far from Earth. That brush with the movies gave the little-known site a burst of fame.

It is easy to see why. Standing on the rim with the eroded formations tumbling away below, you could imagine yourself somewhere far stranger than central Wyoming. The site has, at times, had a roadside lodge and services, which have opened and closed over the years, so it is wise to come prepared.

The surrounding plains are pronghorn country, and these fast, curious animals are often seen out on the flats, along with jackrabbits, coyotes, and raptors hunting the open ground. The broken rock of the chasm shelters smaller creatures and nesting birds.

This is exposed, wind-scoured high desert, hot and bright in summer, cold and snow-swept in winter, with storms that can build fast over the plains any time of year. Spring and fall bring the most comfortable weather and the best light for photographing the eroded formations. In every season, the sudden drama of the place is the draw.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

Hell's Half Acre is a dramatic geologic depression west of Casper in central Wyoming, a rugged expanse of eroded badlands where wind and water have carved the earth into a maze of spires, ravines, caverns, and colorful rock formations sunk below the surrounding plains. Far larger than its name suggests, this striking landscape long served as a landmark, was regarded as sacred and used as a buffalo jump by Native peoples, and its otherworldly terrain has even stood in for alien worlds in film. Best viewed from the rim overlooks along the highway, Hell's Half Acre offers a surprising and scenic geologic wonder in central Wyoming.

The name Hell's Half Acre comes from the rugged, otherworldly appearance of the eroded badlands, whose jagged spires, deep ravines, and stark formations struck early travelers as a hellish or infernal landscape, though the depression is actually far larger than half an acre, covering a substantial area. Native peoples long knew the site, regarding it as sacred and using its cliffs as a buffalo jump. The dramatic, alien terrain has made it a memorable landmark for centuries. The evocative name reflects the striking, rugged beauty of this geologic depression west of Casper, Wyoming.

Hell's Half Acre is best viewed from the overlooks along the rim near the highway, and visitors should stay back from the edges, as the rims and slopes are steep, crumbly, and eroded, making venturing down into the formations dangerous, especially with loose footing and no developed trails. Keep children and pets close to you away from the drop-offs. Facilities at the site are limited, so plan accordingly. Viewing the depression safely from the rim overlooks and staying back from the unstable edges ensures a safe and rewarding stop at Hell's Half Acre in central Wyoming.

Hell's Half Acre can be viewed year-round from the rim overlooks, but spring and fall offer the most comfortable temperatures, while summer can be hot and exposed on the open plains and winter brings cold and possible snow. The low-angle light of early morning and late afternoon deepens the colors and shadows in the formations, making those times especially photogenic. Because it is an open, exposed site, bring water and sun protection in the warmer months. For comfortable weather and beautiful light, spring and fall visits are ideal at Hell's Half Acre west of Casper, Wyoming.

Hell's Half Acre is west of Casper in central Wyoming, along the highway toward the Wind River country, within reach of Casper and its National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, Casper Mountain, and the Oregon Trail landmarks of central Wyoming. That makes Hell's Half Acre a striking geologic stop to combine with Casper, the historic-trails sites, and the other attractions of central Wyoming on a drive across the state.