Unit 055 (Grinnell)
Wyoming Hunting Guide — Elk
Elk Hunt Area 55, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Grinnell, covers about 392 square miles in Park County. It belongs to WGFD's Cody elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 44%, with 91 hunters taking 40 elk at about 18.6 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 100% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 055
Elk Hunt Area 55, which Wyoming Game and Fish names Grinnell, covers about 392 square miles in Park County. It belongs to WGFD's Cody elk herd unit. WGFD's 2025 harvest survey put elk success here at 44%, with 91 hunters taking 40 elk at about 18.6 days of hunting per animal. Federal land covers about 100% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Elk Hunt Area 55
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names elk hunt area 55 "Grinnell". It runs to about 392 square miles, entirely in Park County. WGFD reports these elk as the Cody herd unit, which also takes in elk hunt areas 56, 58, 59, 60, 61 and 66. WGFD prints the line and counts the harvest. It doesn't say where inside the line the elk live, so that part is our read of the ground, labelled as such.
The line: North Fork, Shoshone River and Sweetwater Creek
WGFD's 2026 Chapter 7 defines elk hunt area 55 as all of the north and west drainage of the North Fork of the Shoshone River down to but excluding the drainage of Sweetwater Creek; all of the south drainage of the North Fork of the Shoshone River down to but excluding the drainage of Elk Fork Creek. It is the description your license is good inside, so it is worth reading once in full before you go. The full text is in Section 9 of that chapter, with this year's season dates and license limitations in Section 2.
Not the same ground as the other hunt area 55s
WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 55 also belongs to its antelope hunt area 55. None of it shares a county with this one. A license is good only in the hunt area of its own species, so this page is about the elk area, and the cards at the foot of the page link the others.
Wilderness inside the line: North Absaroka Wilderness and Washakie Wilderness
About 47% of elk hunt area 55 lies in the North Absaroka Wilderness and 36% of elk hunt area 55 lies in the Washakie Wilderness. WGFD's 2026 regulations print the rule that matters there: no nonresident may hunt big game in a designated wilderness area unless accompanied by a licensed professional guide or a resident guide, with at least one guide for every two nonresident hunters. Inside the wilderness there are no roads, so every animal there comes out on your back or on a horse.
High ground inside the line: Sunlight Peak, Nipple Mesa and Land Mountain
Named high points inside elk hunt area 55 include Sunlight Peak at 11,909 feet, Nipple Mesa at 11,416 feet, Land Mountain at 11,226 feet, Sleeping Giant Mountain at 11,170 feet and Coxcomb Mountain at 11,104 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Elk want timber to bed in and open ground to feed on, within a short walk of each other.
Holding ground: Paradise Valley, Fishhawk Meadows and Eagle Creek Meadows
Below them sit Paradise Valley at 8,259 feet, Fishhawk Meadows at 7,625 feet, Eagle Creek Meadows at 7,476 feet, Sam Berry Meadow at 6,842 feet and Glacier Basin at 10,169 feet. Those are the basins and bottoms of the area, and they are what you glass into from above.
Water: Newton Spring
Named water inside the line includes Newton Spring. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Unit 055 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up · figures are for GMU 55
The lay of it
- 6,852–10,720 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 8,856 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 391.6 sq mi inside the boundary.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest — 60%
- State Trust — 8%
- Private / Other — 32%
Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 15 tanks
- 2 springs
- 140 stream segments
- 1 lakes
Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Sunlight Peak (11,909 ft), Nipple Mesa (11,416 ft), Land Mountain (11,226 ft), Sleeping Giant Mountain (11,170 ft)
Holding ground: Glacier Basin (10,169 ft), Hughes Basin (10,060 ft), Crow Creek Pass (9,868 ft), Newton Spring
Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.
How to Hunt Elk in Elk Hunt Area 55
Elk Success Rates
Wyoming Game and Fish's 2025 harvest report estimates 44% elk success in elk hunt area 55: 40 animals taken by 91 active hunters over 744 days of hunting, or 18.6 days per animal. By residency, residents 36.6% (26 taken by 71) and nonresidents 70% (14 taken by 20).
These are WGFD's own estimates from its hunter survey, for this hunt area and season only — not a statewide average. One season isn't a trend, so check the current report before you read one into it.
Elk Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (resident) | 50 | 228 | 21.9% | — |
| Rifle — General Type 1 either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 61 | 1.6% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (resident) | 21 | 26 | 80.8% | — |
| Archery — Type 9 either sex (nonresident) | 0 | 5 | 0.0% | — |
Data from 2026 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.
Open in Draw Odds EngineWyoming Game and Fish's 2026 demand report for elk in elk hunt area 55, residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different license pools:
- Type 1 (any elk), residents: 228 first-choice applicants for 50 licenses, 21.9% drawn
- Type 1 (any elk), nonresidents: 61 first-choice applicants for 1 license, 1.6% drawn
- Type 9, residents: 26 first-choice applicants for 21 licenses, 80.8% drawn
- Type 9, nonresidents: 5 first-choice applicants for 0 licenses, 0% drawn
Wyoming residents draw elk licenses without preference points; nonresidents draw part of their quota on points, highest balance first (Chapter 44, Section 19), and the nonresident figures above are from WGFD's random draw. WGFD publishes no preference-point level at which a hunt draws, so none is given here. Every figure was checked against WGFD's demand-report PDFs on 2026-08-10.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Wyoming elk hunt area 55?
What is the elk success rate in elk hunt area 55?
Is elk hunt area 55 the same ground as antelope hunt area 55?
What do you need besides a license to hunt elk hunt area 55?
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Upgrade to Pro — $49/yrSources & Verification
Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-25.
- Chapter 7 — Elk Hunting Seasons (2026) — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Name and legal boundary of elk hunt area 55, Season dates, license types and limitations by hunt area · accessed 2026-10-25
- Elk 2025 Harvest Report — Wyoming Game and Fish Department · supports: Hunters, harvest, percent success and days per animal for elk in elk hunt area 55, The same by license type and residency · accessed 2026-10-25
- WGFD draw results and odds — demand reports 2021-2026 — Wyoming Game and Fish Department · supports: First-choice applicants, licenses and percent drawn, by license type, residency and year · accessed 2026-08-10
- Chapter 44 — Regulation for Issuance of Licenses, Permits, Stamps, Tags, Preference Points and Competitive Raffle Chances — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Which licenses are drawn on preference points (Section 19), When preference points are deleted · accessed 2026-10-25
- 2026 Antelope, Deer and Elk Hunting Regulations — Wyoming Game and Fish Commission · supports: Nonresident guide requirement in designated wilderness · accessed 2026-10-25
- WGFD ArcGIS feature services — hunt areas by species, CWD sampling areas, WHMAs, Public Access Areas, Hunter Management Areas, Walk-In Hunting Areas — Wyoming Game and Fish Department · supports: Mapped outline of the hunt area, Herd unit and square miles · accessed 2026-10-25
- TIGERweb State_County — Wyoming county boundaries (used only to measure which counties a hunt area lies in) — U.S. Census Bureau · supports: Which counties the hunt area lies in, and in what share · accessed 2026-10-25