Pathfinder Reservoir is located in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

 on the North Platte River

North Platte River

The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long counting its many curves, It travels about distance. Its course lies in the U.S...

 between Casper

Casper, Wyoming

Casper is the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States.. Casper is the second-largest city in Wyoming , according to the 2010 census, with a population of 55,316...

 and Rawlins

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...

. It sits 47 miles (76 km) southwest of Casper, in Carbon County

Carbon County, Wyoming

Carbon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of 2010, the population was 15,885. Its county seat is Rawlins.- History :Carbon County was organized in 1868....

 and Natrona County. The reservoir was created by Pathfinder Dam

Pathfinder Dam

Pathfinder Dam is a cyclopean masonry dam, located on the North Platte River, approximately southwest of Casper, Wyoming. It was originally constructed between 1905 and 1909 as part of the North Platte Project and has been modified several times since then. It is included on the National Register...

 and has a storage capacity of 1016000 acre.ft. The shoreline consists of 117 miles (188 km). Much of the water used to serve the 335,000 acre (1360 km²) North Platte Project

North Platte Project

The North Platte Project is an irrigation project in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Nebraska. The project provides irrigation service to about . The primary water storage for the project is in Pathfinder Reservoir in Wyoming. Downstream, Guernsey Dam manages river flow and provides secondary...

 is stored here. Some of the water in the reservoir is released to satisfy other water rights and to operate power plants downstream of the reservoir. Much of the Pathfinder Reservoir is included in the Pathfinder National Wildlife Refuge

Pathfinder National Wildlife Refuge

Pathfinder National Wildlife Refuge is located in the U.S. state of Wyoming and includes 16,807 acres . The refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, both agencies within the U.S. Department of the Interior...

.