The following feature classes are used to identify the type of feature a place represents. The terms are generally consistent with dictionary definitions. Most of these terms are used by the United States Geological Service in the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database. We have added terms that are of particular significance in Wyoming.

Manmade Features

• An Airport is a man-made facility maintained for the use of aircraft; also called an airfield, airstrip, air force base, landing field, or landing strip.

• A Bridge is a man-made structure carrying a trail, road, or other transportation system across a body of water or depression; also called a causeway, overpass, or trestle.

• A Canal is a man-made waterway used by watercraft or for drainage, irrigation, mining, or water power; also called a ditch or lateral.

• A Cemetery is a place or area for burying the dead; also called a burial ground, burying ground, grave, or memorial garden.

• A City/Town is a place or area with clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent human population. In Wyoming, it is an incorporated place.

• A Dam is a water barrier or embankment built across the course of a stream or into a body of water to control and (or) impound the flow of water. It is also called a breakwater, dike, or jetty. Most of the time, the construction of a dam creates a Reservoir, which is an artificially impounded body of water also called a lake or tank.

• A Fort is a strong or fortified place; especially a fortified place occupied only by troops and surrounded with such works as a ditch, rampart, and parapet. Also, a permanent army post often used in place names. Also called a base.

• A Highway is a public road for use by automobiles, buses, trucks and other vehicles. It does not include trails.

• A Library is a place where materials in all formats are available for public use. In Wyoming, there are public, college, university, state and federal libraries.

• A Locale is a place at which there is or was human activity; it includes battlefields, crossroads, camps, farms, ghost towns, landings, railroad sidings, ranches, ruins, sites, stations and windmills. It does not include populated places, mines, or dams. Used for historically or currently populated but unincorporated places in Wyoming.

• A Mine is a place or area from which commercial minerals are or were removed from the Earth; includes pits, quarries and shafts but does not include oilfields.

• A Monument is a structure erected or designated as a memorial. Also called a marker.

• A Notable Structure is a man-made structure of historical significance. It includes churches, government buildings, hospitals, hotels, libraries, towers and other buildings. It does not include schools.

• An Oilfield is an area where petroleum is or was removed from the Earth.

• A Pony Express Station is a service point that was used by the Pony Express.

• A Post Office is an official facility of the U.S. Postal Service used for processing and distributing mail and other postal material.

• A Railroad Siding is a short section of railroad track connected by switches with a main track. A Station is a service point for a railroad.

• A Ranch is a large farm for raising horses, cattle or sheep. Also called a farm.

• A School is a building or group of buildings used as an institution for study, teaching, and learning; includes academies, colleges, and universities.

• A Stage Station is a service point for stages.

• A Trail is a route for passage from one point to another; it does not include roads or highways.

• A Tunnel is a linear underground passageway open at both ends.

Water Features

• A Bay is an indentation of a coastline or shoreline enclosing a part of a body of water; a body of water partly surrounded by land; also called arm, bight, cove, estuary, gulf, inlet, or sound.

• A Bend is a curve in the course of a stream and (or) the land within the curve; a curve in a linear body of water; also called a bottom, loop, or meander.

• A Channel is a linear deep part of a body of water through which the main volume of water flows and is frequently used as a route for watercraft; also called a passage, reach, strait, thoroughfare, or throughfare.

• A Falls is a perpendicular or very steep fall of water in the course of a stream; also called cascade, cataract, or waterfall.

• A Geyser is an eruptive spring from which hot water and (or) steam and in some cases mud are periodically thrown.

• A Glacier is a body or stream of ice moving outward and downslope from an area of accumulation; an area of relatively permanent snow or ice on the top or side of a mountain or mountainous area; also called icefield, ice patch or snow patch.

• A Lake is a natural body of inland water; also called backwater, lac, lagoon, laguna, pond, pool, resaca, or waterhole.

• A Rapids is a fast-flowing section of a stream, often shallow and with exposed rock or boulders; also called riffle or ripple.

• A Slough is a relatively small coastal waterway connecting larger bodies of water or other waterways; also called creek, gut, or inlet.

• A Spring is a place where underground water flows naturally to the surface of the Earth; also called a seep.

• A Stream is a linear body of water flowing on the Earth's surface; also called anabranch, awawa, bayou, branch, brook, creek, distributary, fork, kill, pup, rio, river, run, or slough.

• A Swamp is a poorly drained wetland, fresh or saltwater, wooded or grassy, possibly covered with open water; also called bog, cienega, marais, marsh, or pocosin. In Wyoming, swamps are usually called bogs, marshes or meadows.

Land Features

• An Arch is a natural arch-like opening in a rock mass; also called a bridge, natural bridge, or sea arch.

• An Area is any one of several areally extensive natural features not included in other categories; includes badlands, barrens, deltas, fans, and gardens.

• A Bank is a natural or manmade embankment flanking a stream. Also called a berm or levee.

• A Bar is a natural accumulation of sand, gravel, or alluvium forming an underwater or exposed embankment; also called ledge, reef, sandbar, shoal or spit.

• A Basin is a natural depression or relatively low area enclosed by higher land; also called amphitheater, cirque, pit, sink or playa.

• A Bench is an area of relatively level land on the flank of an elevation such as a hill, ridge, or mountain where the slope of the land rises on one side and descends on the opposite side; also called a level.

• A Cave is a natural underground passageway or chamber, or a hollowed out cavity in the side of a cliff; also called a cavern or grotto.

• A Cliff is a very steep or vertical slope; also called bluff, crag, head, headland, nose, palisades, precipice, promontory, rim, or rimrock.

• A Crater is a circular-shaped depression at the summit of a volcanic cone or one on the surface of the land caused by the impact of a meteorite; a manmade depression caused by an explosion; also called a caldera or lua.

• A Flat is a relatively level area within a region of greater relief; also called a clearing, glade, or playa. In Wyoming, flats are also called meadows or parks.

• A Gap is a low point or opening between hills or mountains or in a ridge or mountain range; also called a col, notch, pass, saddle, water gap, or wind gap. In Wyoming, often called pass.

• An Island is an area of dry or relatively dry land surrounded by water or low wetland; also called archipelago, atoll, cay, hammock, hummock, isla, isle, key, moku, or rock.

• A Pillar is a vertical, standing, often spire-shaped, natural rock formation; also called chimney, Hoodoo Rock, monument, pinnacle, pohaku, or rock tower.

• A Plain is a region of general uniform slope, comparatively level and of considerable extent; also called grassland, highland, kula, plateau, or upland.

• A Point is a projection of land extending into a body of water; also called cape, lea, neck, or peninsula.

• A Range is a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area; also called cordillera or sierra.

• A Ridge is an elevation with a narrow, elongated crest which can be part of a hill or mountain; also called crest, cuesta, escarpment, hogback, lae, rim, or spur.

• A Slope is a gently inclined part of the Earth's surface; also called grade or pitch.

• A Summit is a prominent elevation rising above the surrounding level of the Earth's surface; includes bergs, balds, buttes, cerros, colinas, cones, cumbres, domes, heads, hills, horns, knobs, knolls, maunas, mesas, mesitas, mounds, mounts, mountains, peaks, puus, rocks, sugarloafs, tables, and volcanoes; does not include pillars, ridges, or ranges.

• A Valley is a linear depression in the Earth's surface that generally slopes from one end to the other; also called arroyo, barranca, canyon, chasm, coulee, cove, draw, glen, gorge, gulch, gulf, gully, hollow, ravine or wash. Mostly called canyons, draws or gulches in Wyoming.

Special Features

• A County refers to a political division formed for administrative purposes.

• A Forest is a bounded area of woods, forest, or grassland under the administration of a political agency. Includes national forests, national grasslands, and state forests.

• A Park is a place or area set aside for recreation or preservation of a cultural or natural resource and under some form of government administration; includes national historical landmarks, national parks, state parks and wilderness areas. Does not include national or state forests or reserves.

• A Reserve is a tract of land set aside for a specific use; it does not include forests, civil divisions, or parks.

Yellowstone National Park