Wender·Vista
Clarks Fork Canyon
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileWyoming
north of Cody, below the Beartooth Plateau

Clarks Fork Canyon

— — a river that cut itself a thousand feet down.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone carves a narrow granite canyon along the eastern edge of the Beartooth Plateau, the deepest cut in Wyoming and the only river in the state with a Wild and Scenic designation. The Chief Joseph Scenic Byway climbs the rim, named for the Nez Perce leader who brought his band through this corridor in 1877. Below the rim, the canyon goes quiet. — from the studio

from the studio
Clarks Fork Canyon
— bring it home

Clarks Fork Canyon, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Clarks Fork Canyon

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Clarks Fork Canyon is the gorge cut by the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River through the eastern edge of the Beartooth Plateau, in Park County in northwest Wyoming. The canyon runs through the Shoshone National Forest, north of Cody. A twenty-mile stretch was designated in 1990 as the only Wild and Scenic River in Wyoming. The Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, Wyoming Highway 296, climbs the rim above the canyon.

— the stone

The canyon walls are Precambrian granite and gneiss, some of the oldest exposed rock in North America. The river has cut more than a thousand feet down through the plateau in a narrow slot that opens only at the canyon mouth near Clark, Wyoming. The Beartooth uplift exposed the basement rock; the river did the rest, slowly, over the last few million years. There are stretches where the canyon is only fifty feet across.

— the year

In 1877, the Nez Perce band led by Chief Joseph passed through this canyon while fleeing the U.S. Army on their long retreat toward Canada, threading horses and families along the rim where the highway now runs. The byway, completed and named in 1995, traces that route. The canyon stays largely as it was: no road descends to the river along most of its length, and the lower reaches are reached only by foot or pack stock.

— where
United States · Park County, Wyoming
— within
Shoshone National Forest
— position
44.8833° N · 109.4500° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
50 km NW
Beartooth Pass
mountain pass
50 km SE
Cody, Wyoming
town
15 km S
Sunlight Basin
valley
N
Clarks Fork Canyon
Beartooth Pass
Cody, Wyoming
Sunlight Basin
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Clarks Fork Canyon — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The canyon is in Park County, Wyoming, north of Cody and along the eastern edge of the Beartooth Plateau, inside the Shoshone National Forest.

Yes. A twenty-mile reach was added to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 1990. It is the only river in Wyoming with that designation.

The river has cut more than a thousand feet down through Precambrian granite and gneiss. In the narrowest stretches the canyon walls stand only about fifty feet apart.

The Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, Wyoming Highway 296, runs along the rim. It was named for the Nez Perce leader whose band passed this corridor in 1877.

No road descends to the river along most of its length. The canyon floor is reached only on foot or by pack stock from access points along the byway.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The Clarks Fork is one of the more storied Wyoming rivers among anglers and packrafters. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio reads well in a fish room or a den.

The dark granite and river palette suits mountain-modern, ranch-modern, and Western interiors. It also sits well in a quiet Japandi room against unfinished oak and natural fibre.

Yes. River-canyon subjects and granite-and-pine palettes are a steady current in Western-modern and Mountain West design, both in ranch renovations and in city apartments.

Above a sofa, a single Large reads as one long view down the canyon. For a console or a hall, a four-tile Mural or nine-tile Mural opens up the depth at scale.

Yes. Choose the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any bathroom, shower wall, or kitchen backsplash. Both finishes are scratch-resistant and built for vertical wet installations.

Plain water and a microfibre cloth for the glossy show pieces. The Dura Satin and Matte finishes take a little mild dish soap and a soft cloth without trouble.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio. We do not license. The Clarks Fork painting was made for our atlas of places and is not sold anywhere else.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.