Route ideas for Wyoming Grand Tour?

Thanks everyone for the help!

TexasShadow wrote:
All you mentioned is good stuff, but I highly recommend you try to work in the Big Horn Mountain area. On the northern end, there is an ancient indian site called The Medicine Wheel, very cool if you like that kind of thing. and highway 14A is a must see, but not when you're pulling a trailer. VERY hard grade, climbing the side of a very high mountain...like the Bear Tooth, but with steeper grades. On the southern end, highway 16, there are lots of Forest service campgrounds, nice ones.

I agree. 16 is much better for RVs.

All you mentioned is good stuff, but I highly recommend you try to work in the Big Horn Mountain area. On the northern end, there is an ancient indian site called The Medicine Wheel, very cool if you like that kind of thing. and highway 14A is a must see, but not when you're pulling a trailer. VERY hard grade, climbing the side of a very high mountain...like the Bear Tooth, but with steeper grades. On the southern end, highway 16, there are lots of Forest service campgrounds, nice ones.

We came in on I-80 from NE. Didn't stop in Cheyenne, but did stop in Laramie. All 3 of us enjoyed the WY Historical Territorial Prison. I even bought a shirt.

Also, don't skip Devil's Tower. It's in NE corner, off I-90 and there's a nice KOA at the entrance. It's basically on the way to SD and not too far off your route. We missed it coming from Little Big Horn and backtracked when we checked out of a Sturgis RVP. It was a nice day trip with the TC. Then we headed back to Rapid City and checked in for a few days.

X2 on We love Wyoming!

If you are interested in history, route 220 between Casper and Muddy Gap follows some of the Sweetwater River and the Oregon Trail. There is a rest stop At Independence Rock, where the immigrants carved their names into the hard granite. A few miles away is the Devil's Gate and further west Split Rock is seen in the distance.

Another Oregon Trail site in WY is the wagon ruts in Guernsey. Some ruts are 4 feet deep, cut into the limestone.

A left turn onto route 128 from route 287 before Lander will take you to the Red Canyon overlook and a few miles further on another left down about 2 miles of gravel road will take you to South Pass City, where a gold mining town and mine buildings are being restored.

About 7 miles west of Lander is Sinks Canyon State park, where the Popo Agie River disappears into the side of a cliff, then rises again 1/4 mile down hill. Nice campground there where the sound of the river will lull you to sleep.

Route 287 and 26 north from Lander will take you over the Togwotee Pass to Grand Teton NP (our favorite NP). Near the top of the pass is the Forest Service Falls Campground. If you want to escape the crowds in Grand Teton for a while, drive east on Gros Ventre Road to Atherton Creek FS campground on Slide Lake. About five miles further on a good gravel road and through a beautiful red cliff valley is the Crystal Creek FS campground, where you can camp within a few feet of the junction of the Gros Ventre River and Crystal Creek.

My suggestion would be to leave Yellowstone through the northeast entrance and drive to the top of Beartooth pass, then turn around and go down to the junction with the Chief Joseph Highway with more great scenery on the way to Cody. We have stayed several times at the Crazy Creek FS campground a few miles west of the Beartooth/Chief Joseph junction. Binoculars show Bighorn Sheep on the cliffs across the valley from this campground.

From Cody eastbound, we like route 14 over the Bighorn Mountains so we can stop at Shell Falls on the way up. Nice FS campgrounds along both routes 14 and 16 over the mountains. Great views going down the east side if the air is clear of smoke from forest fires.

x2 on the snowy range, lots of brook trout in the lakes at the top. There is also the Wolf hotel in Saratoga. The Pinedale area has many outdoor attractions, a neat museum, a fantastic aquatic center and a brew pub with great food. Stay at Highline Trail RV park in Boulder. Thermopolis hot springs are worth a day. Do not miss Buffalo Bill museum in Cody. We love Wyoming!

Mattyd wrote:
Friends, any suggestions would be appreciated on travel routes on our trip to WY. Our plans are to come in on the SE side of the state via Route 80 and hit Cheyenne and Laramie.
From here we are completely open to and desire the senic routes - not overly concernced about making time but rather, making memories. We want to make our way to Jackson Hole, up the Tetons, to Yellow Stone, Bear Tooth Pass, Cody, and then shoot over to Custer SD.
So any routs to take, places to see, things to do as well would be appreicated. Thanks.

For your first leg, heading out of Laramie, take the Snowy Range Rd/WY 130 west to Centennial and then up and over Snowy Range Pass. Though it's a high pass at nearly 11000 feet, it's not overly difficult, and the views up top are definitely worth the trip. Several good hikes in the area there, if you like hiking. There's several USFS campgrounds along the way if that interests you, on both sides of the pass; more on the east side than the west side. The drop down the west side is also not difficult, and you could head in to Saratoga WY and spend some time at the hot springs there.

Dead Indian pass north of Cody. Nice camping spots where you won't find many tourists. Not too far from Bear Tooth. Red Lodge, Montana is nice area. They brew good beer in Red Lodge. Lots of wild life. Find remote camping areas and take early morning or evening drives. Of coarse wild life is much more abundant in the winter when they come down from the higher elevations.

Mattyd wrote:
Friends, any suggestions would be appreciated on travel routes on our trip to WY. Our plans are to come in on the SE side of the state via Route 80 and hit Cheyenne and Laramie.
From here we are completely open to and desire the senic routes - not overly concernced about making time but rather, making memories. We want to make our way to Jackson Hole, up the Tetons, to Yellow Stone, Bear Tooth Pass, Cody, and then shoot over to Custer SD.
So any routs to take, places to see, things to do as well would be appreicated. Thanks.

With your set up the sky is the limit - I'd add Wind River Canyon as a beautiful drive and Flaming Gorge as one more stop. Remember that all the areas around YNP are great drives.

Just a little help I hope,