Route ideas for Wyoming Grand Tour?
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 c...
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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.
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.
