Wyoming’s back roads and mountain roads are some of the
best-kept secrets of our great state.
These are the
places favored by the locals and cherished by visitors who can’t help coming
back to them again and again.
On Fathers Day
Nancy and I drove up the winding switchbacks of the famous Loop Road that
starts at the end of Sinks Canyon just outside of Lander. It was busy up there
that day. On one big switchback, we encountered a bicyclist, a motorcyclist, a
big SUV and a large pickup towing a fifth wheel trailer. We all converged at the same location and,
well, it was almost like a traffic jam. Almost.
I envy the
folks in Thermopolis, Worland, Greybull, Basin, Powell and Lovell on the west
side of the Bighorn Mountains and Buffalo and Sheridan on the east. They have
three spectacular U. S. highways (16, 14 and 14A) that cross this towering
mountain range from one side to the other.
And breaking off from each of these highways are those favorite backcountry
mountain roads that locals just treasure.
I know when I drive over these mountain passes on those main highways
that the real joy comes from just taking off on one of the side roads. Usually
I am in a hurry like everybody else but on my bucket list is the goal of taking
the time to drive down each and every one.
Contrast the
Bighorns with our Wind River Mountains.
We have a distance of more than 120 miles between South Pass and
Togwotee Pass. Some of the wonderful
mountain roads into the Winds between the two passes and their main highways
include the afore-mentioned Loop Road, the Shoshone Lake Road, the Dickinson
Park Road, the Dinwoody road, the Torrey Lake road and lots of wonderful little
roads taking off in all directions from Dubois.
The Union Pass gravel road northwest of Dubois goes over the mountains and
comes out in Sublette County.
The views of
the towering Wind Rivers are much better on the Sublette County side and
thousands of folks from that county plus Sweetwater County have most of the
great little roads memorized. Some
amazing lakes can be found at the end of these roads.
In Carbon
County, the roads around the Sierra Madre Mountains are spectacular especially
near Saratoga, Encampment, and Lake Marie.
Over in Afton,
there are many wonderful mountain roads into the Wyoming Range.
We used to
boat at Flaming Gorge south of Rock Springs and Green River and the monolithic
Uintah Mountains loomed over that giant lake.
There are lots of nice roads that start in Wyoming but end up in Utah.
Wheatland
residents have their secret roads into the Esterbrook area near Laramie
Peak. That 10,000-foot behemoth always
impresses me because was the first real mountain seen by some 350,000
flatlanders traveling the Oregon-California-Mormon Trail back in the 1800s.
In northeast
Wyoming, you have the under-rated Wyoming Black Hills. Although lacking the towering peaks of major
mountain ranges, this area offers terrific roads into the backcountry. They
also have active logging going on over there so a lot more country is
accessible than in places where logging has been discontinued.
Cheyenne and
Laramie folks have a myriad of canyons and mountain roads to drive on to their favorite
places. One of the best is old U.S. Highway
30 from Cheyenne to the Summit.
Incredible scenery can be found.
Perhaps I
purposely left Jackson at the bottom of this column. There are not too many
roads and trails into the Tetons but the ones that are accessible are truly
visions of glory. There are also lots of
mountain roads on the east side of the valley. As you climb that view of the
Teton Mountains over your shoulder is perhaps the most beautiful (and most
famous) mountain view in the world.
All these
places are here in Wyoming and they are places you need to visit on a hot
summer day. I guarantee you most of these places are pretty uninhabited and the
cool mountain air will remind you why you live in this wonderful state one more
time.
When I
submitted this column to my network of folks who live all over the state, their
responses were overwhelming.
I think I can get most of them into my next column – amazing
stories about fantastic back roads places.
If you want to participate, email me your favorite back road or mountain
road at bsniffin@wyoming.com.
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