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Driving out, we recommended the northern route through the Black Hills. Driving back (assuming you live in the Ohio Valley, where 83% of our readers do) we recommend the southern route through Jackson Hole, Dubois, the Red Desert, Laramie, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. It's a historic and scenic route with lots of potential stops if you have time. Once you reach Laramie it's interstate all the way. We recommend overnighting in Dubois, Laramie, Lincoln and Champaigne Urbana, four nights compared to five nights on the way out. You'll get pretty good mileage because from Togwotee Pass an hour from Yellowstone to Champaigne Urbana it's downhill the entire way except for the Laramie Mountains between Laramie and Cheyenne. You'll pass four world class universities and a dozen historic sites, go through five ecological zones, cross two of North America's largest rivers, and see where America's beef, wheat, corn, soybeans, pork, ham and vegetables are raised. Next time you come to Yellowstone you'll probably fly, so we suggest you try to really enjoy this rare trip across the country and stop to sample some of its important sites. |
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Soon after passing through Yellowstone's South Entrance, you'll enter Grand Teton National Park and come to the entrance to Colter Bay. This is worth a stop. You get your first amazing views of the Grand Tetons. There's a Visitor Center, restaurant, cabins and marina. The photo at left only shows yachts but you can rent canoes, kayaks, john boats and motorboats. These cabins are the most economic lodging in the park. Jackson Lake here is a fisherman's dream and hiking and equestrian trails lead out in all directions. There's a beach here but the water is ice cold. Like all accommodations in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, you need to make reservations a year in advance. |
Being this close, you have to take the time to drive across Grand Teton National Park to visit Jackson. It's a quirky town mixing Old West, Cowboy, Mountain Man, Skiing, Park Ranger, Backpacking, Hunting, Fishing, Whitewater Raft, Wealthy New West and Hollywood cultures together. You could spend a couple of days here, but at least an hour or two is needed to browse the downtown shops, grab lunch and soak in the atmosphere. There's no other town anything like this. You may find yourself parking next to a famous actor, politician or millionaire entrepreneur. The rest of Wyoming views Jackson rather skeptically, not sure they should claim it or not. The photo at right shows the largest Antler Arch in the world, at the entrance to the town square and right next to the stage stop. |
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Before you leave the valley, be sure to ride the Jackson Hole Tram to the top of the Tetons. The trip up takes 12 minutes and the views are amazing. You could wait and eat lunch in the restaurant on top. It costs $30 for adults and $15 for seniors but it's well worth it. |
Leaving Jackson, you drive north on 191 & 26, then turn right (east) on 287 & 26. This will take you up over the Continental Divide, past The Pinnacles (right), and down into the Wind River Valley to Dubois, a town in many ways the exact opposite of Jackson. Dubois is one of America's great small towns. Historically, it's a cattle ranching and timbering village. Today it's a center for backpacking, fishing and hunting. We recommend you spend the night here at The Stagecoach Inn in the center of town. You need to eat a few meals at The Cowboy, an authentic old time Wyoming restaurant. There are two amazing museums: The National Bighorn Sheep Center and The Museum Of Military Vehicles. You must visit both, even if you spend the following morning doing so. There are several fine art galleries (see Dubois Art) and Tukadeka Traders, the best collection of Native American jewelry in Wyoming. If you're into historic saloons, there are two classics here: The Outlaw Saloon and The Rustic Pine Tavern. You need Stagecoach Inn reservations several months ahead. |
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Leaving Dubois after a day or two, you'll pass through the spectacular Red Rock Country and Wyoming Badlands. This is a geologist's fantasy, with rock layering, tilting and eroding around every bend. Be sure to look for Antelope, Bighorn Sheep and other wildlife. |
| Sjortly after leaving Dubois you'll enter the Wind River Reservation and will be driving across it for 90 minutes. Since the 1800s this has been the home of the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes. It extends from the Contental Divide on the south to the peak of the Absaroka Mountains on the north, making it the second largest Native American reervation in the country (behind the Navajo Nation in Arizona). If they're staging one of their celebrations while you're in the area, we urge you to stop as it is a memorable sight (see photo at right). Fort Washakie is the seat of the reservation and you'll pass through it after about an hour. There's the Shoshone Rose Casino & Hotel, a state of the art resort complex. The restaurant there is famous for its Indian Tacos. |  |
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You stay on 287 through Lander and across the Red Desert. This is the highest altitude desert in the world. It's not all sand, although there is some of that, as seen in the second photo from the top. You'll drive past mountains, badlands, plateaus, canyons and other formations. It doesn't seem possible, but the Red Desert is teeming with wildlife, especially Antelope, Desert Elk, Mule Deer and Wild Horses. Be sure to gas up in Lander because you won't pass another station for 125 miles. Way out in the desert you'll pass Jeffrey City, a boom town that sprang into existence to house workers at a uranium mine, then died when the uranium was mined out. Today it's a 21st Century ghost town. After crossing the Red Desert you'll come to Rawlins, where you can get gas and maybe a soft drink before turning east on I-80. It's about a 90 minute (100 miles) drive to Laramie, where we recommend you spend the night. |
| While in Laramie, you should explore the University of Wyoming campus. This is the only four year college in Wyoming. The state has wisely determined to spend all its resources on one campus rather than build duplicate dorms, libraries, stadiums, arenas, student centers, and other high cost facilities. UW is one of the nation's smallest state universities, one of its best, and houses several programs among the best in the world : Geology, Zoology, Botany, Wildlife Biology, Mechanical, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Range Management, Economics, Education, Vertebrate Paleontology and Geophysics. Even if you're only driving around campus in the evening, you'll see some interesting buildings architecturally. The school cafeteria is one of the best in the nation. Laramie offers great rodeo if you're there the right night, and the first full week of July it hosts the annual Jubilee, a weeklong championship rodeo. 10 miles west of town on route 130 in Centennial is The Old Corral, one of America's top 10 steakhouses. One of their steaks would be a fine way to celebrate your last night in Wyoming. |  |
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You'll leave Laramie and cross the Laramie Mountains. At the top you'll pass a special monument marking the place Abraham Lincoln camped on his trip West to see first hand how the Transcontinental Railroad was doing. It's worth a stop. Then you'll descend to Cheyenne, the state capitol. It's always worth a stop, but if you're here the last week of July you must stop and take in Frontier Days, the world's greatest rodeo. This is big time, professional rodeo and if you only see one rodeo in your life this is the one to see. But they also bring in major groups and individuals for concerts. The Governor hosts a Pancake Breakfast and there are tents where you can shop for western wear and other memorabilia. However, assuming you trip does not line up with Frontier Days, it's time to head east into Nebraska. We recommend spending the night in Lincoln. |
| While you're in Lincoln, there are two sights you must see. The first is the Nebraska State Capitol Building. It's unlike any other capitol, a beautiful vertical spire, tallest building in the state, visible for 20 miles in every direction. The other is Memorial Stadium (photo, right), one of America's largest football stadiums. The stadium holds the NCAA record for number of consecutive sellouts. While you're in the neighborhood, drive through the University of Nebraska campus. It offers world class programs in Biological, Agricultural and Biomedical Engineering, Ecology, Mass Communications, Dance and Psychology. Upon leaving Lincoln in the morning, you'll pass Omaha and Council Bluffs, and drive across Iowa. We recommend spending your final night in Champaign Urbana, Illinois. |  |
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