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There & Back

Wind Rivers

Wind Rivers
There & Back
Green River Lakes
Pinedale
Big Sandy Lake
Lander Dubois

The drive from Kentucky or the Ohio Valley out to the Wind Rivers is one of the epic road trips in America. We've heard people, mainly teenagers, complain that it's a boring three or four days. We strenuously disagree. We think it can be a fascinating experience as long as you pay attention to the landscape and stop at the right places. We like going out I-80 and returning on I-70. That is, we like driving up to Route 80, then taking it West across Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming. On the way back, we like dropping down through Colorado, picking up Route 70 at Denver, and taking it through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana to Kentucky. This means you'll be crossing the world's greatest agricultural region at the peak of the growing season, and you'll see everything from fields of commercially grown sunflowers to herds of cattle to the famous "amber waves of grain." You'll also see sprayers, irrigators, tillers, thrashers, cultivators, and other farming apparatus at work. But you'll also cross the Mississippi River, one of the world's greatest waterways, twice. You'll pass through some of the greatest locations in the history of the Native Americans and the American West. You'll cross through the heart of the Cattle Empire. And you'll see Antelope, Mustangs and other wildlife out on the High Plains.

Every photo on this page was taken from the interstate except the one of the bridge. We were just lucky on that one. We were camped there and got to watch the riverboat lower its tall stacks to pass under the bridge, then raise them back into place on the other side. But if you can keep everyone's eyes off their Ipads and video games and focus on the passing show, and keep cameras handy, you can build a whole photo album just on the trip out and back. The scene at left is a sunflower farm in Nebraska. Among other uses, they extract sunflower oil from the seeds, which has many uses and brings good money.
Another fascinating feature of this trip is you pass six state capitals, all within a few miles of the interstate and four within sight of it. They are all beautiful buildings and they are all strikingly different. The one at right here is the Nebraska Capital at Lincoln. It is a huge building and one of the nation's most impressive. You could spend a whole day here, but it certainly deserves at least 30 minutes. You'll also pass the state capitals of Indiana, Iowa, Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas, and with brief detours you could add those of Illinois and Missouri.
Especially if you have high school kids along, you should consider stopping at some or all of the 15 major universities you'll pass. Each of them could justify a whole day, but you could at least drive through the campus and stop by the registrar's office for promotional materials. Among these 15 are some of the nation's outstanding schools, each offering world class programs. At left is the University of Wyoming Paleontology Museum, part of the University's world reknowned Department of Paleontology. The others on your route will be Butler University, Illinois State, Bradley University, the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, Drake University, the University of Nebraska, Creighton University, Colorado State University, the University of Colorado, Kansas State University, the University of Kansas, St. Louis University, Washington University of St. Louis and Southern Illinois University. And there are nine smaller schools, like Kearney State, Fort Hays State, Regis, and Kansas City. Even if your kids aren't likely to enroll at one of these schools, touring them can add to their ideas of what great colleges look like and discussing them can sharpen their focus on how to evaluate the schools they might be considering.
One of the interesting things we've done when we had big sports fans along was stop at the stadiums and arenas along the way. Shown at right here is the University of Nebraska Stadium, which you can see from the highway. You'll pass huge college stadiums and basketball arenas at the University of Iowa, University of Wyoming, Colorado State, University of Colorado, Kansas State University and the University of Kansas, plus professional football or baseball stadiums at Omaha, Denver, Kansas City and St. Louis. If you're a big college baseball fan the College World Series is held at Omaha every June.
Council Bluffs is a series of high cliffs dropping from the Iowa Prairie down to the Missouri River Valley. These bluffs held religious and ceremonial importance to Native Americans before the coming of the White Man. Every year in the Spring tribes from across the nation would send delegations to The Council Bluffs for discussion of issues that affected them all. After 1620, these issues more and more involved the spread of White settlements, but they might also involve disputes between tribes over hunting grounds, unethical war practices, or distress over droughts, floods or severe Winters. Generally, chiefs, high ranking warriors, shamen and interpreters came to these meetings, but they brought support personnel along to tend to cooking and other details while the leaders met in councils each day. In the evenings there would be feasts, games, dancing, and other social events. Early white letters, diaries and reports describe such gatherings as huge, with one camp after another stretching for miles along the bluffs. Women would fan out along the river in search of plants and fish, while hunters would travel the Prairie for miles in search of Deer, Elk, Turkey or Pheasant. It was a Native American version of the United Nations, and allowed the flow of ideas and trade items from one tribe to all the others. When missionaries and scouts found the Sioux with seashells, the Seminole with buffalo robes or the Iroqouis with copper, jade or turquoise bracelets, they would be told the items had been acquired through trade at The Council Bluffs. Native Americans have petitioned Congress on several occasions to create a Council Bluffs National Park, or at least a Council Bluffs National Historical Site, but so far nothing has been done. Obviously, the town of Council Bluffs sits right in the middle of what would be hallowed ground, but there is enough undeveloped shoreline and bluffs to do something. At least, as you approach this area, pay attention to the landscape and think about what happened here every year for at least a thousand years. As you cross the river toward Omaha and Nebraska, turn and look back at The Council Bluffs, which look very much now as they did then.

Of all the trips we talk about on this website, this one is the most ideal for car camping. In fact, most of our favorite car camping sites are on this one trip, adjacent to or close to the interstate. By combining KOAs and state parks, you can enjoy beautiful facilities, with wide, grassy, shady tent sites, pools or beaches, scenic backgrounds, and privacy. On the trip out, on the first night we recommend the Des Moines West KOA. It's 17 miles west of West Des Moines at Exit 106. Go north 1.5 miles on County Route P58. As you can see from the photo at right, you can pitch your tent and fix dinner in a very idyllic pastoral setting. There are the usual KOA amenities : clean hot showers, pool, convenience store, etc.

Our favorite second night campsite is Windmill State Park in Nebraska . It borders I-80 at Gibbon. You can't miss it, as the giant windmill becomes visible on your right two miles ahead. It features several giant windmills, a sandy edged lake, excellent grassy, level, shady tent sites and a fine shower facility. There's a nice restaurant at the entrance if you're not into fixing your own meals after a long day's drive.

You may be tempted to pass these campsites and try to squeeze another hour or so out of your day's drive. We recommend against that. This is a long four day drive and you should pace yourself. Plus, these are popular campgrounds and you need to stop early enough to claim a decent tent site. And of course if you're cooking, you need daylight to prepare, and then clean up afterward. These trips are for enjoyment, remember. You're not running a race. Four days out and three days back, plus a full week in the Wind Rivers, is a reasonable time frame for such a memorable experience.

Beginning in Illinois, you will be driving across what used to be the open Prairie. Huge expanses of it are still there. But look carefully. You'll drive through three distinct zones. Illinois is the beginning of the Tall Grass Prairie. Oregon Trail diaries mention having to stand on wagon seats to see out over the tall grass. As you climb in altitude and there's less water, you see fewer and fewer trees and eventually you find yourself in the Mid Grass Prairie. Then, as you enter near desert conditions and even higher altitude, you are in Short Grass Prairie. Not only is the grass shorter, but the individual plants are further apart. The grass in all three zones is very nutritious, but as it gets shorter and further apart cattle, sheep, horses and buffalo have to move more to get enough of it. Note the trees hugging stream valleys.

We recommend leaving the interstate at Oglalla. Stop briefly at the famous Boot Hill there. This was an old cattle drive town, and this was the original Boot Hill, although other western towns copied the idea and the name. Then take Route 26 northwest. You are retracing the Oregon Trail. Some of the trail is actually under the pavement, but it emerges to the left and the right as you drive, the tracks still visible where they have not been paved over or plowed under. You can stop at Ash Hollow and see where they had to winch the Conestoga wagons down the steep two mile descent to the river crossing. Further on you, you'll come to the Scottsbluff National Monument. There's a Visitor Center, a museum and the huge rock (left) which was an Oregon Trail landmark. We recommend camping at the Pony Soldier RV Park past Lingle, just before you get to Fort Laramie. It's designed for RVs but can accomodate tents. Then you'll reach Fort Laramie, the most famous fort in the American West (The Alamo was a Spanish Mission, not a fort). You could spend a whole day here, but it's worth at least an hour. Among other things, you MUST walk at least a quarter mile or so of the Oregon Trail, where so many hundred thousand wagon wheels passed that they carved the narrow trail several feet down into the ground and even into the limestone and sandstone. Stare at Independence Rock, the halfway point, where the wagon trains always spent July Fourth and celebrated by carving their names in the huge dome shaped rock. 130 years later, the names are still there. So are all the headstones that dot the wagon trail all the way to Oregon. Thousands of people died trying to make the hard trip West. Many families put up temporary markers, then came back a year or so later with permanent stones which they placed on the graves. Many Oregon families still have their beloved Conestoga Wagon in a barn or garage, protected from the weather, as a symbol of the incredible adventure their great great grandparents had coming out the Trail. It was an epic chapter in American History that, sadly, our history classes no longer pay much attention to.

When you leave Fort Laramie, just stay on Route 26 all the way to Dubois, or pick up 28 South from Kinnear to Farson Eden and then 191 into Pinedale. From Fort Laramie you easily make Dubois or Pinedale in one day. Dubois has the Wind River KOA (formerly called the Circle Up), a beautiful facility with the Wind River rippling past and the trail to the mountains just across the bridge. You're a block from the main street, with restaurants and shops stretching for two blocks down to your right. You can fish or put a kayak or canoe in the Wind River right at the edge of the campground, and in 10 minutes you're up the trail on the flank of the mountains. There's not much privacy here, but the sites are wide and grassy and tents are well separated from RVs. There's another luxury : an indoor, heated pool. Even in July, nights here at 7000 feet get frosty pretty quick, so after a day's hiking that warm water feels pretty good. You can see the A frame office from the main street, so finding it is no problem, but just come through town and turn left on Welty or Riverton Streets.
The Wind River KOA offers one thing you won't find at other campgrounds : a Chuckwagon Cook Out and Western Concert, offered every Monday and Thursday. First you get to eat genuine Cowboy Cooking (in Dutch Ovens), fixed and served by Cowgirl Caterers, then listen to Prickly Pair and Ray Evans. Even if you don't think you like Western music (they may change your mind), you're guaranteed to appreciate the food, which is high end restaurant quality. You will need reservations. Dinner is served at 6:30. Music begins at 7:30.
Going to Pinedale or Green River Lakes, turn North on 191 at Farson Eden. For Big Sandy Lake, gas up again at Farson Eden, then turn around and retrace three miles on Route 28 toward Lander. Turn left onto Farson East 4th Road, becoming Farson Little Sandy Road, joined by County Road 108, becoming Big Sandy Elkhorn Road. Turn right on Elkhorn Cutoff, becoming Lander Cutoff, then Big Sandy Opening Road to the lodge. For Green River Lakes, take 191 out of Pinedale to Cora, then 352 (Green River Lakes Road) to the end.

Pinedale offers choices. There is the Pinedale Campground, two blocks south of the main street. It's a nice place : wide grassy tent sites and clean showers and laundry facilities. There's no shade, and no privacy, but you're only a few blocks from downtown.

Or there's Fremont Lake, a Forest Service campground four miles north of town, on the shores of a huge lake and in heavy tree cover (see right). There's good fishing and boating and hiking trails lead up into the mountains, although you have a several mile wide bench to cross first. If you want to hike across High Chapparal, these trails are outstanding. If you want to get into the mountains as quickly as possible, you're better off driving to trailheads already in them. However, as a one night stop on arrival in Pinedale or after returning from your backpacking trip before heading home, Fremont Lake is excellent.

On your way out and back across the Wyoming High Plains, keep your eye out for these wagons. They're the homes of Basque sheep herders. They move with their herds back and forth across the open country, doing their best to protect the sheep from predators (coyote, birds of prey, etc.) and guiding them to the best grazing areas and remote watering holes. This is a modernized version of the old classic 1800s wagons. These mid 20th Century models have rubber tires, steel chassis, metal roofs, and more efficient and comfortable interiors. But they would still be a lonely home out on the prairie.
Going home, you can drop straight across the Red Desert to I-80. From Pinedale, follow 191 through Farson Eden to Rock Springs and turn East on I-80. From Dubois, follow 287 through Lander and Jeffrey City across the Red Desert to Rawlins, where you pick up I-80. The Red Desert is a special place of its own. It is the highest altitude desert in the world, a "cold desert," but one rich in plant and animal life. This is classic Short Grass country. The wild horse at left is on his own in the Red Desert. Be Sure To Fill Up With Gas before leaving Dubois, Pinedale, Farson Eden, Rock Springs and Rawlins. Gas stations are far between and there's no guarantee they'll be open. At Laramie, you could stop at the University of Wyoming. At Cheyenne, you could pick up I-25 due South into Colorado and pick up I-70 at Denver. Or you could stop in Cheyenne first.

There's a state park campground up at Vedauwoo (the old Cheyenne name for it) as you come over the mountain pass between Laramie and Cheyenne. You need to pull off here. One of the most spectacular campgrounds you've ever seen is nestled in between these weird rock formations. If you have any rock climbers in your group, they'll be awed at the climbing routes available, and you'll probably see climbers high on the rocks. Vedauwoo also features some of the wildest weather you've seen; you're likely to get snowed on in July or August. If you wanted to spend some time in Laramie and/or Cheyenne, you could camp up here. This was also the furthest West Abraham Lincoln ever travelled. He was a major stockholder in the Union Pacific Railroad, and as such he travelled out to see how his railroad was doing. The top of this mountain range was as far as they had laid the rail, so he rode the executive car out here, stayed two nights exploring the area, then rode back to Illinois.

 

You really should make this trip in late July or August to allow the snow to melt off the trails up in the Wind Rivers. If you come at this time, on the way home you can spend a night in Cheyenne and take in Frontier Days, America's largest rodeo. This is a two week extravaganza featuring the top cowboys in the world in each category. In effect, this is the national championship. But it's a lot more than a rodeo. You can see major concerts (we've caught Credence Clearwater Revival, The Beach Boys and more recent groups here), shop for Western wear, sample great cooking and even drop by the Governor's Pancake Breakfast on your way out of town the next day. But if you're in Wyoming while Frontier Days is going on and you pass up the opportunity, you're making a serious mistake.

If you don't want to spend the night up at Vedauwoo, there's a Cheyenne KOA on the hill outside town. You can find plenty to eat at the Rodeo.

 

 
If you stop at the University of Wyoming, Colorado State University or the University or Colorado on the way home, or if you stop at Frontier Days and stay for the Pancake Breakfast, you may find yourself coming out of Denver onto I-70 by late afternoon. In this case, we highly recommend the Denver East KOA in Strasberg. We've camped there many times. It's right along I-70. The tent sites on the interstate side of the campground are wide, grassy and relatively private, although there's no shade. You want to make a reservation ahead of time, specifying the front sites. If you get relegated to the rear tent sites, they do have shade but are less private and are more gravel than grass. There's a Group Site (shown at left) designed for youth groups.
Bonny Lake is 15 miles off I-70 right at the state line, further off the road than we like. But you can find beautiful tent sites in the trees right on the edge of a sandy beached lake which is so shallow the water is warm throughout the Summer. We love taking a moonlight swim, drying off and climbing in our bags, then climbing out in the morning, taking a wakeup swim, packing up, and heading eastward. From the Cheyenne Frontier Days you can make Bonny Lake in one day if you don't stop for the Governor's Breakfast. From Bonny Lake you can stop at Kansas State, then reach Lawrence before dinner. The next night you're home. If the Bonny Lake stop doesn't fit your schedule, there's another nice state park campsite at Wilson Lake east of Manhattan but your tent won't be on a beach or next to the water. You'll be higher on a grassy shelf. But the facilities are nice.

The final KOA we recommend on this trip is the one at Lawrence, Kansas. Again right along I-70, this is exactly one day from Kentucky and most places in the Ohio Valley so fits our trip back. There are very spacious grassy tent sites on a large level field with huge shade trees. We can reach this KOA in one day from Bonny Lake, Wilson Lake or the Strasberg KOA. We usually set up camp and spend the evening at the University of Kansas, touring the campus and eating at one of the outstanding restaurants at the base of Mt. Orad (the hill the campus is on, the highest point for several counties around). This is the last night of our trip, so we traditionally build a campfire and sit around reminiscing about our Wind River memories.

One option KOA offers which we take advantage of when bad weather is threatening is the Kamping Kabin. The one shown here is a one bedroom unit. It sleeps four in one double and one set of bunk beds. There is air conditioning and electricity but no bathroom; you still use the central bath and shower facility. You'll still need your sleeping bags but mattresses are provided. The porch allows you to fix dinner and breakfast outside even if it's raining, and there's a picnic table (not seen in this photo but just to the right of the partially visible fire ring). KOA also offers larger units which sleep six and have a few more amenities. Kamping Kabins are popular with families, so you definitely need to reserve one at least the morning of your arrival.

If you plan to stay at KOAs on this or any other trip,go to KOA.com and request a current KOA directory. It shows you each one with rates and amenities and gives you phone numbers and directions, plus it serves as an up to date road map of each state. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of reserving tent sites or Kabins ahead of time.

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