ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
Explore three national parks and two national monuments on this breathtaking, 1,300-mile road trip that starts in Denver.
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DENVER TO ROCKY MOUNTAIN AND YELLOWSTONE AND BACK
pend your rst day of this incredible 1,300-mile, Range Mountains. A erwards, stop in Saratoga, Wyo., round-trip route in the Mile High City, checking for a dip in hot springs. From there, visit wild horses in out the art and food scene before heading north Lander, Wyo., before reaching Jackson, Wyo., and from Denver to Rocky Mountain National Park. Grand Teton National Park. SIn the park, take Trail Ridge Road, the country s highest Head north to explore Yellowstone before driving south paved road, over the Continental Divide. From there to Fossil Butte National Monument, Flaming Gorge, explore the classic Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyo., giving Vernal, Craig, and Dinosaur National Monument on you easy access to the scenic route through the Snowy your return to Denver.
PHOTOS: Mountain view from a Crossed Sabres Ranch outing (courtesy of Dude Ranchers Association), Odessa Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park (Depositphotos)
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YSJ2020_RoadTrip-Rocky-Mountain_07.indd 25 3/5/20 8:35 AM ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK Variable miles and time ROCKY’S TOP SIX
Here are some of our favorite things to do in Rocky Mountain National Park.
3 2 GO HORSEBACK 1 CLIMB LONGS PEAK RIDING
WATCH THE SUN RISE If you re a strong hiker who has trained Saddle up with Sombrero extensively, head to Longs Peak, the Ranches at the Moraine Park Wake up early to get to Bear Lake park s tallest mountain at 14,259 feet. and Glacier Creek stables. and hike 1.1 miles around the lake to Reaching the summit can take up to 15 catch the sunlight rising over Hallett hours, so start really early [many begin Peak and Flattop Mountain. Arrive long before dawn with headlamps] to 30 minutes before dawn. beat a ernoon storms.
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6 5 HIKE FROM 4 SEE THE SUNSET GRAND LAKE
WATCH WILDLIFE Stop at the Alpine Visitor Center at Stroll .3 miles along the East Inlet the top of Trail Ridge Road and Trail to get to Adams Falls. If you Spot moose in the Kawuneeche take a short hike up for an continue on the trail, you ll nd Valley along the Colorado River amazing Rocky Mountain sunset. yourself in a large valley with a and in the willows west of the river, small ponds and incredible Continental Divide. views. You can walk for miles before turning back.
PHOTOS: Lily Lake (Depositphotos), Bear Lake (iStock), Longs Peak (Depositphotos), Horseback riding, Moose, Trail Ridge Road sunset, Adams Falls (Grant Ordelheide)
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YSJ2020_RoadTrip-Rocky-Mountain_07.indd 27 3/5/20 8:33 AM ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH ESTES PARK, COLO., TO LARAMIE, WYO. 102 miles, 2 hours and 7 minutes
LEGENDARY LARAMIE
One hundred and 50 years ago, a Laramie resident became the rst female to cast a vote. Stop in Laramie to learn about her legacy, stay at a guest ranch and eat the best cinnamon roll ever. By Tori Peglar
When 70-year-old WYOMING HOUSE SNOWY RANGE SCENIC Louisa Swain FOR HISTORIC BYWAY HWY. 130 stepped up to the WOMEN ballot box in 1870, WHY GO: This stunning road 1 WHY GO: This downtown museum 2enables you to bypass Interstate 80, taking you she did something past glacial lakes, granite peaks, gorgeous no female in the honors Louisa Swain and 12 other Wyoming women who had meadows and over the second-highest mountain country had ever far-reaching impacts on society. pass in Wyoming. This breathtaking route done—she voted. reaches its high point at 10,000 feet. It’s closed TRIVIA: Joining Swain as mid-November to Memorial Day weekend. Her revolutionary act was made possible by a trailblazers in 1870 were Eliza women s su rage bill passed by the Wyoming Stewart, the first woman in the TIP: On Fridays and Saturdays, stop by Golden Territorial Legislature. It would be 50 years country selected to serve on a jury Prairie Bakery, owned by Jennifer Small, to get before women secured the right to vote on a and Esther Hobart Morris, the fresh-baked cinnamon rolls and more. Two miles nation’s first female justice of the west of the airport, turn on Herrick Lane and take national scale. Discover how Laramie s a right on BWJ Road. Drive .3 miles until you reach progressive roots have given rise to peace. Swain cast her vote a block from this building. the little red building in the cow pasture. entrepreneurial women and exciting attractions.
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING BASECAMP VEE BAR GUEST RANCH GEOLOGICAL MUSEUM WHY GO: Forgot a rain WHY GO: Settle into horseback WHY GO: See a 75-foot Apatosaurus jacket or need warmer riding, evening campfires and 3skeleton, along with other dinosaurs, in this museum. 4 layers? Owner Rebecca 5 incredible food at this gorgeous While it roamed Wyoming, a living Apatosaurus ate Walsh founded Basecamp outdoor guest ranch. The main lodge was built in 1891 one ton of vegetation daily and weighed 25 tons. The store to sell active clothing and gear, and served as a stage coach stop and a post museum’s hours of operation are Monday-Saturday, as well as host workshops and give office in its early days. trail advice. She also rents tents, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Admission is free. TRIVIA: Ranch manager and former wrangler Kari water filters, backpacks and stand-up Kilmer is the oldest granddaughter of Vee Bar TRIVIA: Disney-Pixar’s 2015 The Good Dinosaur paddleboards. featured a Wyoming Apatosaurus named Arlo who co-owner Lefty Cole. She and her husband Brent meets a human friend while navigating an TIP: Basecamp is located at 222 S. Kilmer have managed the ranch since 2006. unfamiliar landscape. 2nd St. in Laramie.
Learn more at the Laramie Area Visitor Center/Albany County Tourism Board, 210 E. Custer St., in Laramie or at VisitLaramie.org.
PHOTOS: Louisa Swain portrait (American Heritage Center - University of Wyoming), Hiking in the Snowy Range PHOTOS: Louisa Swain portrait (American Heritage Center - University of Wyoming), Hiking in the Snowy Range (Hermann Globel Photos, courtesy of Albany County Tourism Board) 28 . Yellowstone Edition 2020
YSJ2020_RoadTrip-Rocky-Mountain_07.indd 28 3/5/20 2:44 PM Need a place to stay in Jackson Hole? Stop searching and start exploring Jackson Hole. With four in-town locations and over 400 rooms, the Town Square Inns have more options to meet your style and budget than any other hotelier in town!
1.800.4tetons townsquareinns.com
PHOTOS: Louisa Swain portrait (American Heritage Center - University of Wyoming), Hiking in the Snowy Range PHOTOS: Louisa Swain portrait (American Heritage Center - University of Wyoming), Hiking in the Snowy Range (Hermann Globel Photos, courtesy of Albany County Tourism Board)
YSJ2020_RoadTrip-Rocky-Mountain_07.indd 29 3/4/20 5:33 PM ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH LARAMIE, WYO., TO SARATOGA, WYO. 98 miles, 1 hour and 35 minutes
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
In southern Wyoming, you ll discover a string of towns reliant on ranching, coal and a growing wind turbine industry. Here's what to see and do. By Tori Peglar
SOAK IN HOT SPRINGS ENJOY LOCAL FOOD DRIVE SCENIC BYWAYS SPEND THE NIGHT In Saratoga, choose between two Hit Lollypops in Saratoga for e 73-mile Seminoe-Alcova Spend the night at the historic di erent hot springs experiences. breakfast or ice cream and to Backcountry Byway brings you Hotel Wolf and Restaurant in e Hobo Hot Springs are free connect to WiFi. For ne dining, by a patchwork of prairie Saratoga, which was built by mineral pools and open 24 hours stop by the Aspen House country and high desert over the Frederick Wolf in 1893. a day. At Saratoga Hot Springs Restaurant in Rawlins for Seminoe Mountains. e south Walk through the swinging Resort, only guests can access the blackened ribeye or vegetarian end starts in Sinclair and ends in doors of the saloon to taste a teepee-covered mineral pools and dishes. Buck s Sports Grill and Alcova about 30 miles southwest regional microbrew and the 70-foot mineral hot spring pool. Anong s ai Cuisine in Rawlins of Casper. Or enjoy solitude on area s best burger. also are popular. the 29-mile Snowy Range Scenic Byway (see page 28 for details).
Learn more about Carbon County at WyomingCarbonCounty.com.
COWBOY EXPERIENCES There’s no greater Western wildlife, one ranch in And, neither will you. tradition than that of being Wyoming will take you to Whether you’re learning a cowboy. When you stay at see wild horses. Others horsemanship, exploring on a dude ranch, you’ll have amazing kids’ a long trail ride, enjoying experience cowboy life programs complete with dinner around a campfire or firsthand. While riding ziplining. One thing’s for simply reading a book on horses is a given, there are certain – no matter which the porch, you’ll feel all kinds of activities ranch you choose, you’ll connected to the land offered at dude ranches really connect with the and history of the West. across Wyoming, outdoors. To learn more and to Montana and Idaho. “Cowboys didn’t sit in find your perfect dude If you’re a foodie, there are front of TVs,” The Dude ranch vacation, visit ranches with mind-blowing Ranchers’ Association duderanch.org. culinary experiences. If executive director Bryce –Mikaela Ruland you’re interested in Street muses.
PHOTOS: Rearview look on scenic byway (Courtesy Carbon County Visitors' Council), Horseback riding on trail (Courtesy of Stacey Townsend/ Mountain Sky Guest Ranch)
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Spend a couple spectacular hours with wild horses and learn about Native American culture at the Wind River Wild Horse Sanctuary. By Tori Peglar
ld Man is leaning his huge head into to conservative World Wildlife Fund adopting wild horses is increasing from 3,100 our blue o -road vehicle, gently estimates, wild horses are bucking a in 2016 to 7,104 in 2019. at s more than a nuzzling Odessa Oldham s hand by downward trend, thriving in large numbers. 100 percent increase. e bad news is that it s Othe steering wheel. I am barely breathing in But as their population expands, they are just a drop in the bucket. the passenger seat, not wanting to scare o wreaking havoc on the fragile ecosystems in Bureau of Land Management arrangements him and his beautiful, dark, droopy eyes. which they roam in states like Wyoming, with families like the Oldhams help ease the Nevada and California. An estimated 88,000 We re stopped in the middle of Oldham s pressure. e Wind River Wild Horse lived on Bureau of Land Management land in family ranch, the 900-acre Wind River Wild Sanctuary is home to 230 wild horses who live 10 western states in 2019. When the wild Horse Sanctuary in Lander, Wyo. e sky on irrigated pastures that roll across the green horse population exceeds what the land can above us is as blue as it gets in the West with valley oor like a square in a quilt. It s part of a support, the sta round up excess horses like a couple of feather-like clouds skating across patchwork of 2.2 million acres of private and Old Man. Many are adopted by people. ose it. Between 10 and 60 feet from our vehicle public land, all sewn together as part of the that are not adopted live out their lives on graze dozens of wild horses, many eyeing us Wind River Indian Reservation. It s also the private contracted ranches or public ones like with a bit of uncertainty. But not Old Man. nation s only wild horse sanctuary on a Native the Oldhams'. He s one of the sanctuary s oldest horses, and American reservation. If you sign up for a he s comfortable with 27-year-old Oldham But the problem is the number of horses tour, you can get up-close to these beautiful and her tour vehicle. that need to be removed exceeds the demand animals via a horse-driven, open-air wagon or for horses cared for through adoptions, says a motor-powered side-by-side, depending on I slowly li my phone to capture a photo of Paul McGuire, an outreach specialist for the your tour group size. the all-black horse. Click. He leans in closer, BLM s National Wild Horse & Burro placing his enormous head near Oldham s as Program. And that means we need to nd if posing, spurring her to throw her head NATIVE AMERICAN TIES TO HORSES humane ways to care for them o the range. back and laugh. I start laughing, too, and I realize the possibility of experiencing a And that s not cheap. A staggering $50 While the Wind River Indian Reservation moment like this is exactly what brought me million of the program s budget goes to was created for Northern Arapaho and to the sanctuary on this warm August day. taking care of o -range wild horses and Eastern Shoshone tribes, the Oldham family burros every year. e remaining $31 million belongs to neither. eir roots are equally In an era where between 200 and 2,000 is used to manage those still on the range. anchored in Navajo and Anglo-American animal extinctions occur each year according traditions. Odessa Oldham s dad, Dwayne e good news is the number of people PHOTOS: Horses at Wind River Wild Horse Sanctuary, Odessa Oldham (Tori Peglar)
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YSJ2020_RoadTrip-Rocky-Mountain_07.indd 32 3/5/20 8:35 AM Oldham, has deep-rooted connections killed to be used as pet food or sold as to this corner of Wyoming three meat in European markets. hours east of Yellowstone National Ranchers, hunters and others killed Park. His family settled here after them as nuisance animals the Civil War in the 1860s. His competing with livestock for wife Denise Oldham is Navajo, water and food. Shocked by the having grown up on the Navajo cruel, unregulated treatment of Reservation in New Mexico. wild horses, a woman named Fourteen years ago, the two, along Velma B. Johnston, known as with their four children, moved “Wild Horse Annie,” led what some from the Navajo Reservation to have dubbed the “Pencil War,” in Lander. They run the 900-acre which thousands of school children working cattle ranch called the Double and adults wrote to Congress, asking D Ranch. for protection of wild horses. In 2016, they opened the Wind River Wild That protection came in the form of the Horse Sanctuary. It’s one of two Bureau of Wild-Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act Land Management-affiliated sanctuaries in passed by Congress in 1971. It recognized Wyoming that are open to the public. In their “People say the horse that “wild horses and burros are living bright renovated visitor center, you can symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of discover the important role horses have the West.” And it made it a federal crime to played in Native American life. In fact, it’s built the West. To be indiscriminately harass, capture or kill wild one of the few places where you can read horses or burros on public lands. exhibit panels on the ways horses changed honest, I think the Native American culture, says Odessa HOME OFF THE RANGE Oldham. When Richard Nixon signed the bill into law, “No one has ever told the Native perspective horse built America. about 25,000 wild horses and burros lived on and that really surprised me,” she says, public lands. But things got a little tricky after explaining that she traveled to the that. Unchecked herds double in size every Smithsonian (National Museum of the Native four years, according to BLM statistics. And American Indian) in Washington, D.C. five that presented a problem for BLM staff who years ago to do research for the sanctuary’s be honest, I think the horse built America.” were also charged with protecting the fragile, visitor center. “There’s a little about regalia, but often water-scarce desert ecosystems in they don’t have any information on how There’s certainly an argument for this. which the horses lived. To protect ecosystems horses changed Native American life.” While horses are as synonymous with the and horses, BLM gathers and removes horses West as sagebrush, horses didn’t exist here from the land and is investigating increased PEST OR SYMBOL OF THE WEST? until the Spanish explorers and use of fertility control on the range. missionaries brought them across the But it’s not until I am out with Odessa Oldham Atlantic Ocean. Sure, there were ancient At Wind River Wild Horse Sanctuary, the 230 on what is called a “side-by-side”, a motorized horses that roamed North America, but horses that were removed from the range must vehicle that resembles a golf cart on steroids, they went extinct, along with the woolly feel like they hit the equine jackpot. Their that an overpowering thought washes over mammoths, after the last Ice Age. pasture is as verdant as it gets in the West. And me. Horses are still so important to the while many assume wild horses cannot be There’s no way Spanish explorers and Oldhams’ lives and others like them. And they tamed, those who have worked with wild missionaries nor French trappers nor Native are so irrelevant to most of us. It’s almost as if horses know differently. Oldham points to Americans could have covered so much they only live in our imaginations, brought to Billy the Kid who can be a bit devious, ground without horses. Later, horses helped life in children’s books, grocery stores that Troublemaker who’s protective of her, Spirit farmers plow fields, haul heavy loads and have coin-operated mechanical horses and the who is beautiful and then Old Man. pull carriages. Over time, captive horses got well-publicized Kentucky Derby. loose from tribes, ranches and homesteads. “He has a lot of scars from when he was a “We use our (non-wild) horses on a daily Or they were deliberately freed during hard stallion in the wild,” Oldham says looking at basis,” says Oldham, as she navigates through times like the Depression and Dust Bowl, him fondly. “He came to us as an 'unsafe' the pasture, hopping out to open a gate. “We when owners could no longer care for them. horse and he is now one of the sweetest.” prefer to go on horseback for hunting — They became “wild” horses. Learn more at WindRiverWildHorses.com we’ll ride 10-16 miles into the mountains. We Until the early 1970s, thousands of wild and reserve your spot on a tour by calling move cows on horseback. And we ride for horses in the U.S. were rounded up and 307-438-3838. fun. People say the horse built the West. To
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YSJ2020_RoadTrip-Rocky-Mountain_07.indd 33 3/5/20 8:37 AM IN THE PARK
Enjoy the freedom BRING of driving your own car while traveling with an entertaining guide that A GUIDE doesn t take up space.
Wish you had a guide while touring Yellowstone Download the GyPSy Guide App. We recognized that travelers preferred to set their own pace and itinerary but still enjoyed a fun, informative and educational guided experience, says Rick Bulich, managing director of GyPSy Guide. at became our inspiration. How do we recreate that experience for people who want to remain independent and self-tour in their own vehicle e app uses your devices location to automatically play commentary about behind-the-scenes stories, historical events and notable geologic formations as you drive. In doing so, it tells you about upcoming sights, so you have time to make an informed decision as to whether you want to stop. Because the app relies on your phones GPS signal, not cell towers, no cell network or wi is required while touring. Learn more at GyPSyGuide.com.
PHOTO: Soda Butte Creek (NPS/Jacob W. Frank) W. (NPS/Jacob Creek Soda Butte PHOTO:
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MyYellowstonePark.com . 19
YSJ2020_InThePark_09.indd 19 3/5/20 9:05 AM ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH SARATOGA, WYO., TO GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK 314 miles, 5 hours and 25 minutes
3 ROADSIDE STOPS FOUR ROAD- TRIP TIPS
See the best in Grand Teton National Park. 1. CHECK By Tori Peglar YOUR BATTERY Before your road trip, check your battery’s charge. Heat saps its VISIT MORMON ROW SNAKE RIVER OVERLOOK OXBOW BEND strength, so make sure Founded in the late 1890s by When Ansel Adams captured the Farther north, along Hwy. 89 and you have a full charge, Mormon settlers, this community Snake River in 1942 in what would one mile east of Jackson Lake especially driving in Grand Teton was once home to 27 homesteads, become one of his most iconic Junction, stop for breathtaking National Park. a blacksmith shop, church, school photographs, he was working on a views at Oxbow Bend. When you and multiple ranches. Today, project for the Department of the arrive, you ll understand why this 2. INFLATE photographers from all over the Interior in Washington, D.C. stop got its name. An oxbow is a YOUR TIRES Inflate each tire to your world visit to capture images of the Secretary of the Interior Harold L. crescent-shaped section of river, car’s recommended tire Moulton brothers iconic barns Ickes had hired Adams to create a and this bend in the Snake River pressure to avoid a tire framed by the Tetons. e John photographic mural display for the is framed by the awe-inspiring blowout or wasting gas Moulton Barn is near John and department that would re ect its Mount Moran to the west. mileage. That number is Bartha Moulton s pink stucco mission to manage and conserve usually located in your It s a great place to see blue home, which remains on site. T.A. national resources. car's owner manual or herons, bears, moose and even Moulton Barn was built during a on a sticker inside your You can still re-create his shot at river otters. O en, photographers 30-year period. You ll notice his passenger door. the Snake River Overlook in visit at dawn or dusk to get their barn roof is a steeply pitched gable 3. EXAMINE Grand Teton National Park on iconic park shots. roof while John s is a gambrel roof. YOUR TREADS Hwy. 191 about 8.5 miles north of In 1997, Mormon Row was listed A erwards, head to Jackson Lake Stick a penny in a tire Moose Junction. Interestingly on the National Register of for a scenic boat ride to Elk Island tread with Lincoln's enough, it took 68 years for head upside down. If you Historic Places. where you can enjoy breakfast, Adams' Snake River image to see can see his whole head, lunch or dinner. Or stop at the Originally named Grovant, the the light of day in the hallways of you need new tires. The Pioneer Grill in the Jackson Lake Mormon settlers had to dig ditches the Department of the Interior. shallower the tread, the Lodge for the best milkshake ever. to get water from the Gros Ventre When Pearl Harbor was bombed, less responsive your A er you take a sip, you ll tires are to wet, snowy River to their elds to grow hay Adams project took a back seat to understand why bears seek out or icy conditions. and oats. It was a hard life amid the war. His 200 photographs sat huckleberry bushes to feast. Jackson Hole s severe winters and in the National Archives until 4. HAVE A SPARE very short summers. Drive north 2010 when Secretary of the Just 25 miles north is the Pack a spare and make sure it's properly from Jackson on Hwy. 191 past Interior Ken Salazar unveiled South Entrance to Yellowstone inflated and has solid Moose Junction, turn right onto murals representing 26 of Adams' National Park. tread depth. Antelope Flats Road and drive 1.5 photos on the rst and second miles. A trail brochure and oors of the building. interpretive sign can be found at the parking lot.
ese scenic stops and road-trip advice are sponsored by Nokian Tyres. Get more road-trip tips and information at NokianTires.com. PHOTO: T.A. Moulton barn with Tetons behind (Lee Skalkos/National Parks Photography Contest)
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YSJ2020_RoadTrip-Rocky-Mountain_07.indd 34 3/5/20 2:45 PM NOKIAN TYRES_GCJ_2020.indd 1 2/18/20 12:50 PM ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK TO JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT, WYO. .5 miles, 2 minutes
THE BIG SIX
Right next to Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort o ers a ton of fun.
VIA FERRATA AERIAL TRAM AND GRAND ADVENTURE WHY GO: Unlike the CORBET’S CABIN PARK world-renowned expert climbing WHY GO: Ready for views WHY GO: This is paradise on 1 routes in the Tetons, the Via 2without having to hike? Take the 3Earth for kids and for every adult who Ferrata makes mountain climbing accessible Jackson Hole Mountain has continued to cultivate their inner for families and individuals looking for Resort aerial tram to child. Your Grand Adventure Pass adventure. Accompanied by a guide, you’ll Rendezvous Mountain at enables you to access the secure yourself to cables and move across a 10,450 feet. bungee trampoline, the mountain face by way of metal ladders, rope 25-foot-high Aerial Adventure TIP: Stop in at walkways and ledges. Course known as “The Ropes,” Corbet’s Cabin at the the gondola, tram and 25-foot TIP: Book in advance a full-day climb (five top for mouth-watering rock climbing wall. hours) with lunch included or a partial-day waffles with Nutella, climb (three hours) that enables you to sample sugar and/or bacon. A TIP: Kids ages 5-7 must be some of the routes without lunch. You’ll start favorite is the Traditional accompanied by a paying adult on with a one-hour practice route to get you ready with brown sugar, butter and the ropes course. for the rest of the Via Ferrata. a side of bacon.
DOWNHILL PARAGLIDING HIKE THE WILDFLOWER TRAIL MOUNTAIN WHY GO: You’ll see TO BRIDGER GONDOLA BIKE PARK incredible scenery as WHY GO: Get amazing views, pass fields of wildflowers and you paraglide over 4 WHY GO: Feel the rush of biking 5 6take breaks on benches tucked in the shade on this must-do hike to the the Jackson Hole area, flying with top of Bridger Gondola. downhill on fun mountain trails a tandem professional pilot from without having to sweat uphill. Jackson Hole Paragliding. TIP: It’s always free to ride down the gondola or tram, so hike away, The five-minute Teewinot chairlift knowing you don’t have to hike down. will bring you and your bike to the TIP: No top. previous experience is TIP: Rent your bike at necessary, but JH Sports or Teton you must weigh Village Sports in Teton between 40 and Village. And if it’s your 220 pounds and be first time mountain physically fit biking, set yourself up enough to run. It for success by taking a is recommended one-hour you book in introduction advance. course.
Learn about Jackson Hole Mountain Resort at JacksonHole.com.
PHOTOS: Hanging bridge along the Via Ferrata, aerial tram, mountain biking, Casper Ridge Loop (All photos courtesy of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort) 36 . Yellowstone Edition 2020
YSJ2020_RoadTrip-Rocky-Mountain_07.indd 36 3/5/20 8:37 AM JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT 2 PAGE SPREAD_YSJ_2020.indd 3 1/24/20 4:58 PM JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT 2 PAGE SPREAD_YSJ_2020.indd 2 1/24/20 4:57 PM IN THE PARK BEAR TIPS
No one in the continental United States has likely investigated more bear attack incidents than former Yellowstone and Glacier national park ranger Gary Moses. A product ambassador for Counter Assault bear spray, Moses has five tips to avoid a dangerous bear encounter.
1. BUY BEAR SPRAY: Not all 2. KNOW HOW TO USE BEAR 4. MAKE NOISE: Announce your In the event a grizzly charges, bear spray is created equal. Some SPRAY: Learn how to pull the presence, especially near gurgling remove the safety device and aim brands run out quickly or can’t safety off, so you’re not fumbling streams, dense vegetation or a downwards toward the front of spray very far. Counter Assault in front of an aggressive bear. blind corner where you can’t see the bear. Spray in 1-2 second makes a 10 oz. can that last 8 the other side of the trail. bursts. Don’t empty your can in 3. HIKE IN A GROUP: You’re seconds and sprays 40 feet. Its 8 one spray. You want more in case more likely to talk, which will 5. KEEP FOOD PACKED AWAY: oz. can lasts 7 seconds and can you aimed incorrectly or the alert a grizzly in advance that Keep food and garbage in your spray 32 feet. Keep it on the wind carried the spray away from you’re in the area. If you do backpack, except if you’re eating outside of your pack, so it’s easy the bear’s face. encounter a grizzly, your hiking it. At camp, place it in bear proof to access if you need it. partners can help or get help. cans or hang it high in a tree. Learn more tips at CounterAssault.com/bear-spray. PHOTO: Courtesy of Counter Assault with permission from @shelbzzf from with permission Assault of Counter Courtesy PHOTO:
MyYellowstonePark.com . 23
YSJ2020_InThePark_09.indd 23 3/5/20 9:07 AM EXPERIENCE THE THEY CAME HERE FOR A REASON.
TheThe dinosaurs may have been prehistoric but they knew what they were doing. They found a scenic oasis of adventure and stayed so long it
is their final resting place. See what they saw and go beyond the bones AND BEYOND! to experience everything the area has to offer.
DINOSAUR NATIONAL MONUMENT
PHOTOS: Hanging bridge along the Via Ferrata, aerial tram, mountain biking, Casper Ridge Loop (All photos courtesy of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort)
YSJ2020_RoadTrip-Rocky-Mountain_07.indd 37 3/4/20 5:37 PM ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH JACKSON, WYO., TO KEMMERER, WYO. 161 miles, 2 hours and 49 minutes
LOST IN TIME
Visit Fossil Butte National Monument after leaving Yellowstone. By Vincent Guieb
ant to see a 52-million-year-old fish, turtle or crocodile fossil? W Head to the Kemmerer/Diamondville area (pronounced “Kemmer”) in southwest Wyoming to discover these fossils on your own at one of the area’s private quarries that serve as 52-million-year-old limestone graveyards. At these private facilities, visitors can dig through layers of time, uncovering fish, plants, birds, insects and crocodiles. Fifteen miles west of Kemmerer is Fossil Butte National Monument. View more than 300 fossils and interactive displays at the visitor center, hike the outdoor trails or drive the scenic route and have a picnic. Remember it is forbidden to remove fossils or disturb artifacts in the national monument. During the summer, you can go on a guided tour, see fossil preparation demonstrations or tag along with a paleontologist in the scientific collection of fossils on Fridays and Saturdays. The area also has a rich, more recent history of coal mining, railroads and bootlegging. Take a stroll through historic Herschler Triangle Park to see the nation’s second J.C. Penney store. James Cash Penney opened it in 1902. His original house in Kemmerer is a public museum. Visit the Crafter’s Cottage for locally made crafts and learn about Wyoming history at the Fossil Country Frontier Museum. Then grab a bite at a local favorite like El Jalisciense and have a drink at The Stock Exchange, a functioning bar since 1902. Learn more at FossilBasin.org. Read the longer article online at MyYellowstonePark.com.
PHOTOS: Fossils on Cundick Ridge (Courtesy NPS), Private fossil quarry Fossil Basin Promotion Board)
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YSJ2020_RoadTrip-Rocky-Mountain_07.indd 38 3/5/20 8:37 AM FOSSIL BASIN - KEMMERER - DIAMONDVILLE
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’ TM THAT S WY
ocated at the southern end of the Bridger-Teton National Forest with the Ham's Fork River flowing through town and the Green River near by, the Kemmerer area is a fisherman's Lparadise! Area reservoirs also offer plenty of fishing.
e sure and visit Fossil Butte National Monument - located 15 minutes from Btown. Some of the world’s best preserved fossil fishes are found in the flat-topped ridges of southwestern Wyoming. You can fossilbasin.org also contact area fossil https://www.nps.gov/fobu quarries and “fish” for http://oysterridgemusicfestival.com 52-million year old fish.
he last weekend in July it’s all about the MUSIC - OysterT Ridge Music Festival to be exact! Wyoming’s largest FREE Music Festival and home of the Wyoming State Flatpick Guitar Championship has been happening in Kemmerer’s downtown Triangle Park for 23 summers now.
FOSSIL BASIN_YSJ_2018.indd 1 1/31/20 4:58 PM ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH KEMMERER, WYO., TO DUTCH JOHN AND VERNAL, UTAH 155 miles, 3 hours and 10 minutes HIDDEN GEM
Explore Dinosaur National Monument and more in Vernal, Utah. By Tori Peglar
ooking to avoid the crowds and see one of the country’s most spectacular national monuments? most dating from 1 AD to 1300. Owned by To explore the Vernal area by ATV, head to L Jean McConkie McKenzie, the 500-acre Dinosaurland KOA, 930 North Vernal Ave., Head to Vernal, Utah, to see Dinosaur National Monument. You can explore this property may have more ancient drawings on to rent an ATV and explore trails that cater to special place by foot, but don’t miss the a one-mile-stretch than anywhere else in all levels and leave from the property. Or take opportunity to experience the monument by Utah, says Lesha Coltharp, Uintah County your mountain bike to Dry Fork Flume Trail, water. You can raft the gorgeous Green River travel and tourism director. which is 10 miles from McConkie Ranch, McCoy Flats and Red Fleet State Park. Red on a day or multi-day trip that cuts through “It’s an authentic experience,” says Coltharp, Fleet also has a rolling 1.5-mile hiking trail to the monument, passing spectacular striated noting it’s a $5 per car suggested donation to 200-million-year-old dinosaur tracks. Go sandstone walls and lush coves. visit the ranch. “It’s Jean’s homestead and if early in the morning or late afternoon since she’s home, she’ll show you the pottery she’s On foot, you’ll see ancient Native American the tracks become difficult to see when the collected. She just wants people to experience rock art of animal-like figures, abstract sun is directly above you. The park also rents the area’s history.” designs and human-like figures whose kayaks, canoes and paddleboards to explore meaning is still a mystery. You’ll also find You’ll see the Three Kings, a set of intricate Red Fleet Reservoir. unmistakable dinosaur bones — more than drawings that tower above you on the cliff’s Stop by the Utah Field House of National 1,500 — in the monument’s sandstone walls. walls. You’ll also catch a glimpse of an History State Park Museum, 496 East Main ancient artist’s sense of humor when you spot Beyond the park, head to McConkie Ranch St., for more area information or visit a drawing of a frightened hunter being just a 15-minute drive from Vernal to see Dinoland.com. hundreds of Fremont Indian rock art panels, chased by a deer.
DESERT OASIS Cool down in the heat of summer by renting a stand-up paddleboard at the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in Utah.
A number of wakeless to worry about waves from without going on a floating. Rent a raft and For great scenery, visit paddling trails near the motorized boats. commercial trip float seven miles Red Canyon Overlook, Flaming Gorge Dam and downstream.” downstream to Little Hole the area’s most “It’s really spectacular,” near Sheep Creek Overlook takeout where a Instagrammed spot. says Ryan Kelly, Flaming Below the Flaming Gorge enable you to explore pre-arranged shuttle can Gorge marketing director. Dam runs a mellow stretch Learn more at canyons that rise anywhere pick you up. Or rent a “It’s a great way to get that of the Green River that’s VisitFlamingGorge.com. between 100 and 1,000 houseboat to explore the deep canyon experience great for family river feet. You won’t even have 91-mile-long reservoir.
PHOTO: Petroglyphs at McConkie Ranch (Courtesy Uintah County Travel & Tourism)
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YSJ2020_RoadTrip-Rocky-Mountain_07.indd 40 3/5/20 8:35 AM ROCKY MOUTAIN HIGH VERNAL, UTAH TO CRAIG, COLO. 121 miles, 2 hours WESTERN COLORADO
From wild horses near Craig, Colo., to incredible ra ing, don t miss these top four sights on the way to Rocky Mountain National Park. By Tori Peglar
EXPLORE RAFT THE GREEN VISIT DEER- STOP AT DINOSAUR OR YAMPA LODGE PARK SANDWASH NATIONAL RIVERS WHY GO: See BASIN 1 MONUMENT 2 WHY GO: The confl uence of the 3hundreds of elk year-round at this 4 WHY GO: See one of the Green and Yampa rivers is in the area on the monument’s eastern country’s last remaining herds of WHY GO: Two-thirds of this edge. There are bathrooms and striking national monument is in monument amid gorgeous free-roaming wild mustangs. canyons and ancient art. eight camping sites. Colorado’s Moffat County, making TIP: Sand Wash Basin is 45 miles the area a must-see. TIP: Jump on a raft with Good TIP: To get there, go west from west of Craig, Colo. Drive west Vibes Rafting or OARS or call Red Craig on Hwy. 40 to mile marker on Hwy. 40 past Maybell. Turn TIP: Head to Quarry Exhibit Hall 44. Take the Deerlodge Park Road to see 1,500 dinosaur fossils on a Coyote Shuttle for shuttles if you north on Hwy. 318 and drive have a lottery-administered north for 12 miles, following the about 15 miles. Turn right on cliff wall and touch fossils from paved road to the campground. 149 million years ago. permit and your own boat. County Road 75.
PHOTOS: Dinosaur National Monument PHOTOS: Dinosaur National Monument (Courtesy of Moffat County) Learn more at VisitMo atCounty.com.
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