The byway begins at Dubois (DOO-boyce), in a portion of the Wind River Valley where the surrounding terrain shifts from colorful arid badlands to densely forested mountain slopes. Before leaving town, stop at the innovative National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center (907 W. Ramshorn. +1 307 455 3429. Open 7 days. Labor Day–Mem. Day; Adm. fee). Next door you’ll find the Wind River Historical Center/Dubois Museum (+1 307 455 2284. June-Sept.; Donation), a good pioneer, archaeology, and natural history museum.
U.S. 26 climbs from town between layer-cake badlands and the gentle eastern flank of the Wind River Range. To the northeast rears 11,920-foot [3,633.2-meter] Ramshorn Peak, part of the volcanic Absaroka Range. Beside the road, the Wind River curves over beds of cobblestone, sliding past evergreens and aspens, washing through thickets of willows, and sometimes wetting the feet of moose, elk, and fishermen.
About 17 miles [27.4 kilometers] from town, pull over at the Tie Hack Memorial, which venerates the tough, mostly Scandinavian lumberjacks who hacked railroad ties from these forests until the 1930s. Within a few miles, the crenellated battlements of the Breccia Cliffs and then Pinnacle Buttes burst over the treetops. Be sure to stop at Falls Campground to stroll the rim of the waterfall. Nearby, Forest Road 515 leads to historic Brooks Lake Lodge (+1 307 455 2121) at the foot of soaring Pinnacle Buttes.
U.S. 26 rises steadily through a forest of rough-barked Engelmann spruce, smooth silvery-barked subalpine fir, and towering lodgepole pine. In meadows rife with wildflowers, be on the lookout for moose, elk, deer, even bear. Soon, you cross Togwotee (TOE-guh-dee) Pass, elevation 9,544 feet [2,902 meters], and descend to Teton Range Overlook, with its incomparable view of W yoming’s best known mountains. A peaks-finder chart identifies individual summits, including the 13,770-foot [4,197.1-meter] Grand Teton.
Drive out of the mountains onto the floodplain of the Buffalo Fork River, and you’re soon in Grand Teton National Park (+1 307 739 3600). From Moran Junction, Yellowstone National Park lies 27 miles [43.5 kilometers] north. At Moran you can also also pick up the Teton Park Drive.
Rte. 26 turns south, however, and passes through a wetland area. Look for moose, elk, and bison along here. Continue south over gently rolling terrain to the Snake River Overlook, perched above a wide bend of the river with one of the classic views of “The Grand” and its attendant peaks. Bald eagles and ospreys sometimes glide over the river. From here, the drive heads south through Jackson Hole to Moose Junction, where you’ll find the main park Visitor Center and the chuck wagon tepee of legendary Dornan’s (+1 307 733 2522) with fine views of the Tetons. About 6 miles [9.7 kilometers] south of Moose, a fence encloses the National Elk Refuge (+1 307 733 0277. Adm. fee), where nearly 10,000 elk gather every winter. Sleigh rides among the elk start from refuge headquarters. Nearby, take a sharp left turn into the Jackson National Fish Hatchery (+1 307 733 2510) to see cutthroat trout bred for Wyoming and other states. Back on Rte. 26, the National Wildlife Art Museum (+1 307 733 5771. $6 adults, $5 children), a mile [1.6 kilometers] beyond, displays works by some of the nation’s finest wildlife artists.
Soon you arrive in Jackson, a former ranch town turned tourist mecca. If you want to avoid the traffic cruising past its boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, bars, and outfitters, take the truck route and follow U.S. 189/191 south. Seven miles [11.3 kil ometers] from Jackson you hit the Snake River and follow it to Hoback Junction. Here, the Hoback River joins the Snake, and their combined waters rush into the Grand Canyon of the Snake River. In summer, you can watch rafts full of paddlers race through the white water by taking a short detour down U.S. 26/89.
The byway, though, follows U.S. 189/191 up Hoback Canyon, through winter range for deer, elk, moose, and bighorn sheep. The Hoback River, a good trout stream, sweeps by forested campgrounds and by lovely picnic areas. If soaking in a mountain hot spring sounds inviting to you, turn left on the Granite Creek Road 11 miles [17.7 kilometers] south of Hoback Junction and drive up the side canyon there to a rustic commercial pool.
Southeast of Bondurant, the road drops out of the mountains onto the sagebrush flats of the Green River Valley. Bursting over the eastern foothills, the crest of the Wind River Range rises more than 13,000 feet [3,962.4 meters] and includes Wyoming’s highest summit, 13,804-foot [4,207.5-meter] Gannet Peak. A heavily glaciated mass of Precambrian rock, the Winds were formed 55 to 60 million years ago.
The wide Green River Valley lay at the heart of the 19th-century fur trade. Trappers roaming the West rendezvoused here summers to trade their “plews” for goods caravanned from Missouri. Their brief tenure, 1824-1840, is celebrated at the Museum of the Mountain Man (Rte. 189/191. +1 307 367 4101. May-Sept. $4 adults, $2 children) End your tour by following Fremont Lake Road to Fremont Lake, which stretches beneath the Winds.
