Ride Day 12 (Day 13): Ride from Cody, Wyoming to Riverton, Wyoming (Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway)

We have a short Ride Day 12, heading south back to New Mexico. Less than 140 miles, from Cody to Thermopolis to Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway to Riverton – all in Wyoming.

Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway (US 20)

About Wind River Canyon: The Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway begins in the town of Thermopolis and follows U.S. 20 north about 34 miles through Wind River Canyon and the Wind River Indian Reservation ending north of Shoshoni (with a population of under 500, if you blink you’re past Shoshoni). Without stopping, the total drive time is about 40 minutes. The 2,500 foot-deep canyon is a feast for the eyes with the oldest layers of rock dating back to the Precambrian era, over 2.5 billion years ago. Highlights include Boysen State Park, Owl Creek Mountains, the “Wedding of the Waters” and the Bighorn River.

https://windriver.org/experience/driving-tours/wind-river-canyon/

After driving about 80 miles + in nothingness (some cattle, some hilly crags) into Thermopolis, stop for a minute before heading on. 

The Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway is a gem of a ride (special bonus riding since we don’t think we have any more neat rides left on this epic trip), after all of the nothingness. It winds through the canyon, with the river on one side (and a railroad on the other side of the river – we’re bummed that we didn’t see a train going through). And canyon all around you. There are also three bonus tunnels, all in a row! We like tunnels.

Wind River Canyon

Road, Wind River, Railroad Tracks

Canyons all around us

Train tunnel

At the end of the last tunnel, you leave the canyon and a lake (actually the Boysen Reservoir because I saw the dam) is on the right side. We saw Big Horn Sheep Signs, but no sightings.  

Three tunnels!

Big horn sheep sign

Reservoir

Nothingness

About Shoshoni: Named after the Shoshone Indian Tribe, Shoshoni Wyoming is the gateway community to the Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway and Boysen State Park.  Founded in 1904, and originally an oil and uranium boom town along what was known as the Old Yellowstone Highway, Shoshoni had to reinvent itself once the boom was over.  Through the years, Shoshoni became quite famous for ice cream malts and shakes that were served at the historic Yellowstone Drug Store.  Unfortunately, this famous old drug store is no longer in business.

Yellowstone Drug Store (famous for ice cream malts and shakes)

And then pretty much nothingness until farmland into Riverton (we also saw a herd of antelope in a field).

We get to Riverton before 1:00 pm and while it’s too early to check in, we unload our stuff on a cart and go to the Trailhead Restaurant for lunch (chicken fried steak for Tony – they put the gravy on the bottom; chicken tenders and fresh cut fries for me. They also have a soup and salad bar – haven’t seen one of those in a long time). 

Trailhead Family Restaurant

And gas up so we don’t have to in the morning before checking in to the Hampton (Hampton Inn & Suites Riverton, 2500 North Federal Boulevard, Riverton) for the day (watching Lost Boys). 

Lost Boys motorcycle scene

We only rode about 140 miles. Tomorrow/Saturday is over 370 to Colorado. A long day, and a lot of it will be interstate, hopefully the wind won’t be too fierce.

It's been many years since I’ve been in Riverton, Wyoming. We used to have a client in Riverton, US Energy Corp. that was in moly and mining and oil & gas. They also owned a town named Ticaboo that we marketed for them. Riverton looks a lot different than I remember, but we did pass the Holiday Inn that I stayed those times. Note on Riverton: while they filmed it in Canada, Riverton was the town that Brokeback Mountain was in.

Bonus videos:

Tomorrow: long day from Riverton, Wyoming to South Denver, Colorado (and only 572 miles to our truck and trailer in Raton, New Mexico).

Note: I am not a photographer and most of the videos and photos are taken while riding on a moving motorcycle.