![]() ![]() ![]() More importantly, it offered the Flaming Gorge – Green River All American Road, 45 miles of zig-zagging roller-coaster that continued into Utah and the Uinta Mountains. In the shadow of the imposing Castle Rock and the edge of the high plains Red Desert, this city was the starting point for explorer John Wesley Powell’s 1869 expedition to the Grand Canyon. If we thought this part of the world had delivered all the scenic wonders it could offer, we found more as we headed west to Green River back in Wyoming. As we descended back to a mere 8,000 feet, a solitary moose crossed our path, grazing casually on lake vegetation, a glorious symbol of nature’s munificence. Here, the road touched 12,000 feet above sea level, an elevation beyond the tree line and with views in every direction that staggered the mind. Trail Ridge Road took that lofty vision and ran with it, highlighting why it was designated an All-American Road in 1996. Roughly half a million people passed this way between 18 most of them made it, but thousands did not.įrom Wheatland, we drove south to the true cowboy outposts of Cheyenne and Fort Laramie lapped up the mountain scenery of the US-34 scenic drive and marvelled at Wind River Canyon, gateway to Thermopolis and its extensive thermal springs.Ī solitary moose crossed our path, grazing casually on lake vegetation, a glorious symbol of nature’s munificence They had to reach this point by 4 July on their epic 2,170-mile trek west or risk not achieving their destination before the onset of winter (and starvation). We stood on the iconic Independence Rock and struggled to imagine how those intrepid folks would have viewed this stark landscape, battling through its countless barriers on foot, wagon and horseback. Sheridan, with its cute downtown, opened the door to the impressive Tongue River Canyon and the historic Fort Phil Kearny, site of a key battle in Red Cloud’s War from 1866-68 Casper offered us major stops on the fabled Oregon Trail, the 19 th-century pioneer route to the West Coast. The scenic drive into Rocky Mountain National Park (Simon Veness and Susan Veness) USA travel guide: Everything you need to know before you go ![]() Nine best USA holidays for the ultimate American experiences How to do the great American road trip: Florida to Minnesota ![]() Nature still rules the roost here, and that makes it perfect for exploring by RV. To say it is an ocean of emptiness in a vast panorama of mountains, rivers and ranches is an understatement. Yet Wyoming is nearly 4,000 square miles larger than the entire UK. The most populous city is state capital Cheyenne, but, with 65,000 people, that’s less than Torquay in Devon. Indeed, Wyoming had really piqued our curiosity with its small-city-big-country feel, and we wanted a deep dive into a state still predicated on ranching, mining and railways. We’d had to decide between pushing on an additional 1,000 miles to Washington and Oregon in favour of more Montana and Wyoming, which we had only touched on during our hectic dashes to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. Wild horses in the Red Desert, Wyoming (Simon Veness and Susan Veness) Our grand 12-month RV adventure had hit a roadblock, having come too far, too fast and put our Winnebago Sightseer under undue strain. This was the Wyoming we had hoped to discover, though, after scrapping plans to head further west. Read part three of Diaries from the Road here Read part two of Diaries from the Road here Read part one of Diaries from the Road here True, we had all stopped for ice-cream at Farson Mercantile rather than anything cowboy-like, but the whipcord-slim old-timer gave the impression that anything from out of state might just as well be in a different hemisphere. From Farson, Wyoming, the Sunshine State probably seemed a world away from the immense reaches of this Western-cultured state, where round-ups were still conducted on horseback and tourism was just a quaint idea. The old-time rancher looked us up and down, and then in his best cowboy drawl, asked, “Where y’all from?” On naming our home base, he insisted: “Florida? That’s the other side of the world.”Īnd, in his way, he was probably right. A view from above the Flaming Gorge, Wyoming (Simon and Susan Veness) ![]()
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