Reading Time: 20 minutes Jim Creek Lake avoids all the attention that the rest of the Wind River Range receives. Should it? And can you even get to the trailhead given the terrible roads in the area?
Reading Time: 32 minutes Hiking to Granite Lake! I liked this trip enough that I changed plans during it to save some lakes as leftovers for another time. That said, I think if I’d taken any friends with me, they would no longer be my friends. The good news is that I have like 0 friends, so it wasn’t a problem. I wonder why that is?
Reading Time: 28 minutes Simpson Lake holds a great deal of value: the walk is easy, the fish are plentiful, and the people aren’t to be found. It also has some fantastic history and decent scenery.
Reading Time: 14 minutes What a blessing. The most value/mile of any short hike in the Winds or Cloud Peak Wilderness.
Reading Time: 8 minutes Titcomb is a nice trip, though not my favorite. This trip was marked by poor weather which added a little bit of charisma to the place, though it being deserted is what made it truly memorable.
Reading Time: 12 minutes This hike covered both the Cirque of the Towers and Temple Basin. Which do you think is a better place to visit?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Upper Silas Lake is one of the few hikes in the Winds that can be an honest, easy day-hike. You won’t be rewarded with staggering scenery, but it’s better than being stuck in town, and the fishing is still fun!
Reading Time: 9 minutes Little Sandy Lake is an adventure, but is it a good one? The road to the trailhead doesn’t want you to know the answer to that question.
Reading Time: 9 minutes Slide Lake is one of my favorite day hikes that anyone in moderate physical fitness can do. It has some unique features along the trail (a giant waterslide and Fishbowl Springs) and decent views the entire way.
Reading Time: 12 minutes Clear Lake is a beautiful lake surrounded by cliffs. It can be done as a day hike but is best accomplished with enough time for one to fully take in the concept of eternal damnation. Everything else in this post is tops!
Reading Time: 16 minutes Pyramid Lake was rumored to have golden trout, so we decided to tackle it and look at the Hooker, too.
Reading Time: 15 minutes This 26-mile hike can be made into a much better hike than I had, though I wasn’t equipped with the appropriate knowledge to make it really fantastic at the time. It’s great for people who want good fishing with camping locations which are downright hospitable.
Reading Time: 26 minutes We did Elkhart Park to Green River Lakes in just under 4 days, but it’s probably nicer if you do it in 5. You’d be an absolute loon to do this trip the opposite way around. While many people utilize Knapsack Col, we used the CDT in order to fish for golden trout and to see extra lakes.
Reading Time: 6 minutes Donald Lake has excellent fishing for brookies and is a very low-use area of the Wind River Range. It’s also one of the easiest hikes you can do and only has a low number of miles. Most people looking for a hike of this distance will probably want to do this as an overnight hike in order to maximize time at this picturesque lake.
Reading Time: 7 minutes This short hike is great if you want to be in the Big Sandy area without the Big Sandy crowds. I describe the best way to access it, which is not via trail 116.
Reading Time: 11 minutes Visiting the Cirque of the Towers in the fall is a real pleasure, since all the bugs and instagrammers are gone! I had it all to myself.
Reading Time: 16 minutes This hike visits numerous lakes in a short number of miles. It’s quite beautiful and has some huge fish!
Reading Time: 11 minutes Temple Basin is probably the easiest hike in the Winds for an overnight, and it’s also one of the downright prettiest!
Reading Time: 21 minutes This hike uses the popular Glacier Trail ingress to Dinwoody Basin. It’s arid, strenuous, and has a beautiful payoff, but few trails will make you work for it as hard as this one.
Reading Time: 34 minutes This hike features stunning scenery and incredible history, but I have suggestions on how you can make it far more worthwhile. My favorite part is the crashed B24 bomber.
Reading Time: 15 minutes I didn’t like this hike. It’s long, winding, not made for easy walking, exposed to the sun, dusty, arid, and with terrible views. Its only redeeming feature is the fishing (maybe), which went poorly for me. I didn’t HATE it, which implies actively wishing it to never exist, but I’d certainly never do it again, and you shouldn’t do it in the first place.
Reading Time: 35 minutes The hike to Titcomb Basin results in great views, but I feel like it’s quite a bit of effort for a crowded, one-trick pony. (Two tricks if you put in an insane amount of effort and do Fremont Peak, too.) It’s better in the later season with fewer tourists, but I really don’t care for the trail in. The first 11.1 miles always suck, both coming and going, and I always want more than the views it offers. Still, I’ve done it a ton of times, and it’s a blessing.
Reading Time: 7 minutes Green River Lakes Campground is over an hour from Pinedale, Wyoming, on a dirt road, and features semi-improved camping locations both for reservation and for first-come, first serve. It has incredible views of Squaretop Mountain, and many people use the Green River trailhead to hike the Wind River Range. The only hike I recommend out of Green River, however, is Slide Lake. For kayaking to Upper Green River Lake, see…
Reading Time: 45 minutes This hike to Middle Fork and Sonnicant Lake basins features the prettiest scenery I’ve ever encountered. You’ll find numerous lakes, an altiplano, fishing, and rugged mountains, plus an unusual summit.
Reading Time: 83 minutes This hike is an absolute blast, featuring Leg Lake, Stough Creek Basin, Poison, Mountain Sheep, Coon, Tayo, and Deep Creek Lakes, plus a summit of Wind River Peak. It is the the favorite hike of my life to date.