US Rocky Mountain Gillette WY Summer of 2024

[wigsajumper]

Hey All Next summer we are taking our taking our kids out to Gillette WY for a huge week long Camporee. My wife, myself and another couple are going to do some exploring while the kids are at the camporee.

Looking for ideas, locations, camping spots, places to see that is within 1-2 days reasonable travel of Gillette.

Vehicles are my 4runner (lifted on 34s) and my buddies Gladiator on 37s with the standard winch / recovery gear.

We are thinking of doing a loop type circuit going around camping each night in a different location.

 

[David C Gibbs]

Hello Aaron,
boy - Gillette, is in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. The Black Hills of South Dakota and Mount Rushmore are close. Devil's Tower is close. As is Douglas and Casper. There is a very good Brewery in Casper. You are a full day ride from Cody, East Yellowstone and the Grand Teton's. The mineral pools at Thermopolis are fun, and the State has a large Plains Buffalo herd just north of town.
Do you know which route you are driving to get to the state? There is a lot to see in route. Rocky Mountain N.P. is Estes Park, CO. Scottsbluff N.P. in Nebraska.
You would be so close to Henry's Folk of the Snake River and West Yellowstone, Montana - for excellent fly-fishing.
David - Boise, ID

 

[wigsajumper]

Hello Aaron,
boy - Gillette, is in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. The Black Hills of South Dakota and Mount Rushmore are close. Devil's Tower is close. As is Douglas and Casper. There is a very good Brewery in Casper. You are a full day ride from Cody, East Yellowstone and the Grand Teton's. The mineral pools at Thermopolis are fun, and the State has a large Plains Buffalo herd just north of town.
Do you know which route you are driving to get to the state? There is a lot to see in route. Rocky Mountain N.P. is Estes Park, CO. Scottsbluff N.P. in Nebraska.
You would be so close to Henry's Folk of the Snake River and West Yellowstone, Montana - for excellent fly-fishing.
David - Boise, ID

Thanks for the suggestions, I wish I could describe how excited my wife and I are for this trip. I haven't been west of Mississippi since 2004ish

We are coming from Maine so probably coming via I-90 or up I-80. We are planning 3-4 days of driving to and 3-4 from Gillette. We might have more time coming back. Kids have to be at Gillette at a certain time. Once we drop off the kids we have 7 days to spend exploring. My wife and I are hikers, couple coming with us not so much.

My buddy is a HUGE fly fishing fan and I am a huge fan of sitting with piece and quiet. The couple coming with us thinks we would love Yellowstone. I am NOT a fan of crowds (hold over from Service) so would rather do things off the beaten path but I am sure there are parts of Yellowstone that are away from the crowds.

 

[David C Gibbs]

HI Aaron,
Since I don't know where in Maine, you live - I used Freeport. On I-90 to Gillette, WY is 2145 miles, 31 Hours of travel time. 3.875 Days at 8 hours of driving, That's without stops for Bio-breaks, Food, Sight-seeing, etc. Does the Mrs., share the driving duties? South Dakota and Wyoming are vast, lots of windshield time. How old are the kids and how well do they travel? DG

 

[wigsajumper]

HI Aaron,
Since I don't know where in Maine, you live - I used Freeport. On I-90 to Gillette, WY is 2145 miles, 31 Hours of travel time. 3.875 Days at 8 hours of driving, That's without stops for Bio-breaks, Food, Sight-seeing, etc. Does the Mrs., share the driving duties? South Dakota and Wyoming are vast, lots of windshield time. How old are the kids and how well do they travel? DG

My boys (10 & 13) travel fine. Little bit of motion sickness med and Pokemon they will cruise forever. We do 13 hr trips to MD to inlaws often. Mrs and I swap driving duties often. Couple coming with us have done the Maine to FL trip a couple of times nonstop. They have 13 & 15 one with a permit.

Long road trips are not a new thing for wife and I. Done AZ to Maine, Dallas to Maine, tons of TN to Maine, Maine to Nebraska.

Honestly the trip to and from Montana are going to be Cannonball runs. But once the kids are dropped off we have 7 days to just chill and explore.

Thanks for the suggestion of the hot springs. Was checking it out on Gaia and Google Earth last night and the wife was excited.

 

[AviatorJones]

Whew.. Gillette isn't really close to much of anything. ha. Been out there hunting in the area a few times and we have to stay in Buffalo or Sheridan (AirBnB type stuff).

As already mentioned, you'll likely go through Black Hills and all the associated stuff to do in that area as well as the Badlands (which I have yet to visit on our drives through there. ugh). You could head up into MT to Glacier NP - probably (maybe?) less crowded than Yellowstone. If not, there are lots of places in between to check out. We hunted in the Little Belt Mountains a couple years ago and there were tons of side roads and camping spots in that area that I would like to get back and explore more where there isn't snow covering everything.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

We have explored the Black Hills and that area. Look into Ayres Natural Bridge, Alcova, Vedauwoo, Lake Marie - Snowy Range, Spearfish Canyon, Crazy Woman canyon, Bighorn Mountains, Custer State park, lots of hiking and exploring to do in those areas.

 

[shortbus4x4]

I've been through Gillette and stayed there a number of times in 2018/19 for work in the oilfields. Devils Tower and the Black Hills are east and are amazing. If you're into dinosaurs and fossils there's Thermopolis and Kemmerer. Tensleep is supposed to have amazing scenery. You could probably do most of the WY BDR. Lots of nothing in WY which is why I like it so much. Yellowstone in August will be packed and I hate crowds. There is some good fly fishing in the northwest corner of WY and into MT. Just be prepared for long distances between towns.

Is the date of the Camporee August 5-11? My mom is going to one in Gilette then. I had a hard time believing a camporee would be held in Gilette after spending time there when she told me.

 

[wigsajumper]

I've been through Gillette and stayed there a number of times in 2018/19 for work in the oilfields. Devils Tower and the Black Hills are east and are amazing. If you're into dinosaurs and fossils there's Thermopolis and Kemmerer. Tensleep is supposed to have amazing scenery. You could probably do most of the WY BDR. Lots of nothing in WY which is why I like it so much. Yellowstone in August will be packed and I hate crowds. There is some good fly fishing in the northwest corner of WY and into MT. Just be prepared for long distances between towns.

Is the date of the Camporee August 5-11? My mom is going to one in Gilette then. I had a hard time believing a camporee would be held in Gilette after spending time there when she told me.

Sounds like she is going to the same camporee our kids are going to. Same time frame. Going to be thousands of people there if not 10s of thousands. Thanks for the suggestions will add them to the list. The "lots of nothing" is one of the major reasons I am looking forward to this trip also.

 

[wigsajumper]

We have explored the Black Hills and that area. Look into Ayres Natural Bridge, Alcova, Vedauwoo, Lake Marie - Snowy Range, Spearfish Canyon, Crazy Woman canyon, Bighorn Mountains, Custer State park, lots of hiking and exploring to do in those areas.

Awesome thanks for the suggestions.

 

[wigsajumper]

Whew.. Gillette isn't really close to much of anything. ha. Been out there hunting in the area a few times and we have to stay in Buffalo or Sheridan (AirBnB type stuff).

As already mentioned, you'll likely go through Black Hills and all the associated stuff to do in that area as well as the Badlands (which I have yet to visit on our drives through there. ugh). You could head up into MT to Glacier NP - probably (maybe?) less crowded than Yellowstone. If not, there are lots of places in between to check out. We hunted in the Little Belt Mountains a couple years ago and there were tons of side roads and camping spots in that area that I would like to get back and explore more where there isn't snow covering everything.

Hoping to get up into the mountains some. Considering it is going to be the middle of August hope to get some relief from the heat.

 

[wigsajumper]

Tentative route right now is the BDR WY part of section 8, 7, 6 to Atlantic City and then west to the Grand Tetons.

Anyone have suggestions for campsites in Bighorn National Forest? Looking to join the BDR from either Sheridan or Ranchester and then head south.

 

[mep1811]

Thanks for the suggestions, I wish I could describe how excited my wife and I are for this trip. I haven't been west of Mississippi since 2004ish

We are coming from Maine so probably coming via I-90 or up I-80. We are planning 3-4 days of driving to and 3-4 from Gillette. We might have more time coming back. Kids have to be at Gillette at a certain time. Once we drop off the kids we have 7 days to spend exploring. My wife and I are hikers, couple coming with us not so much.

My buddy is a HUGE fly fishing fan and I am a huge fan of sitting with piece and quiet. The couple coming with us thinks we would love Yellowstone. I am NOT a fan of crowds (hold over from Service) so would rather do things off the beaten path but I am sure there are parts of Yellowstone that are away from the crowds.

The Big Horn River in Thermopolis has outstanding Trout water with big fat fish. I have a guide I use who is great. PM me if you want his number.