West Wyoming Fly Fishing & Free Camping

[Ray Eklund]

A bit more specific for the fly fisherman enthusiast.

Using the DeLorme Wyoming Atlas & Gazetteer, page 38, ABC-1&2.

The Greys River of Western Wyoming is just east of the Star Valley (Afton to Alpine, Wyoming) and parallels the Star Valley. There are 40 to 50 miles of wide, clear flowing Greys River, but the Bridger-Teton National Forest has enhanced the Airstream camping with wonderful pull outs along the river among the pine trees. You can easily place a 28 foot trailer at some locations along the river. The boulder river bed in August runs from inches on the gravel to three feet, slow enough for those fishermen wearing sandals and short pants, or waders suspended by your belt sold at Cabelas. Toss the kid's in the river upstream on inner tubes to float to the camp site! (You go fish downstream from camp...) Sheep Creek flows into the Greys about midway from the East and some nice camping spots in tall trees can be found within a half mile of the merger of the two rivers. The trout are usually under 15 inches in the Greys River, but expect many catches in the 8 to 12 inch range. We catch and release to leave the rest of you some fish. Too shallow and meandering for a flat bottom boat, which is nice for fly fishermen.

Follow Sheep Creek to the pass to Pinedale, Wyoming for more lake and river fishing. Some roads off this main dirt road can be used to find a fairly level camping spot. There are Bear at the summit and Moose along the marshy creeks on the way down the mountain, heading east towards Pinedale. Not for the faint hearted trailer traveller. A Rockdocking adventure.

There are fly shops along Highway 89 for fly advice... Best time to be in the area: June, July, August. Warm days, cool evenings. No facilities. Park on a pullout away from the dirt road among the trees, if you want to avoid getting "dusted up". The mayor of Alpine will make you a fly rod and sell you flies... His fly shop closed, but he can be found if you are looking hard.

If this is not enough to get you to visit Wyoming. Don't ask me about the road between Moran Junction and Riverton, Wyoming! You might think of Saratoga, Wyoming and the North Platte's miracle mile... It is best to get the annual license when you figure out how much the daily rate and annual round out to total- check out the dollar totals before deciding.

[Ray Eklund]

Just an afterthought for the TRUE fisherman.

Just west of Kemmerer, Wyoming is the Fossil Butte National Monument (Southwest Wyoming). It has displays of 45 million year old fish that lived in a huge fresh water lake in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. If a four foot Gar gets your attention, this is a nice visit before heading north to your fly fishing destination.

If you are really a dedicated fisherman, you can also stop in Kemmerer and find the location of a fossil fish quarry open to the public to dig your own FOSSIL fish. The Tynksy's have a fossil shop in the middle of Kemmerer in the city park where you can find easy parking for a trailer under the shade of cottonwoods. You can also buy a three foot fish already prepared and trimmed in a rectangle to hang on your wall. If you are traveling in a group, the quarry operator offering you time in a quarry will negotiate on a total price, but do not mention that I said so... These quarries are just SOUTH of the Fossil Butte Monument. The quarry usually will provide the basic tools to quarry your own fish, and might be asked to trim a nicer specimen as a nice keepsake.

There are some spots off the dirt roads to park a trailer, but you have to work that out yourself- BLM land with hunter's pullouts.

[Fyrzowt]

Isn't Kemmerer the home of the first J.C. Penny store? Drove through there on one of our trips to Jackson/Yellowstone.

[Allen H]

Thanks Ray, Yes, Wyo. has some great Fly Fishing. I spend alot of days on the water in Wyo.

[Boondocker]

Great thread, just the kind of place I look for, heck, this may even be my year to pick up fly fishing

[Ray Eklund]

Originally Posted by Fyrzowt

Isn't Kemmerer the home of the first J.C. Penny store? Drove through there on one of our trips to Jackson/Yellowstone.

Fyrzowt, you are correct about the first J. C. Penny store being located in Kemmerer. The store is just a few doors away from the Tynsky Fossil Shop. The Chamber of Commerce is in the center of the city park where you can park your tow vehicle and trailer while looking around at J. C. Penny, and you can stop at the restaurants across the street.

Because of the building restrictions in the Jackson, Wyoming area, many people are now finding the Star Valley just as beautiful and prices of homes and property in general is still affordable. Wonderful location to reach the mountains and deserts within a days drive!

Just west of town is an electric power plant getting its coal directly next to it. The town also had the vending operator with the largest supply of five ball Bingo pin ball machines in the region, if some of you with grey whiskers recall any of those in the pinball parlors of the 1960's.

A bit of elevation information on the Grey's River. The camping spots along the Grey's River run around 6800 feet and the pass on Sheep Creek is about 10,185 (where we camp on the Continental Divide).

And if I have not said enough about this area... Take a sample of the amber colored shale from any spot, even the fish quarry, scrape a knife edge along the surface and smell it. Only someone who has been there will know this answer.

[DumOleBob]

This'll be my first post to these boards. I've lived in Jackson Hole for a couple of decades. Here is one of the best boondocking sites I've seen. Right on the edge of Grand Teton Nat'l Park with great fly fishing all around esp on the Snake & Gros Ventre Rivers.20+ years

Could be one of the most fantastic views in the World! Shadow Mountain (USFS land) lies along the eastern border of Grand Teton Nat'l Park. Off Highway 26/89 just north of the Park Visitor Center and Blacktail Butte turn east on Antelope Flats Rd. At the stop sign turn north to Shadow Mt. The road becomes gravel/dirt - DO NOT travel this road in the spring (before Mid June) or in very wet times. At the base of the mountain is an informal Forest Service Camp area, which is usually busy and often not all that clean. There are other sites along the base to Antelope Springs to the north, but often the road is rough, but maybe not. Continue up the mountain & the first really fine site you’ll come to is a chalk white open area with fantastic views. You can continue to the top of the mountain where you’ll find lots of sites with incredible views of Jackson Hole and the Mt Leidy Highlands to the east.

Forewarning – This is pure dry camping in grizzle bear country. Suggest you unhook and scout it out …Suggest you unhook and scout it out, but all that effort is worth it! It is a relatively steep, Wyoming, Forest Service, rough gravel road, which may not be graded out until the Fall hunting season. Four-wheel drive is necessary in case it gets wet. I’d take a 30’ trailer up there in good weather without concern. The campsites are all informal, public made. It is no place to go until after late June and not after mid-Sept 15.

But, there are no better views of the Earth’s most beautiful valley that is Jackson Hole, Wyoming. And- it’s all free.

[Boondocker]

Great Post Bob! That information is going down in my notebook for sure. Karma comming your way.

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

If this is not enough to get you to visit Wyoming. Don't ask me about the road between Moran Junction and Riverton, Wyoming!

I'll bite, I am asking! BTW extra points for the delorme map reference.

[Ray Eklund]

Come on Rodney!

I tossed the fly out into the river and there will be plenty of bites. I am looking for a strike and something clearing the water as the trout tries to shake the hook out. The fish is so large that you are tangled in your fishing line and you have just fallen into a deep hole in the river bed...

The fishing opportunities in the Idaho, Wyoming and Montana area are as profuse and varied as the terrain. You can catch plenty of brown trout out of a cold running stream you can jump over near Moran Junction, and rainbows the size of a large tennis racket in the Yellowstone River. It is all part of the adventure to find these back wood locations. You need to time your fishing trip with the stream flow, as in early Spring the water is white and in early Fall the water is as smooth as glass.

I will look for you parked on some side road in the mountains. Once you have caught a few fish, I will want to get a good look at the fly you are using! Best to you.

[Stella]

Ray, I just moved to Star Valley from JH last fall, and others have recommended the Greys. Can't believe I haven't been down there yet. June, for sure.

Shadow Mountain is indeed fantastic for hiking, biking, views, skiing. I've never camped up there, but I think this will be the year to introduce Stella. No annoying cottonwood fluff like at the Gros Ventre CG. Remember the year that Cheney's gunmen and equipment ground the road to a fine quicksand?

Just found out that my boss will likely not let me head for Burning Man in August, so I've been kicking around the idea of having an auxiliary Burning Man event up on Shadow Mountain. Maybe someone smarter than me could figure out how to get satellite internet set up so we could get a live feed from the desert. Nekkidness, art and debauchery is nothing new to the folks up on Shadow.

Jo

[Ray Eklund]

Yes, fish and fry in Saratoga, Wyoming for Free.

The North Platte River flows just to the east of downtown Saratoga. This is located on page 21 of the Wyoming DeLorme Atlas. This part of the North Platte River is well known for the large, catch and release, trout. There is a fly fishing outfitter in the southeast part of town, which you cannot miss for further information. This is the FISH portion of my statement.

After a long day or two of fishing you probably would like to clean up a bit. This is the FRY portion of my statement. On the southeast part of town, on the river bank of the North Platte River is the Hobo Hot Springs of Saratoga. No charge for the hot springs or the clean showers at the site. These are not the hot springs, like in Hot Springs, Arkansas, "maybe luke warm cool kind of hot". The hot spring here at Saratoga is flowing out of a concrete walled swimming pool with a gravel floor. For the kids there is also a public swimming pool... next door at normal temperatures. This hot spring goes from HOT to FRY. It is especially nice in mid-January with the steam billowing like a Maine Lobster buffet.

Wear flip flops in the pool and if HOT is not enough, look for the spot where the spring water is coming from the ground and see if you can handle the FRY. Some visitors that are accustomed to the FRY will tempt you to come near, but I make no exaggeration that you have to go to Yellowstone Park, Wyoming to find anything hotter. Yet this hot spring is not a boiling mud pot but clear flowing spring. If HOT is too much to handle, you can lay in the North Platte River and where the large discharge from the hot springs mingle with the cold North Platte River waters...

For those of you wanting to Rockdock in the Medicine Bow National Forest just south of Saratoga, be prepared for the possibility of snow drifts blocking the national forest camp sites in June! If that does not keep you on your toes, the mosquitos we "fed" in June 2007 could suck a pint of blood out of you before you can blink. So, bring plenty of repellent. We did not park the trailer here in 2007, but maybe conditions have changed this year...

[tphan]

Just got back from a 10-day tour of north-central Wyoming, and wanted to add another nice free camping spot to this list: On I-80, about 32 miles west of Laramie, is an exit for a rest area on Wagon Mound Road. Just before going into the rest area loop, look for a right turn onto a dirt road. Take this, and then after only 50' turn left onto a smaller dirt road which takes you immediately into a small, boondocking camp area. It is posted with a 10 day limit, it's free, and very convenient when traveling I-80, with the rest area restrooms only a 2-minute walk away. Not much freeway noise either! Also: I highly recommend the Fountain of Youth RV campground about a mile north of Thermopolis- very friendly owners and staff, and for $30 a night you can stay and soak in the on-site HUGE hot-spring pool! There's actually 2 pools, a cooler one for the kids and a hot one for us old farts with achy joints, and I can tell you there is nothing better than to roll out of bed early, fix a pot of coffee, and take a big cup of it into the steaming pool at dawn- almost as great as the night soaks before bed! 1 more place I'll mention: on the west side of TenSleep pass, about 20 miles east of TenSleep, are a couple Nat. Forest campgrounds, on the river, shady, and free when we visited the 1st week of October. PM me if you want any more info- tim

[Ray Eklund]

In the center of DuBois, Wyoming is a road heading north to the Double Cabin campground and "RV Park". I say "RV Park" because the best, open spaces and best views are FREE and easily accessible with a 25 foot or shorter AS. I saw a horse trailer with tractor trailer that must have been 60 feet long camped in the area from Missouri. They camp there every year to ride their horses on the numerous back country trails, so anybody with driving skill should be able to drive a 30 foot AS up the switch backs after seeing this parked!

The first half of the drive is asphalt and the second half is dirt/gravel. One section has a series of switch backs down a canyon and back up the other side, but our friends with a 25 foot Arctic Fox and a 2000 Tundra had no difficulty... Although they were not use to the Rockdocking travel that comes with the turf, they could not imagine how beautiful the area was compared to the sights along the road from Riverton, WY to DuBois. You WILL NOT be disappointed with the location which can be found on most maps and any Forest Service map. We left a cash donation at the established camp site, so we could use their trash dumpster and spring water pump. The water was almost as good as the beer we carried with us! The camp host for the area was quick to offer any help or information we needed. A forest service restroom was also available at the "RV Park".

The fly fishing in July to September is excellent, but the majority are under 15 inches and closer to 10 inches much of the time. As a surprise this year we found the first morning in our July visit down to 19 degrees F. The dog's water bowl was frozen to the bottom and we fired up the trailer furnace! The days were in the 70's. There was A LOT of snow in the high peaks and the valleys in the distance were buried with snow. These are the Wind River Mountains.

In the morning the rivers were easily crossed. In the afternoon, with snow melt, you needed to secure your steps across the river(s). Check in with the Forest Service located on the south side of the highway on the west side of town for road conditions and pick up some fresh water in front at the pump. Also pick up the map that includes Double Cabin. The roads are very well marked and up to the high standards I have found the majority of the State of Wyoming's Forest Service camp sites and operations. This is a campsite for a week... or two. Nice opalized and agatized woods are found in the gravels along the NW fork of the river. Unlimited hiking. Close enough to DuBois (about 34 miles one way) to have dinner at the several nice restaurants in town.

[purman]

This sounds like a great trip, will have to hit it next summer for some good water and good fishing...

[wbrownrr]

Great information! We hope to make our first trip to the area in mid-August.

[GAS_Wyo]

Living in Sheridan now, and having lived in both Cody and Gillette, I can tell you that the information provided by Ecklund is excellent and accurate. This is the main reason I moved to Wyoming from southern Ohio and I've enjoyed every minute traveling and fly fishing this wonderful state.

My wife and I own a 2009 23' Flying Cloud. Our AS is our basecamp for fly fishing as well as photography, enjoying open fires and conversation. I hope I never stop enjoying these simple pleasures!

Thanks for all the great information!

[hipsters]

My wife and I are about to embark on our first lengthy trip in the AS, and we are headed to Montana and Wyoming, so I can work on my rookie casting skills and do a little hiking and biking. All of these posts are making my casting arm twitch!

I'll have all of this info tucked in the AS for reference.

Thanks!

Gary

[Ray Eklund]

For anyone who has driven through DuBois and Riverton, Wyoming, you would not expect this true gem of a camping site. For tent, tent trailer, Airstream or RV Bus. I should have provided some photographs of the area earlier, but find the directions from DuBois in an earlier post. You might think you are in the Canadian Rockies with the snow on the highest ridges.

When you come into the camping area, the camp host is usually sitting to your left (trailer with the propane tanks) for any questions you might have. Trailer and RV's... keep following the gravel road that goes to the right (southeast) and you will find acres of green grass and willows and pine trees in clusters to camp near. Just pick a spot. The US Forest Service restroom is well kept, modern and for your use. Many horse packers go to the northwest towards Yellowstone for extended camping into the back country. The hiking/horse trails go to Yellowstone. And yes... there are bear in the area, but not the problem they are in Yellowstone, so just practice safe Rockdocking habits in this remote area.

You can pick your river crossings in the Fall. In the Spring melt, you might have trouble finding a shallow crossing of the meandering stream bed. The best time to be in this high country is July to September. It can get below freezing in July and be hot in October, so the weather is unpredictable. I picked four photographs that give a general overview of the fishing, camping and hiking available. This is NOT a two night camp site. This area can keep a family busy for a week or longer and just use the camp site as the center of a large area to explore. Across the two small rivers and you are in Wilderness area. There is NO FEE outside the formal tent camping area, but we always leave a "donation" in the Forest Service drop.

[elfirebob]

Ray,
What a great area! Thanks for posting, maybe next season, we were just on the Madison.