Wind River Range

The Wind River Range is quite possibly the single most dominant range of the hundred or so that make up the Rockies in the United States. Exceptionally long, wide, high, rugged, and remote, the Winds (as they are affectionately known) are little known outside of the hiking and mountaineering communities, but to many they are clearly the quintessential Rocky mountain range.

The Wind River Mountains run for 90 miles in a straight line due northwest-southeast in west-central Wyoming. They are only connected to other mountains at their northwest end, and all along their length they rise directly from expansive flatlands. The Continental Divide runs along the entire crest of the range.

One of the most striking thing about the Winds is their remoteness. No roads cross the range, and in most places the crest is over twenty miles from the nearest trailhead. There are no National Parks or famous landmarks to draw the hordes of tourists that descend on nearby Yellowstone, so even though parts of the range can be somewhat crowded with backpackers and climbers in summer, there are almost no casual tourists or R.V. campers clogging the very few roads and towns.

The Winds are also the highest range in the Rockies outside of Colorado, with about 40 peaks over 13,000 feet, including Gannett Peak (13,804'), Wyoming's highest. Unlike the Colorado ranges, the Winds, owing to their more northerly location, harbor extensive glaciers, especially in the northern part of the range, where all but one of the thirteeners rise. Though not large by world or Mount Rainier standards, they give the Winds a decidedly more alpine character than perhaps any other Rocky Mountain Range south of Canada.

Note: Range borders shown on map are an approximation and are not authoritative.
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