By Michael Lanza
It’s hard to frame the experience of walking for days through Wyoming’s Wind River Range in words. The usual superlatives seem inadequate for describing a constant parade of sharp-edged, granite peaks soaring to over 13,000 feet, all reflected in thousands of crystalline alpine lakes. But here’s a truth I’ve learned about the Winds from many trips personally and helping numerous people plan trips there: Backpackers who explore it always leave there feeling they have discovered a very special place—and they want to return, often again and again.
I feel that way after at least eight backpacking and climbing trips in the Winds over nearly four decades, including 10 years I spent as the Northwest Editor of Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog. Having had the good fortune of backpacking all over the country, I unquestionably rank the Winds among “America’s Top 10 Best Backpacking Trips.”
In a very real sense, I’m always planning my next trip in the Winds.
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The options for five-star, multi-day hikes are almost endless in a range that stretches for 100 miles along the Continental Divide, has more than 1,300 named lakes (and at least twice that many lakes total), and spans more than two million acres—virtually identical in size to its much more famous neighbor to the north, Yellowstone National Park. Three spots where I’ve camped in the Winds grace my list of 25 all-time favorite backcountry campsites—and virtually any camp in these mountains would make any backpacker’s all-time list—and several days rank among my most scenic days of hiking ever.
Seeking solitude? With some effort and smart planning, you sure can find it. I have many times backpacked into parts of the Wind River Range, both on and off-trail, and reached areas where we’d encounter just a handful of other people per day—sometimes just a day’s walk from a popular trailhead.
This story describes 10 backpacking trips all over the Wind River Range that I have personally taken or are slight variations of trips I’ve taken and shares many photos from these trips (which often tell the story better than words). These trips hit well-known and incomparable spots like the Cirque of the Towers, Titcomb Basin, and sections of the Continental Divide Trail in the Winds, as well as trails and passes you may have never heard of.
These trips range in length from just under 30 miles to nearly 100 miles—with most of them falling into that sweet range for many backpackers of around 30 to 45 miles—and from beginner friendly to serious adventures in remote areas. Many trails in the Winds lie between 10,000 and 11,000 feet and passes crossed by trails generally rise to nearly or well over 11,000 feet.
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Each trip described below has a link to a story about it or that area of the Winds. Reading those stories in full, including key trip-planning details and tips, as well as this entire story, requires a paid subscription to The Big Outside.
See my Custom Trip Planning page to learn how I can help you plan your trip in the Wind River Range or any trip you read about at The Big Outside.
Please tell me what you think of the trips described below, share your questions, or suggest your own favorite backpacking trip in the Winds in the comments section at the bottom of this story. I try to respond to all comments.
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The Best Backpacking Trip in the Winds
It’s a tough call to choose one best backpacking trip in the Winds. But after numerous trips all over the range, I’m sliding my stack of chips onto this 41-mile route from Big Sandy Campground, where there’s hardly a moment where you’re not blown away by the scenery. It crosses four high passes on the Continental Divide and meanders past a steady parade of jaw-dropping mountains and lakes you’ll want to camp beside. The trip reaches its climax in the disorientingly vertiginous Cirque of the Towers.
Yes, you will likely encounter at least a few dozen other backpackers on the first and last days. But you’ll also find abundant solitude: A friend and I counted just six other backpackers on our second day. The route also offers opportunities to lengthen the hike, exploring a spectacular cirque and scrambling to the summit of a 12,000-foot peak. And unlike the Wind River High Route, it also presents a reasonable challenge and distance for most backpackers. (Note that camping is prohibited within a half-mile of Lonesome Lake.)
See “The Best Backpacking Trip in the Wind River Range? Yup” and all stories about backpacking in the Winds at The Big Outside.
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Titcomb and Indian Basins
After hiking a full day to reach a campsite in a grassy meadow between the two largest Titcomb Lakes, at about 10,500 feet in Titcomb Basin, two friends and I watched the alpenglow paint the 13,000-footers above us golden. On a separate trip to Indian Basin, several of us summitted a 12,000-foot peak and a pair of 13ers on the Continental Divide, Fremont and Jackson peaks.
This pair of lakes basins sit on the west and south sides of 13,745-foot Fremont Peak, Titcomb at around 10,500 feet and Indian at over 11,000 feet. Camping by lakes in either basin, you’ll gaze up at a towering row of peaks on the Divide. Either Titcomb or Indian can be reached on an out-and-back hike of about 28 miles round-trip (to around the middle of either basin) from the Pole Creek Trailhead at Elkhart Park, outside Pinedale. They lie just a few trail miles apart, meaning you could explore or even camp in both on a trip of two to four days.
See my story “Best of the Wind River Range: Backpacking to Titcomb Basin.”
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The Wind River High Route
This high traverse of the entire range really deserves to be called the best backpacking trip in the Winds. But at 96 miles, two-thirds of it off-trail and the vast bulk of it very difficult and fraught with hazards like the threat of rockfall, crossing 10 named alpine passes ranging from nearly 11,000 to nearly 13,000 feet—only one of them on a trail—the high route simply lies beyond the skill set, stamina, and interest of 99 percent of backpackers.
But for those with the chops for a rugged, physically and mentally strenuous, navigationally challenging, high-intensity adventure, it’s also arguably, mile-for-mile, the most jaw-dropping trek through any mountain range in America. While the Cirque of the Towers and Titcomb Basin draw most backpacker attention in the Winds, the WRHR crosses numerous, virtually anonymous high basins just as spectacular as those two.
And needless to say, solitude comes with the territory on the high route. Just show up with your A game.
See my story “Adventure and Adversity on the Wind River High Route.”
After the Wind River Range, hike the other nine of “America’s Top 10 Best Backpacking Trips.”
Hailey Pass-Washakie Pass Circuit
Overlapping the 41-mile route that I dubbed “the best backpacking trip in the Winds” (above), this 35-mile lollipop loop from Big Sandy differs in that it bypasses the very steep, loose, unmaintained route over Texas Pass—and thus, foregoes crossing the Cirque of the Towers—sticking to maintained trails and crossing just two passes, both topping 11,000 feet, Hailey and Washakie.
It also visits numerous lakes, offering a campsite by a lovely lake potentially every night. The ascents to and descents beyond both Hailey and Washakie passes offer classic Wind River Range vistas of peaks stretching to far horizons. You can lengthen this hike with side trips to more cirques where soaring cliffs envelope lakes and even scramble one or more 12,000-foot peaks along the way. Plus, while the trails are busy within a half-day’s walk of Big Sandy, there’s plenty of solitude east of the Divide. If you want the best backpacking trip in the Winds that doesn’t require a steep, hard climb up loose scree, this is your adventure.
All of this route is described in my story “The Best Backpacking Trip in the Wind River Range? Yup.”
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Seneca Lake-Highline-Doubletop Mountain Loop
This 42-mile loop from Elkhart Park does not draw the spotlight like the Cirque of the Towers or Titcomb Basin. Instead, you’ll hike for miles mostly following little-traveled trails with incredible views of the big peaks on the Continental Divide, and you will savor camps near beautiful lakes like Island, Elbow, and others. As with many multi-day hikes in the Winds, you’ll walk past multiple lakes almost every day.
You can add a day with a layover dayhike to Titcomb and/or Indian basins or camp a night in either basin; or reduce a day from the trip by taking more direct trails from Summit Lake back to the trailhead. Located entirely on the west side of the Divide, it does not cross any high pass; and while at least one day involves significant elevation gain and loss and steep hiking, most of this route is not steep or strenuous.
See two stories about trips that both overlap parts of this route, “Best of the Wind River Range: Backpacking to Titcomb Basin” and “Backpacking Through a Lonely Corner of the Wind River Range.”
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Cirque of the Towers Loop
This much shorter version of “the best backpacking trip in the Winds” omits that route’s sections over Hailey and Washakie passes, following a 30-mile loop from Big Sandy to Shadow Lake, making the steep and rigorous climb over Texas Pass, crossing the Cirque to Jackass Pass, and descending to Big Sandy Lake to return to the trailhead.
For anyone seeking a loop hike that can be done in two to four days, including less-experienced backpackers and families prepared to take on the stiff ascent to Texas Pass—which, will quite steep and loose, is only about 600 vertical feet and not dangerous for anyone taking it slowly and carefully—this is a great option with options for nice camps by lakes every night. And, not surprisingly, it has become very popular.
All of this loop is described in my story “The Best Backpacking Trip in the Wind River Range? Yup.”
See “5 Reasons You Must Backpack the Wind River Range,” “The Best Backpacking Trip in the Wind River Range? Yup,” “Backpacking Through a Lonely Corner of the Wind River Range,” “Best of the Wind River Range: Backpacking to Titcomb Basin,” “Adventure and Adversity on the Wind River High Route,” and “A Walk in the Winds: Dayhiking 27 Miles Across the Wind River Range,” and all stories about backpacking in the Winds at The Big Outside. Like most stories about trips at this blog, reading those in full requires a paid subscription to The Big Outside.
Wondering about altitude impact in the Winds. Did not feel it much on hikes in Tetons (Death Canyon to Static Peak, Lake Solitude, others), Glacier (Ptarmigan Tunnel, Highline), Zion (angels Landing) or Sawtooths (Twin Lakes).
Hi Tom,
Good question, thanks for asking it. Of all the places you mentioned hiking before without feeling the effects of high elevation, only the Tetons have trails that rise as high as trails in the Wind River Range, certainly if you hiked to Static Peak and Paintbrush Divide (above Lake Solitude). IF those higher elevations in the Tetons did not bother you much, you may not have any trouble in the Winds, where many trails lie at over 10,000 feet and many passes are over 11,000 feet.
That said, keep in mind that how we react individually to high elevations can vary greatly even for the same person, for reasons we may not think much about, like whether we’ve gotten adequate sleep lately or have been eating well, one’s underlying health, or more obvious reasons like how much time we’ve taken to acclimate to the highest elevations we plan on reaching. Feeling great at 11,000 feet today does not guarantee feeling the same way tomorrow or next week or month or year.
I always try to follow recommended prep and precautions, most importantly not trying to gain elevation too quickly (without acclimating). Ask yourself: Are you trying to test the speed at which you can acclimate? Or are you trying to maximize your chances of feeling good and staying safe at higher elevations?
I hope that helps. Good luck.