86 miles NE of Jackson
For years, Dubois was a kind of doppelgänger to Jackson, a blue-collar logging town with some quietly wealthy folks living on nice ranches up the nearby draws. Now the sawmill is closed, and wealthy folks who want to stay ahead of the latest real estate fashion are wandering over Togwotee Pass and buying up the beautiful Upper Wind River Valley. That means Dubois is poised for some serious development, but it hasn't quite happened yet, which dismays some residents and pleases others. Lying as it does along one of the Yellowstone access roads, Dubois is just far enough from the park entrances to be spared the West Yellowstone gateway syndrome, and if locals keep their heads, they'll protect the great trout streams, uncluttered wilderness, and small-town ambience from uncontrolled growth. So far, so good. It's a fun town, often with several bands playing in the bars on weekends. To get there from Jackson, go north on U.S. 26/89/191 to Moran Junction, then east over Togwotee Pass on U.S. 26/287.
The Rustic Pine Steakhouse, 123 E. Ramshorn (tel. 307/455-2772), does a good job with beef, seafood, and pasta; or you can get a great salad and sandwich on home-baked bread (and great barbecue ribs) at Cafe Wyoming, 106 E. Ramshorn (tel. 307/455-3828), hidden off the parking lot of Dubois Hardware with a pleasant porch overhanging Horse Creek.
In the lake-dotted Whiskey Basin, just south of town, one of the largest extant herds of bighorn sheep migrate down in the winter to get away from the deep snows, and so there is a National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center, 907 W. Ramshorn (tel. 888/209-2975; www.bighorn.org) located just off the highway in the center of town. Just across the park at the Dubois Museum, 909 W. Ramshorn (tel. 307/455-2284; www.duboismuseum.org), is a look at the past of the town, the Sheepeater Indians, and other interesting artifacts with local flavor. The museum is open from 9am to 5pm daily May through September. Contact the Dubois Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 632, Dubois, WY 85213 (tel. 307/455-2556; www.duboiswyoming.org), for additional information on the community.
Travel Tip -- Before arriving in Dubois, practice pronouncing the name without sounding like a city slicker. There are many ways to pronounce it, but only Doo-boys is correct. Sure, there is the inclination to say Doo-bwah, but quell that urge -- this isn't France.
