Introduction to Wind River Valley

Lander: 160 miles SE of Jackson; 117 miles N of Rock Springs; 163 miles S of Cody

The deep curve of the Wind River Valley is shaped by the snowcapped Wind River Range to the West and the Absaroka and Owl Creek ranges on the east, forming a cottonwood-lined bottom that many consider one of the most beautiful areas in Wyoming. A sizable portion of the valley belongs to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation, where there is considerable poverty, but also productive ranches and spectacular wilderness reaching up to the Continental Divide. The largest towns are Riverton and Lander, but there are smaller communities like Dubois, Shoshoni, Fort Washakie, and the historical gold-mining town of Atlantic City.