Wind River Canyon
Wind River Canyon is a scenic stretch of the Wind River in Wyoming, located between Shoshoni and Thermopolis. It is a popular stop for visitors to Yellowstone National Park and is accessible via US Highway 20 and Wyoming Highway 789. In 2005 it was designated a Wyoming Scenic Byway.
Work on the route through the canyon began in 1922 and finished in 1924, replacing the Bird's Eye Pass Route over the Owl Creek Mountains. The highway runs through the canyon, sometimes at the canyon floor, offering views of features like Chimney Rock.
The canyon is deep, reaching up to about 2,500 feet (760 meters). The elevation change between the Bighorn Basin and the Wind River Basin is about 300 feet (91 meters). The southern end sits near Boysen Dam in Boysen State Park, close to the Wind River Indian Reservation boundary. Along the highway there are homes and a nearby BNSF railroad line. The north end of the canyon is at the Wedding of the Waters, where the Wind River becomes the Bighorn River. The Scenic Byway continues through Thermopolis and ends at T Hill in Hot Springs State Park.
The Wind and Bighorn rivers flow north from Boysen Reservoir through the canyon, then on toward Thermopolis and beyond. Geologically, the canyon exposes a rich sequence of Wyoming rock layers and many roadside signs explain the formations. The canyon was carved as the Wind River cut through land that was being uplifted by mountains over the last two million years. From south to north, the area shows complex faulting and narrows into three road tunnels that pass through Precambrian rocks. Beyond the tunnels, the rocks dip to high cliffs of Madison Limestone, Bighorn Dolomite, and sandstone, while the northern end cuts through red Chugwater Formation sandstone.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 15:12 (CET).