Scenic Drives

Badlands Loop Scenic Byway

Location

SD

This approximately 30-mile drive on SD 240 cuts through the middle of breathtaking formations of Badlands National Park.

As the byway follows the natural contours of the Badlands escarpment, it also weaves in and out of the native grasslands full of hundreds of species of plants and animals. Scenic overlooks, with names like Seabed Jungle, Pinnacles and Prairie Wind, offer outstanding photo opportunities.

Beartooth Scenic Byway

Locations

WY
MT

Byway Basics
Cresting at 10,947 feet in Beartooth Pass, Beartooth Scenic Byway is Wyoming’s highest paved primary road. The traveling CBS journalist Charles Kuralt once called it “the most beautiful drive in America,” and once you’ve driven it you’ll understand why. The only National Scenic Byway in Wyoming, this two-lane route was the first and most substantial road to be constructed under the Park Approaches Act of 1931, and is currently in the nomination stage for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

Big Sheep Creek Back Country Byway

Location

MT

The Big Sheep Creek Back Country Byway is a scenic drive through the backcountry of southwestern Montana. The 50 mile two-lane gravel road with a short stretch of one-lane dirt surface can be safely driven from May through early October. Once past the canyons of the Tendoy Mountains, the traveler may pass only two or three cars along the entire route. Passing beneath the high rock cliffs of Big Sheep Canyon, one can look down into clear, deep pools of spring-fed Big Sheep Creek. Perhaps nowhere else in America can one see so many trout without leaving the car.

Big Sky Back Country Byway

Location

MT

Tired of the fast pace of the Interstate System? In eastern Montana you can try the new Big Sky Byway travel route, which links the two major rivers in the state, the Yellowstone and the Missouri. This route follows a section of the historic Regina-Yellowstone (R-Y) Trail, which tourists from Canada used to reach Yellowstone National Park. The north-south orientation of the trail will give you a glimpse of dry land farming, rolling prairie grassland, scenic scoria buttes, and badlands terrain.

Big Spring Scenic Backway

Location

WY

Byway Basics
The Big Spring Scenic Backway is a 68-mile route from Kemmerer to Cokeville in Wyoming’s southwestern Lincoln County. The Backway is crisscrossed by historic emigrant trails, parallels willowed river valleys, and plunges deep into the Tunp Mountain Range in the Bridger National Forest. Traveler services are available in Kemmerer, Cokeville, and Diamondville. Good tires are highly recommended when traveling this Backway. The Forest Service also recommends only high clearance vehicles westward from Kelley Guard Station. 

Bighorn Scenic Byway

Location

WY

Byway Basics:
A 58-mile paved highway over the crest of the Big Horn Mountains, the byway winds past thick forest, lush meadows, waterfalls, and deep canyons. Stretching from the Powder River Basin to the Big Horn Basin, the Big Horn Byway follows US 14 from the west outside Greybull. 

Black Hills Scenic Byway

Location

WY

As Wyoming’s gateway to the Black Hills, the entire area is rich with historic and cultural sites along with scenic natural vistas, archeological interests, and recreational outlets. The proposed 78 mile Wyoming Black Hills Scenic Byway embodies each of the six nominating categories: history, culture, scenic, natural, recreation, and archeology.

Bridger Valley Historic Byway

Location

WY

The Byway area was, for a century, a crossroads for the California/Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, the Pony Express Route, the Transcontinental Railroad and the Lincoln Highway. Incorporating the towns of Fort Bridger, Urie, Mountain View and Lyman, which were bypassed when Interstate 80 was built, Bridger Valley Historic Byway is an approximately 20 mile loop showcasing some of Wyoming's most treasured historical sites. The route runs from I-80 Exit 34 and rejoins the interstate at Exit 48.

Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway

Location

WY

Byway Basics
The Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway, U.S. 14/16/20, follows the North Fork of the Shoshone River through scenic Wapiti Valley to the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The 27 miles of paved Scenic Byway start about25 miles west of Cody at the Shoshone National Forest border. Normal driving time from the forest boundary to the Park is approximately 45 minutes. The byway is open to traffic year round, but the East Entrance into Yellowstone closes the first Monday of November.

Buffalo, WY

Location

Buffalo WY

Buffalo and Johnson County are tucked away between the rolling plains of the Old West and the towering peaks of the Big Horn Mountains. Whether it's beautiful scenery, wide open spaces, great outdoor recreation, or getting a sense of our history through two great museums, Buffalo and Johnson County are places you'll love to visit. You'll enjoy the Western hospitality of restaurants from family fare to fine dining, in addition to shops and art galleries, plus a selection of hotels, motels, campgrounds, guest ranches and mountain lodges.

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