Length: 68.0 miles / 109.4 km
Time to Allow: 2 hours minimum, but plan for more time to stop and enjoy the backway's scenery and recreation.
Witness for Yourself the Oregon Trail
Come cross the same creek through which the early pioneers waded! During the years of 1841-1868, more than 350,000 emigrants crossed Wyoming on their way to Utah, Oregon, and California. You can still see tracks and ruts left from their wagons.
Enjoy Breathtaking Scenery
Drive this 68-mile Backway to see majestic mountains, colorful bright wildflowers, and willowed river valleys with sheep grazing in the prairies. It's not uncommon while driving this Backway to see moose, elk, eagles, and the enormous sandhill cranes.
View the Rich Prehistoric History
Not far from Big Spring Backway, lies Fossil Butte National Monument. The fossils that come from this historic lake bed are among the most perfectly preserved in the world. Visitors can view complete fossils of mammals, reptiles, insects, fishes, and plants. This monument and surrounding fossil basin represent a series of three lakes. This ancient ecosystem was much like today's Florida Everglades.
You just never know what you might discover in Wyoming's small towns. I remember opening the window of my hotel room in downtown Buffalo to catch whiffs of barbecued steaks, which I'd expect in Wyoming – and riffs of live jazz, which I never dreamed I'd hear in this town of fewer than 5,000 folks. A leisurely three-day loop tour out of Casper will help you discover small-town Wyoming history, hospitality and surprises, too. read more
Rub your hand on an aspen tree, and it will come away powdery white. These ghostly trees with their white bark and black knots or branches have nearly round leaves that are green and supple in the spring and summer. But when the weather turns colder in early September, these round leaves begin to change colors, turning yellow, then bright gold, often deep red. read more
