Annual Festivals: Overland Stage Stampede Rodeo, 2nd weekend in June, Flaming Gorge Days last full weekend in June, River Festival, last weekend in August, Ice Crystal Classic, Presidents Day.
Green River was one of the few towns along the Union Pacific which existed before the railroad arrived. The Green River, which flows near the present town site, served as a waterway for the "tie hacks" that cut timber in the mountains, floated the logs down, then shaped them into rail ties at the town of Green River. When the railroad finally arrived, there was a city of 2,000 and an Overland Stage crossing a couple of miles downstream. Trona is the natural ore from which the basic industrial chemical, soda ash, comes. Soda ash is used in the production of glass products, detergents and baking soda. Green River's soda plants now operate to produce two-thirds of the world's supply of soda ash. As one travels east along Interstate 80, the wide open spaces of southwestern
Wyoming are suddenly interrupted by a series of multi-colored buttes, carved over time by the Green River. The varied sizes, shapes, and shades of the eroding strata provide a majestic setting for the town. Incorporated in 1868, in what was then Dakota Territory, and named for the swift flowing greenish river that course through town, the City of Green River has a long and varied history. Native Americans, indigenous animals (antelope, buffalo, deer, etc.), mountain men, pioneers, ranchers, railroad people, and miners have all left their footprints and their legacies in Green River. It was from Green River that John Wesley Powell started his famous explorations of the Green River, the Colorado River, and the Grand Canyon in the late 1800’s.
The place he started from is now a great public park, with a walking path, splash park and historical interpretive signage. Today, Green River’s population is approximately 12,000. The railroad is still a major presence. Mining, particularly of Trona, is the major industry in the area. Green River is the west entrance to the popular Pilot Butte Wild Horse Loop Tour. Even with the Interstate, the railroad, and other trappings of modern society, the city continues to sit at the crossroads of the west—a timeless, peaceful place.
Powwow is the steady thump of beaters on a hide-covered drum, a cadence of mixed voices singing in Arapaho, Shoshone, Crow, or Lakota, and the sweep and swirl of men and boys wearing brightly colored regalia, of young girls with fringed shawls, older women dressed in buckskin, even tiny tots in beaded moccasins and creamy white buckskin outfits. Begun as a ritual gathering of spiritual leaders and medicine men, powwow is now a social event. read more
You can play in one of nature's largest sandboxes in the country just a few miles north of Rock Springs at the Killpecker Sand Dunes. The dunes seem out of place in southwest Wyoming. It's the kind of environment you'd expect to find in the deserts of Africa or the Mid-East. There's an off-road vehicle "play area" for desert toys and lots of space to walk around in the sand. read more
