I usually go into the Winds once a summer. Usually from the trail heads on the Western Side.  From Lander you will go into the Popo Agie Wilderness. or go North into the Winds through the Indian Reservation. Entering through the reservation has some special requirements.  I understand there are some good trails out of the Dubois area. But I have not riden them.

There is a Scenic Byway that heads west out of Lander and drives over to South Pass. There are numerous trail heads along this byway that access the Popo Agie Wilderness, where you can camp and ride in. Most trail heads had several corrals to put stock in at night. It's first come first serve. Lots of water and grass. Most of these rivers are full of brook trout and the fishing was great.

Father West, there are 5 main tail heads that access the western side of the Winds. The trails are typically shoter than coming in from the Eastern Reservation side.  Big Sandy,  Boulder, ElkHart or Elk Horn ( I can't remember it's right name)  New River and Green Lakes.  All of them offer some great trails and stunning vista's. Most folks stop off in Pinedale, get maps, fishing licenses, top off the fuel before heading in to these trail heads.

Elk Hart trail head is at 9000 feet. So the trail is pretty level going in. A lot of back packers like this trail, since they don't have to carry a fully loaded pack up hill.    The Green river lakes trail follows the Green river up and is pretty mild climb.

Snow is pretty much gone by July. Ground can still be pretty wet. Bugs can be bad because of the wet spongy areas. The Summer Monssons have not usually started. So chances of bad afternoon thunderstorms are less than August. Any where in the Winds is Bear country. So if you camp, be sure to make a bear safe camp. (Food up the trees, etc)

This is a group of Foxtrotters heading in from the Big Sandy Opening

 This country is VERY rocky

    In the '90's I went on quite a few week long riding trips with an outfitter called "Great Divide".  ONe of my favorite rides was in the Dunoir area (hence my user name).  You could park at the trailhead and then you had to pack everything in.  The riding was wonderful, but I have no idea of the directions! 

    We rode out of a base camp they had established and one day rode to the top which was at 12,000 feet - saw herds of elk, lots of waterfalls and wildflowers.  I do know we drove north of Dubois.  Sorry not much help, but it sure was nice riding.

As you can see in my pictures above. There is lots of Water in the Winds. Your horses should be comfortable crossing water. I've crossed several fast moving rivers where my boots got wet in the stirrups.

The forest service clears the trails each summer. But some trails are lucky to get cleared by the 1st of July. I've had to work my way in and around dead fall or just get off and cut out a bad dead fall that was blocking the trail. So make sure you are packing an axe or saw if you must get to the end of a trail.  If you are just day riding and don't care if you have to turn around. then you can pack lighter.

Make sure you sign the books at the trailhead. The Forest Service is justifying budgets based upon trail use.  foot hikers usually sign the books. Too often people on horses are just gettin going when they come by the sign in, their horses are rearing to go and ancy, so they don't want to get off and spend the minutes siging the book. Make sure you do. It's important to let the forest service know just how many and how often horses use each trail.

People from lower elevations often suffer from Altitude Sickness.  Many of the trails in the Winds start at 8000 feet or higher and cross saddles at 12,000. Make sure you DRINK LOTS of water. The temps are cooler, the humidity is very dry. You will loose a lot of body moisture and not realize it. When your hydration goes down, you get sick.

You will get rained on during an extended trip to the Winds. And rain at 11,000 to 12,000 feet elevation is cold even in July. Come prepared for bad weather. You may even want to bring some light blankets for the horses. It's not uncommon to see a skiff of ice on the water in the morning even in July. Horses coming from a hot summer climate may not be haired up enough to stand comfortable at a highline all night.  If they are corralled at night where they can move around and generate some body heat, it's different. But just standing tied at highline in a blowing rain is pretty cold even for a horse.

If you plan to feed your horses. You will need to bring Certified Weed Free hay. Being from Missouri, you probably don't have access to certified hay. You may be able to find it as you drive through Wyoming. But often it's a hassel to find, even for us who live here. The easier option is to feed pellets. Most pellets meet the certified classification. The process of making a pellet grinds up any weed seeds and destroys them. Make sure your horses are aclimated to eating the pellets. So you are not giving them an abrupt diet change.  Pellets and certified hay cubes are readily availabe at any feed or farm store you pass in Wyoming. Ideally you should switch your horses over to certified hay 3 days prior to riding on public land.

You will need Health Certificates, Coggins papers and proof of ownership papers. I spent 3 hours on the side of the hiway in the hot sun as we headed home from the Winds one July arguing with the county sheriff about my health papers. One of the horses in my trailer, had registration papers with a LONG Arab name and health papers from the vet with a short barn name. The sheriff said they didn't match and wanted to confiscat the horse. We had to call the vet and get his confirmation that it was one and same horse.

Lander, Dubios and Pinedale are all jumping off cities. You can get any supplies you need in these towns. (Unless you come through town after they roll up the sidewalks.)

You can get fishing licenses, topo maps, fuel, food, last minute camping supplies you forgot etc. The local guide shops and forest service can tell you about the latest bear sightings and what trails to avoid, as well as what flies the fish are taking. And the best part is you can stop in a diner on you way out and have a great Milkshake after 5 days of living in the back country eating granola bars.

You didn't say if you were going to day ride or pack in and stay. You can easily spend a day or two at each trail head and day ride those trails. It's pretty easy when you're not packing to ride in 10-15 miles fish for the afternoon and return to your trailer for dinner.  Every couple of days you move down the road to another trail head and repeat.

If you are packing in  a highline is a must for tying the horses at night. Good hobbles so you can turn your horses out to graze during the day. My horses can run faster in hobbles than I can run. I hobble my horses and turn them out for an hour, when I see their heads up and looking around. I bring them in and highline them.

In the picture below we packed in two 1/4 mile rolls of electric string and battery fence charger. We strung the string around the meadow and turned the horses out during the day time to graze. In the picture we have 19 horses in the fenced off meadow. Be careful at night deer and elk run through the electric fence and knock it down. So we always highline at night.

This is in the Uinta Wilderness of Northern Utah. It's 4 Lakes Basin and is located at 11,000 foot elevation

Seems like somebody's horse will always loose a shoe. Bring a easy boot or hammer and nails to put a shoe back on. Worse case a roll of duct tape to tape up the hoof for the trail ride out.  We usually take some Bute and other horse first aid materials. It's more frequent than I like to admit that we have to doctor a horse in the back country. They slip when crossing a creek mud bog and go down, cutting something or pulling a muscle. A couple days of Bute while we camp will reduce the swelling and usually keeps the horse usable for the ride out.

Somebody should bring a pistol. They are great noise makers if a bear wanders into camp. We have had put down a couple of horses over the years. Nobody likes doing this, But it's even worse to watch one suffer and not have any way to end their suffering.

I also like the chemical light sticks. I tie them to the horses halters at night. I can peek out of my trailer or tent and count the lights in the night if I hear the horses fussing. If I count 4 glow sticks, I know all my horses are still tied up. If one gets loose, it helps me to find the loose horse.

Most of the trail heads are at the end of dirt roads.  Both Big Sandy Opening at the South end and Green River Lakes at the North end have 40 miles of gravel road. And pulling a trailer down 40 miles of gravel at 25 mph seems like an eternity.  Elkhart Park has the best access with pavement most of the way in. But it's a steeper drive up, as you do all the climbing in your trucks.  Green River Lakes follows a Big Glacier cut valley up. So it has very modest grades. Green River Lakes gets graded a couple of times a summer. So it just depends what weekend you go in how much wash board you'll get. The ranchers with Grazing permits haul their cattle in large semi trucks. So the size of your rigs should only be a problem when it comes to parking.

The Senic Byway from Lander over to South Pass is a pretty good road. The trail heads are right off the graveled road. So not a lot of side roads.  It's Paved from Lander up through the Sinks. Then its a gravel road the rest of the way. They have a lot of use up to Worthen Meadow Resevoir and it has a pretty good size horse camp, with numerous horse corrals for the public. The trails into the Popo Agie were very very rocky. It's a granite rock. Which is pretty slick with steel horse shoes.

Most of these trail heads have a couple of trails heading off.  As the trails get a mile or two away they branch off in various directions.  So you can do a lot of riding.  But the last couple of miles leaving and returning to the trail head will be the same. Anybody not willing to go farther than 5-6 miles total in a day will be riding the same trail every day. The main trails that everybody uses is well marked and easy to follow, some of the side trails are another story. These are steep rugged mountains. The main trails usually follow the drainages. Side trails usually switchback up and over ridges into the next drainage. Which can mean some steep climbs.

I have not come in from Thermopolis or Dubios. Thats 3 hour or more driving for me. I really can't speak for those roads and trails.

Cloud 9, I believe I may have talked to you about your trip to Battle Park last summer.  I live in the Rapid City area. 

How did you like the riding out of Battle Park? 

Were the flies and mosquitos bad?  They were a living Hell when we were there.

It sound like you enjoyed the drive in about as much as we did.

I've heard there is some great trail heads and riding west of Cody, between Cody and Yellowstone Park.  And also off of the Chief Joseph Highway northwest of Cody.  Any informationn on this area would be appreciated.

In yards are feet?

There is a small lake right at the dude ranch and the trail follows the stream up the drainage.

It's close enough  that you can walk your stock over and let them drink. You shouldn't have to haul water in.