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Long shadows in Wyoming

Horseshoe Bend Campground in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

9/10/2016

4 Comments

 
Have you ever heard of Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA)?  Nor had I, but Barry had read about it at some point and added it to our travel bucket list.  Boy, am I glad he did. This turned out to be one of the most special and beautiful places we've had the pleasure of visiting during our travels.

After leaving Garryowen, Montana, we headed south to Lovell, Wyoming, the closest town to the south unit of Bighorn Canyon NRA, about 10 miles away.  We stopped in town briefly at the visitor's center, then made our way up the road to the entrance, then just a bit farther to the Horseshoe Bend Campground.
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They forgot to mention "bicycling"
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Nice view towards the canyon from the visitor's center
The drive into the canyon was beautiful and got more awe-inspiring the closer we got.
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When we turned on the road to the campground, I think we both said "Wow!" at the same time.
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The "wow" moment
Horseshoe Bend is a first-come first-serve (no reservations) campground with a mix of sites with electric and water hookups and primitive sites.  When we arrived on a Thursday afternoon around 2 pm, we first drove into the A loop, where all the sites with hookups were taken.  Uh-oh. We started getting a little nervous about getting a good site. 

Fortunately, we were rewarded in the B loop, where at least six sites with hookups were still available..  In fact, we liked the B loop better than the A loop, simply because there were fewer campers and rigs.  The site we ultimately chose had great separation from other sites, a view of the lake, and vistas.  We felt very fortunate!  Even better, we paid only $10 per night (half price) with Barry's senior park pass, since this is a National Recreation area and part of the National Park Service (NPS).

​Our site doesn't look all that exciting from this angle...
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But how about from this one?
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I couldn't stop taking photos of our gorgeous site and experimented with some different camera settings to get some interesting effects!
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Here's an overall view of the campground showing Pearl on the far left.  You can see just how far we were from other sites even though the campground was mostly full.
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There was a short hiking trail from the campground that led over to the Bighorn RIver. It was so windy the first time we hiked it that it was almost hard to walk as we got near the edge of the canyon.  Fortunately the winds calmed down the next day.
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Bighorn River from the farthest point of the hiking trail
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Here are a few other shots taken from around the campground at various times of day.  We had beautiful sunsets as well as lovely sunny days.  And we took an epic bike ride on the canyon road, which I'll cover in the next post.
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Bighorn Lake
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"Angel" in the sky
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4 Comments
Cheryl Geeting link
9/22/2016 09:45:29 am

Wow .. just gorgeous, and only $10 bucks a night! I haven't heard of this place, nor most of the places you've been recently. Ken & I have so much left to explore! In the meantime, I'm so fortunate to travel through you guys!

Reply
Emily
9/22/2016 02:23:41 pm

You and Ken aren't old enough to qualify for the half price sites yet -- gotta be 62. But once you get that Senior Pass, you get into all national parks, monuments, etc free and pay only half-price at national park campgrounds. It's an amazing deal!

Reply
Cheryl Geeting link
9/23/2016 09:42:25 am

Wow, the senior pass does sound like a great deal! I'd never heard of this before ... by the time we finally get to travel in an RV we'll probably be 62 .. LOL!

You n Barry don't even look close to being able to have a pass! All that biking is the "fountain of youth"! =)

Emily
9/25/2016 09:00:32 am

Thanks, Cheryl! I should clarify that Barry just turned 62 last December, so the Senior Pass is a relatively new thing for us! (And I'm "only" 55 so have a few years to go -- but the pass goes for anyone in the same vehicle, so only one of you needs to have one. WHen we were traveling in 2014, we bought an Access Pass instead. This is a lot more ($80/year) but still a great deal if you plan to travel to several National Parks or Monuments in a year, as it will get you into all of them.

Here's a link to everything you need to know about National Park passes! https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm

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    ©2018 by Barry & Emily Smith .All rights reserved.
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    Emily & Barry

    We're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base.  After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible.

    Our passions are bicycling, walking and hiking, birding, continuing our midlife struggles to learn Spanish, enjoying healthy food (and the occasional donuts & pie!), traveling (duh!)  We travel with a fleet of bicycles and Paisley, our 10-year old Boston Terrier. 

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    Paisley, May 2016
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    States visited (pre-RV)
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    Pearl, a 2007 Newmar Bay Star
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    States visited in "Pearl"

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  • Traveling Twosome Blog
  • BeBelize - Our life in Belize (2011-2013)
  • Earlier adventures (2003-2010)
    • First Belize Trip 2010
    • Fall Sail Cruise Aboard Logos 2009
    • Conch Key 2007
    • Charleston Sailing School 2007
    • Biscayne Bay Sailing School 2007
    • Key Lime Sailing Club 2006
    • Southwest Parks 2006
    • BEYC/Jost van Dyke, BVI 2005
    • Offshore Sailing School 2004
    • Annapolis Sailboat Show 2004
    • Finger Lakes 2004
    • NY State Bike Tour 2004
    • Biras Creek, BVI 2003