120 Forest Service, 44 BLM and 15 National Park Service. 122 take reservations
Winter winds the State Climate Office calls frequent 5
30 to 40 mph
With gusts to 50 or 60
Four-wheel drive where the road asks for it
Few of Wyoming’s documented routes demand low range, but several ask for a real four-wheel drive. The Forest Service highly recommends four-wheel drive on the 68-mile Big Spring Scenic Backway, and Backcountry Discovery Routes says a driver on its 950-mile route will want a high-clearance 4x4 for deep puddles, large rocks, ruts and steep loose grades.
WYDOT calls the South Bighorn/Red Wall byway passable for most high-clearance vehicles in summer and fall. A 4x4 shop here should talk about clearance, mud, recovery points and gearing for climbing at altitude with a loaded vehicle.
A 4x4 shop is where parts become a working vehicle. Most sell and install the major brands, and the better ones will talk you out of parts you do not need. For overland use, ask them to think about reliability and weight rather than looks.
Typical work
01Differential gears and lockers
02Armor: bumpers, sliders and skid plates
03Winch and recovery point installation
04Lift, wheels and tires
05Lighting, compressors and wired accessories
How to choose a 4x4 shop
Ask about the unglamorous work.
01Ask what they drive and where. Shops that travel build differently from shops that only show.
02Ask about differential work specifically if you need gears or lockers. Setting up gears is a skill, and a bad setup is loud and short-lived.
03Ask how they wire accessories: fused, relayed, loomed and labeled, or tapped into whatever was nearby.
04Ask about weight. Every part they sell you is weight you carry forever.
What to have ready before you ask for a quote
Start from the problem, not the part.
01Year, model and drivetrain
02Tire size and any lift
03What you want the vehicle to do that it cannot do now
04What is already installed
05A budget range
Questions people ask
Do I need lockers?
For most dirt-road travel, no. Good tires at the right pressure and careful driving go a long way, and many modern 4x4s have capable traction control. A rear locker becomes worth it when you regularly cross terrain where a wheel leaves the ground.
Winch or no winch?
If you travel alone, a winch is the one recovery tool that does not need a second vehicle. It also needs a bumper that can carry it, a battery that can feed it, and practice. If you always travel with others, traction boards and a rope may be enough.
What should I do first?
Tires, then recovery points and basic recovery gear, then whatever your first few trips tell you is missing. Trips are cheaper than parts and much better at showing you what you need.
How high is Wyoming?
From Sheridan at 3,748 feet to Gannett Peak at 13,804.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
2,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,000
Feet above sea level
Towns
PinedaleSouth end of the Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway, on US 191 under the Wind River Range. BLM and Bridger-Teton offices.7,179 ft
LaramieOn I-80. Highway 130 runs 30 miles west to Centennial, where the Snowy Range Scenic Byway enters the forest.7,165 ft
KemmererBLM field office and a Bridger-Teton ranger district. The Big Spring Scenic Backway runs from here to Cokeville.6,955 ft
DuboisNorth end of the Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway, on US 26/287 below Togwotee Pass. Shoshone National Forest district office.6,934 ft
RawlinsOn I-80. Its BLM field office manages the Seminoe to Alcova byway, which leaves the interstate at Sinclair, exit 219.6,796 ft
SaratogaWest end of the Snowy Range Scenic Byway. The Forest Service district office here covers the Sierra Madre and the west side of the Snowy Range.6,789 ft
Rock SpringsOn I-80 with a BLM field office. The road to the Killpecker Sand Dunes leaves US 191 to the north, and the BLM’s 24-mile Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Tour starts here.6,388 ft
JacksonBase for Grand Teton. The highway north to Flagg Ranch is plowed all winter. The Forest Service says camping nearby often fills by late morning in summer.6,238 ft
CheyenneState capital, where I-25 crosses I-80. The BLM’s Wyoming State Office is here.6,092 ft
LanderAt the foot of the east slope of the Wind River Range. Shoshone National Forest district office and a BLM field office.5,356 ft
CasperBLM field office. The South Bighorn/Red Wall byway starts 13 miles northwest on US 20/26, and Alcova is 30 miles out on Highway 220.5,105 ft
CodyShoshone National Forest headquarters, about 50 miles from Yellowstone’s East Entrance. The Chief Joseph byway leaves Highway 120 sixteen miles north.5,000 ft
BuffaloEast end of the Cloud Peak Skyway, US 16, over Powder River Pass. Full services and a BLM field office.4,640 ft
WorlandHome of the BLM field office that manages Red Gulch/Alkali. Full services west of the Cloud Peak Skyway.4,065 ft
GreybullAll services for the Red Gulch/Alkali byway. The turnoff is 11 miles east on US 14.3,794 ft
SheridanFull services for the Big Horn Scenic Byway, US 14, which climbs west from Dayton to Granite Pass.3,748 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Gannett PeakThe highest point in Wyoming, in the Wind River Range. No road to the top13,804 ft
Cloud PeakThe highest point in the Bighorn National Forest, by the forest’s figure13,167 ft
Medicine Bow PeakAbove Snowy Range Pass on Highway 13012,013 ft
Beartooth PassBeartooth Highway (US 212): Red Lodge, Montana, to Cooke City and Yellowstone’s Northeast Entrance, across the northwest corner of Wyoming10,947 ft
Snowy Range PassSnowy Range Scenic Byway (WYO 130): Centennial to Saratoga, across the Medicine Bow Mountains10,847 ft
Powder River PassCloud Peak Skyway (US 16): Buffalo to Ten Sleep, across the southern Bighorns9,666 ft
Togwotee PassUS 26/287 between Dubois and Moran Junction, on the Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway9,658 ft
Granite PassTop of the Big Horn Scenic Byway, US 14 between Shell and Dayton9,033 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
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