There's A Little-Known Nature Trail Just Waiting For Wyoming Explorers
By Jessica Moore|Published November 07, 2022
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Jessica Moore
Author
Jessica is a storm chaser, photographer, meteorologist, and writer from Colorado. As a native of this beautiful state, she grew up with a love of the outdoors, and today enjoys hiking, rafting, skiing, and photographing landscapes and storms. She is also a mom to a beautiful little girl and loves life as an entrepreneur which allows her to be fully present for her daughter. She has been a writer for OnlyInYourState for just over 1 year and loves the opportunity to combine her loves of writing and travel to bring you the most exciting content for travel destinations across the country.
The Cowboy State is home to some of the most breathtaking landscapes in the country, and hiking is one of the best ways to explore them all. The Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area lies on the Wyoming border with Montana and offers some of the most remote hiking one can find. If you’re looking for stunning scenery away from the crowds, you’ll quickly see why this trail is easily one of the best remote hikes in Wyoming.
And when we say remote, we truly mean it: the nearest town to the Upper Layout Creek Trail is Lovell, Wyoming. From Lovell, travel north on Highway 37 about 20 miles just across the border with Montana to find the trailhead.
This moderate-difficulty hike is 1.8 miles in length, and you’re going to want to wear sturdy hiking shoes as some portions of the trail have lots of loose rock. Hiking poles are a must as well. Upper Layout Creek Trail is quite steep with an elevation gain of 882 feet over a short distance, so hikers will want to be prepared and bring plenty of water, especially since there isn't much shade from the sun.
The views of Layout Creek Canyon and the sweeping valley below are well worth the difficulty of this hike. Just take your time and use your breathing breaks to snap photos of the incredible vistas below you.
With hiking exploding in popularity in recent years, it truly is rare to find seclusion in the wilderness. So soak in the serenity and the awe-inspiring landscape that surrounds you in this expansive canyon.
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One of the most surprising aspects of this beautiful trail is that the further you hike, the lusher the foliage you’ll encounter (assuming you hike in the warmer months). This is unexpected given the arid landscape of the plateau that surrounds it. It is truly a hidden oasis.
Along the trail, you will begin to see some waterfalls in a few different locations. Don’t be fooled by the first few waterfalls you come across, as beautiful as they may be: you’ll want to press on to the very end of the trail for the very best waterfalls.
The water found here is some of the freshest water you can find; in fact, some visitors say that they fill their water bottles with it! While water purifying methods are always recommended, it is a testament to how fresh and clear the water is along this trail. These scenes almost feel like you're in the tropics!
If you feel brave enough to attempt this hike in the winter months (wearing micro spikes or similar equipment would be smart if you do so), you'll likely be greeted by frozen waterfalls!
One thing is for certain, Upper Layout Creek Trail is a challenging but incredible trail. It offers seclusion, incredible views, beautiful waterfalls, and all that a nature-lover and hiking enthusiast could ever want.
Again, prepare for loose rocks along the trail and very steep grades, but if you're looking for a good workout that doesn't take all day, this is a great option with incredible views to boot. It truly is among the most amazing remote hikes in Wyoming that every hiker should experience. But as always, be sure to leave this trail as pristine as you found it!
Have you hiked the incredible Upper Layout Creek Trail? If so, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!
