Wyoming - Top Bike Climbs

Wyoming is an amazing place to climb mountains by bike.  Home to rich western history, wide open plains, and unobstructed views from high elevation, you will never regret traveling to Wyoming for a cycling adventure.

HARDEST BIKE CLIMB IN WYOMING

ALTERNATE ROUTE 14

Cycling Alternate Route 14, Wyoming.  

Ride by bike into the Bighorn Mountains as they rise from the Great Plains.

The bike climb up Alternate Route 14 is thirteen miles.

Aerial photo of the steepest mile of the climb (mile 7.1-8.1 - 11.2%)

This is one tough bike climb and #21 in the US.

Two brake checks and two brake cooling points on the descent.

THE HIGHEST AND MOST SCENICE BIKE CLIMB IN WYOMING

BEARTOOTH PASS

Cycling Beartooth Pass South, Wyoming.

Ride 21.5 miles gaining 4,329’ to elevation 10,947’.

#97 toughest bike climb in the US.

Just 70 miles from the northern entrance to Yellowstone, this is a must-do for anyone near the northern section of Yellowstone.  Together with Beartooth Pass North (Montana), this is one of the most epic and scenic out-and-backs in the US.

Beartooth Pass is a Top 5 US Best Hairpins.

THE SECOND MOST SCENIC BIKE CLIMB IN WYOMING

GRANITE PASS

Aerial view ~10 miles from climb start.

Cycling Granite Pass,Ride 17.7 miles gaining 5,240’ to 9,034 elevation at 5% average grade.

#2 most scenic and #2 hardest climbs in Wyoming.

This ride has one of the most rugged and distinctive features to a Top 100 U.S. Climb.  We begin the climb on Black Mountain Road just east of Shell, Wyoming, and soon enter a narrow and picturesque canyon that borders our bike climb for the first 1 ½ miles.

THE LONGEST BIKE CLIMB IN WYOMING

POWDER RIVER PASS WEST

Cycling Powder River.

Ride 24.8 miles gaining 5,258’ at 3.8% average grade.

This climb, which starts a few miles east of Ten Sleep on Highway 16, is a long climb at just under 25 miles, but never too steep.  After several miles, we enter the Bighorn National Forest where the scenery is amazing.  Views include high rocky cliffs (similar to Cedar Canyon in Utah), beautiful pine trees, and flowing rivers along Highway 16.

THE OLDEST NATIONAL PARK IN THE US

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

The US’ first national park,  established 1872.

Fun Facts about Yellowstone National Park:

1. Considered the first national park in the world, created March 1, 1872 by President Ulysees S. Grant.  There was not another national park founded until Sequoia National Park (on September 25, 1890), and then Yosemite National Park (on October 1, 1890).

2. Yellowostone is the nation’s eighth largest national park, at 2,221,766 acres (3,500 square miles).  Wrangell-St Elias National Park, in Alaska, is the country's largest national park at 13,200,000 acres.  
   
3. Yellowstone spans three states: 96% in Wyoming, 3% in Montana, and 1% Idaho.
   
4. This park is larger than the states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined.  
   
5. Visitors to the park should be aware of a problem for motorists:  4,500,000 visitors per year.  This is not a problem for us, though.  As with other extremely crowded tourist attractions (Yosemite, Road to Hana, etc.) if you are on a bike, you are not “stuck” in traffic and can stop wherever you please.  We appreciate that there is some greater danger in traveling the park on a bike, but in our opinion, the danger is small and the benefit great.