🏛️ CulturalLong weekend · from Jackson, WY
Wind River Country — Sacajawea, Chief Washakie & the Heritage of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho
Two and a half hours southeast of Jackson, the Wind River flows out of the mountains onto the plains of the Wind River Indian Reservation, the shared homeland of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho nations and one of the largest reservations in the country. This three-day journey follows the human story of the valley: Lander and Fort Washakie, where tradition holds the graves of both Sacajawea, the Shoshone woman who guided Lewis and Clark, and Chief Washakie, the great Shoshone leader who secured this homeland; the living heritage of the reservation and the regional museum at Riverton; and, on the way home, the frontier town of Dubois with its museum of the Sheep Eater Shoshone, the mountain people who once lived high in the Absarokas. Throughout, this is Native land — visited with respect. Overnights in Lander and Riverton anchor the trip.
Day 1 — Lander & Fort Washakie (Sacajawea and Chief Washakie graves)Day 2 — Wind River Reservation heritage & the Riverton MuseumDay 3 — Dubois Museum & the Sheep Eater Shoshone history
Day 1 — Lander & Fort Washakie, WY
Day 1 — Lander & Fort Washakie, WY
🚗 3 hr 30 min driving📍 5 stops
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Morning
🚗
Drive
Jackson, WY → Lander, WY
2 hr 50 min8:00 AM → 10:50 AM
Lander Pioneer Museum
★ 4.7The Fremont County Pioneer Museum in Lander is a fine introduction to the whole Wind River region and its overlapping peoples — Eastern Shoshone, Northern Arapaho, fur trappers, homesteaders, and the town of Lander itself, which grew at the foot of the mountains where the plains meet the range. Exhibits cover the reservation's establishment, ranching and mining history, and the Oregon and Lander Trails that passed through. Well-curated for a small-town museum, it grounds the days ahead by laying out how the various cultures of the valley came to share it. Ask the staff for current guidance on visiting the reservation sites respectfully.
10:50 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
🍽️ Lunch11:50 AM
The Middle Fork, Lander (lunch)
A well-loved Lander cafe known for creative breakfast and lunch plates, fresh baking, and good coffee — a bright, welcoming spot in a mountain town that draws climbers, ranchers, and travelers alike. It is the natural midday stop before heading out to Fort Washakie, and the menu leans toward scratch cooking and local ingredients. Expect a small wait at peak times; the food is worth it.
2 options · tap to switch
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Afternoon
🚗
Drive
Lander, WY → Fort Washakie, WY
20 min12:50 PM → 1:10 PM
Sacajawea Cemetery & Chief Washakie Grave, Fort Washakie
Fort Washakie, the administrative center of the Wind River Reservation, holds two of the most significant graves in the Native history of the West. In the Sacajawea Cemetery, a stone monument marks the grave that Shoshone oral tradition holds to be that of Sacajawea, the young Shoshone woman who interpreted and guided the Lewis and Clark expedition; by this account she lived a long life and returned to her people, dying here in 1884. Nearby, at the old fort's military cemetery, lies Chief Washakie, the revered Eastern Shoshone leader and diplomat who lived nearly a century and was buried with full military honors in 1900 — reportedly the only known Native American chief given such a funeral by the U.S. Army. Both sites are open to respectful visitors. Remember this is a living community and an active cemetery: keep voices low, do not disturb offerings left at the graves, and ask permission before photographing people.
1:10 PM📍 See location
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Evening
🚗
Drive
Fort Washakie, WY → Lander, WY
20 min5:00 PM → 5:20 PM
🍽️ Dinner5:20 PM
Cowfish & Gannett Grill, Lander (dinner)
This paired restaurant and brewpub is the social heart of downtown Lander — the Gannett Grill turning out pizzas and burgers on a lively patio, and the adjoining Cowfish offering a more polished menu of steaks, trout, and seasonal plates, all washed down with beer from the on-site Lander Brewing. It is an easy, convivial place to end the first day among the climbers and locals who make Lander such a distinctive mountain town. Sit outside in good weather for the mountain light.
2 options · tap to switch
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The Inn at Lander
The Inn at Lander is a comfortable, full-service hotel on the edge of town, well placed for exploring the southern reservation and the Lander area, with easy access to the highway toward Riverton. Downtown Lander also offers the historic Pronghorn Lodge and several smaller motels and inns for those wanting to be closer to the walkable Main Street dining. Rooms are generally easy to find outside peak summer weekends; book ahead if traveling in July or August.
Day 2 — Wind River Reservation & Riverton, WY
Day 2 — Wind River Reservation & Riverton, WY
🚗 45 min driving📍 5 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Lander, WY → St. Stephens Mission / Ethete, Wind River Reservation
25 min8:00 AM → 8:25 AM
St. Stephens Mission & Northern Arapaho Heritage
On the reservation between Lander and Riverton, the historic St. Stephens Mission — founded in 1884 — is notable for its church decorated in vivid Northern Arapaho geometric designs, a striking fusion of Catholic and Arapaho artistic traditions, and a small heritage center and gift shop selling Arapaho beadwork and art. It offers a respectful window onto the Northern Arapaho people, who were placed on this Shoshone reservation in 1878 and have made it their home ever since. Nearby Ethete is a center of Arapaho community life. If your visit coincides with a public powwow — the Ethete Celebration and others are held on the reservation in summer — it can be an extraordinary experience, but attend as a guest: follow posted rules, do not photograph dancers or ceremonies without explicit permission, and never enter areas marked as private or ceremonial.
8:25 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
🚗
Drive
St. Stephens / Ethete → Riverton, WY
20 min9:25 AM → 9:45 AM
🍽️ Lunch9:45 AM
The Depot / Trailhead Restaurant, Riverton (lunch)
A comfortable Riverton sit-down spot serving American fare — steaks, sandwiches, and hearty plates — a convenient lunch in the region's largest town before the afternoon at the museum. Riverton sits within the reservation's original boundaries but was opened to non-Native settlement in a 1906 land cession, giving it a distinct small-city feel. The pace here is relaxed and the portions generous.
2 options · tap to switch
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Afternoon
Riverton Museum
★ 4.4The Riverton Museum, run by the Fremont County museum system, occupies a former church and tells the story of the town's 1906 founding on ceded reservation land, its homesteading boom, and the many cultures that met on this ground. Exhibits reconstruct early Riverton with a schoolroom, general store, and sheepherder's wagon, and include material on the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho, the uranium mining that later shaped the county, and the daily life of the settlement era. It is a warm, thorough local museum that complements the reservation heritage of the morning with the settler side of the same valley. Confirm seasonal hours, as they narrow outside summer.
12:00 PM📍 See location
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Evening
🍽️ Dinner5:00 PM
The Bull Restaurant, Riverton (dinner)
A longtime Riverton steakhouse serving prime rib, steaks, and classic American dinners in a relaxed Western setting — a fitting evening meal after a day spanning reservation heritage and settler history. It is a local favorite for a hearty sit-down dinner, unpretentious and satisfying. An easy walk or short drive from the town's lodging.
2 options · tap to switch
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Holiday Inn Riverton — Convention Center
Riverton has the region's widest selection of chain lodging, and the Holiday Inn Riverton is a comfortable, full-service base with a restaurant and pool, centrally located for the next morning's drive up the Wind River toward Dubois. Several other mid-range and budget chains cluster nearby along the main highway. Positioning here for the second night keeps the final day's route to Dubois and home efficient; rooms are generally easy to secure outside major local events.
Day 3 — Dubois, WY
Day 3 — Dubois, WY
🚗 3 hr 20 min driving📍 3 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Riverton, WY → Dubois, WY
1 hr 35 min8:00 AM → 9:35 AM
Dubois Museum (Wind River Historical Center)
★ 4.7As the highway climbs the Wind River back toward the mountains, the frontier town of Dubois holds the Dubois Museum, part of the Wind River Historical Center, whose standout collection illuminates the Mountain Shoshone — the 'Sheep Eaters,' or Tukudeka, who lived year-round high in the Absaroka and Wind River ranges hunting bighorn sheep long before the reservation era. Exhibits display their finely crafted sheep-horn bows, their brush shelters and hunting traps, and interpret how these mountain people differed from the plains-dwelling bands. The museum also covers the tie-hack logging era, homesteading, and the surrounding wildlife. It is an excellent, unhurried final museum stop that reaches back to the oldest human presence in these mountains. Outdoor exhibit buildings hold historic cabins.
9:35 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
🍽️ Lunch10:35 AM
Cowboy Cafe, Dubois (lunch)
A beloved Dubois main-street institution serving generous ranch-country breakfasts and lunches — burgers, hot sandwiches, homemade soups, and famous pie — in a genuine cowboy-town setting. It is the natural last meal of the trip before the climb over Togwotee Pass toward Jackson, and the atmosphere is pure small-town Wyoming. Expect a friendly crowd of locals and travelers; the pie is the thing to save room for.
2 options · tap to switch
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Afternoon
National Bighorn Sheep Center & Dubois Badlands
★ 4.7A short walk from the Dubois Museum, the National Bighorn Sheep Center interprets the Rocky Mountain bighorn — the very animal the Sheep Eater Shoshone depended on — and the largest wintering herd in the region, the Whiskey Mountain herd just outside town. Exhibits and a short film explain the sheep's biology and the tribes' relationship to it, closing the loop on the morning's story. Just outside town, the red-and-purple Dubois Badlands glow in afternoon light and make a fine last look at the landscape before the drive over Togwotee Pass. Together they are a fitting close before turning for home.
12:00 PM📍 See location
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Evening
🚗
Drive
Dubois, WY → Jackson, WY
1 hr 45 min5:00 PM → 6:45 PM
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