Glacier Ridge Trail — Bighorn National Forest High Road

The Bighorn Mountains don’t mess around. Glacier Ridge Trail — also tracked as USFS Road 13 and its spurs — cuts across the spine of Bighorn National Forest between US-14A and US-16, roughly between Burgess Junction and Buffalo. You’re pushing through lodgepole and Engelmann spruce until the trees give out and the world opens up into wide subalpine basins. Firefighters Memorial Campground makes a solid base before you hit the exposed ridge sections. The route passes near Helen Lake and skirts the edge of Cloud Peak Wilderness — no motorized access into the wilderness itself, but the views into it are legit. Expect rocky two-track, embedded shale, muddy drainage crossings after any rain, and the occasional downed timber across the road in early season.

This is a solid moderate-to-difficult run depending on conditions — wet weather turns the clay sections ugly fast. High-clearance 4WD is the minimum; lockers help on the rockier saddle climbs. Cell service is nonexistent once you’re in the high country. Best window is mid-July through September — snowpack lingers at elevation into early summer and can return by October. Fuel up in Buffalo or Sheridan before heading in. No permit required. Dispersed camping is available in the national forest outside wilderness boundaries. What you get is genuine Wyoming high country with almost no crowds by comparison to more famous routes.