Lonesome Highway — Centennial Egg Mountains Road to Dubois via Wind River Badlands Backdoor

Most people heading into the Bear Lodge Mountains of northeastern Wyoming are bound for Devils Tower, and they miss everything that’s actually worth finding. Tinton Road and its network of connecting forest tracks out of Sundance cut through the Black Hills Uplift’s western tail — ponderosa ridgelines, limestone outcrops, and sudden views north into the Montana border country and south toward the Belle Fourche valley. The route traces FR 838 and FR 830 through Moskee and back toward US-14, passing old homestead clearings and logging-era relics that most Devils Tower tourists never see. The Bear Lodge Ranger District is low-traffic, the roads are well-maintained gravel but rutted in places, and the solitude is genuine.

Easy to moderate — this is a high-clearance gravel run, not a rock crawl. A capable AWV or light truck handles it dry; after snowmelt in spring the clay sections get slick enough to strand two-wheel-drive rigs. Best months are June through October. No permits. Dispersed camping is allowed throughout the national forest; dispersed sites off the main tracks offer good pine-canopy shelter. Fuel in Sundance, WY before heading in. Cell service is minimal on the ridgelines and absent in the deeper drainages. Bring enough water for a night — the springs aren’t reliable.