Red Desert Crossing Historic Route

The Red Desert Crossing cuts through 100 miles of Wyoming’s largest unfenced landscape, following wagon ruts worn by Oregon Trail emigrants who called this stretch ‘the worst road in America.’ This route parallels the historic Parting of the Ways, where westbound families chose between the safer Sublette Cutoff or the shorter but more dangerous Hastings route. Modern overlanders navigate two-track roads across sagebrush flats where pronghorn antelope migrate in herds thousands strong, and wild horses still roam free.

Easy to moderate difficulty suitable for any high-clearance vehicle, though sandy washes and sudden weather can trap the unprepared. Summer heat makes this a spring and fall destination, when wildflowers bloom and hunting season brings the only human traffic. Fuel up in Rawlins and carry extra water – the nearest services are 60 miles apart. What you’re experiencing is the American West at its most elemental: endless sky, wildlife corridors unchanged since the Pleistocene, and the sobering reality of what emigrants faced crossing this unforgiving landscape.