Things To Do Near Home

            If you’re someone who thinks there’s no fun to be had in a small town or outside of a city then this may not be the rotation for you! You’ll find yourself staying in Fort Washakie, about 15 minutes outside of Lander and ~25-30 minutes from Riverton, the two biggest towns in the area. Both of whom are towns just big enough to have more than one stop light. But don’t let that fool you as there is still tons of fun to be had if you’re willing to get out there an explore! Luckily enough outside of the hazy skies John and I had really great weather, so if some of the activities listed in this article are unavailable to you due to inclement snow/weather I’m sorry advance!  

            Just outside of Lander you can enter into some National Forrest land, in the Wind River Mountain range, that has a bountiful supply of trails and lakes to explore. A trail that John and I 10/10 recommend is the Sinks Canyon Falls trail. The trailhead is at most 15 minutes from downtown Lander and is pretty well established due to its popularity! The hike is about 1.5 miles and is totally worth it, Sinks Falls is a series of cascading waterfalls that are a beauty to behold! Despite it being popular it is still imperative to bring bear spray with you as John and I passed a hiker who had just run into a black bear only about 200 yards ahead of us on the trail. A good rule of thumb is to not only always have bear spray with you for any hikes that you take, but to know how to use the bear spray as well! Some other cool places to visit in the Shoshone national Forrest are Frye Lake, Fiddler’s Lake and the Worthen Meadow Reservoir.  

            If fishing is something that you’re interested there are plenty of places to wet a line and rip some lips. Most of what you’re fishing for trout are trout which taste great and are extremely fun to fish for! There are places you can fly fish as well but fly fishing can be aggravating and tough! In John and I’s case we had good luck catching some Brookies on Frye Lake and on some public access off of 2^nd street no more than 3-4 miles out of down town Lander. I would ask the locals or Gray Plunkett (an Auburn alumni) where the best places to try your luck are for the season you’re there. They can also give you lots of pointers on what bait to use.  

            The golf courses in Wyoming are quite literally something else! They may not be nicest courses you ever play but they can have some outstanding views! The Lander course has a lot better views than Riverton’s course since it closer to the Wind River Mountains; however, you might need some GPS coordinates to find your ball if you manage to put it even 1 foot into the rough. A golf bag is large and can be cumbersome to pack so if you decide to leave it behind, we understand, but if you have room and play golf, we recommend you playing while you’re there! If you bring your clubs, we would Recommend talking to either Josh Green or Josh Graham both are pharmacists on the reservation, and play a good amount of golf.   

            You can always find something to do after your rotation each day if you try hard enough! You’re only there for 5 weeks and more than likely at the end of the 5 weeks there will be stuff you wanted to do, but didn’t have the opportunity to do.