2015 – 07 – 04: Day 20 Scenic Destinations - Big Horn Canyon

From Lovell Wyoming

To Big Horn Canyon National Park

Distance Traveled: 14 miles / plus the scenic trail round trip to Big Horn Lake 32 miles.

I enjoyed my morning coffee from the hotel office while doing some catching work on my photos and notes about my journey.  

on the road into Big Horn Recreation Area

Then after packing it was off to Big Horn National Recreation Area.  It was only a very short drive to the park office which is just down the road in Lovell.  From there the road into the park camp grounds is only 14 scenic miles.

View to the red mountains from my camp site 

I picked out and paid for my camp site which has a gorgeous view of the rust red mountains.

My view at lunch was overlooking Yellowstone Lake and I even had time to do some sketching while waiting for the boat cruise through the canyon to commence.

on the canyon boat cruise 

Boat cruise on Yellowstone Lake:

So much beauty all around in every direction is it hard to know where to look first.  The captain was also the tour guide and it was a very entertaining trip.  At one point in time we did see some mountain goats in the cliffs above our heads but they were pretty far away and I was not able to get any photos.  The breeze on the water kept us cool even though it is really is a scorching hot day. 

Back at the car I was reminded what a hot day it was.  I was to hot (40 C) That my left over cup of coffee in the car was still hot. The heat also cooked my pears!  that means backed pears for dinner! 

Then I spent the rest of the afternoon on the scenic trail into the interior of the park which meanders northward, crossing the state line back into Montana!

Ewing Lovell historic ranch 

One of my stops was to visit an historic ranch.  The view from the porch out across the wide open spaces to the mountains was breathtaking. I would be quite content to wake up to that every day! 

Backing down the boat ramp 

My next stop was at the boat launch and camp grounds at Big Horn Lake located at the north end of the scenic park road. I had lots of fun watching a car with boat trailer backing down the steep curving boat ramp.

Two Eagles Interpretive trail

On the return trip south I stopped for a hike at a native historical site and followed the two eagles interpretive trail which I found fascinating.  

I saw some wild horses way off in the distance, too far off to make out in any of the pictures that I took.

View from the trail head at Sullivan's Knob 

My next stop was at Sullivan's Knob where I wanted to hike the the rim of the canyon where it is said there is a triple echo. However, even though I could see the trail head sign, I could not spot the trail.  I think this one is not hiked much and a rocky trail with very little vegetation is hard to differentiate from the surrounding landscape.  I was the only car in the parking lot and so prudence won over adventure.  Not a good idea to get lost on a 1 mile trail into the desert in 40C weather. 

My next destination was Devils canyon.  On the road into the parking area I spotted some Big Horn sheep at the side of the road.  It was fun just to sit in the car watching them grazing on the sparse vegetation.  

View from Devil's Canyon Overlook 

From the Devil's Canyon overlook there was an awesome view to the cliffs on either side and the water of the river below.  It is so easy to get lost in the vast distances spread before your eyes and feel dwarfed in size when standing at the edge looking down upon the tiny boat below. 

I had a lovely chat with some young migrant workers up here for harvesting work from Texas.   They were very nice young people.

Stunning red rock landscape 

The final stretch of my drive crossed the state line back into Wyoming and back to the campground.  I was fascinated by the red rocks of the mountain range here and took great pleasure in just enjoying the view.

Even though it was by now early evening and there was a breeze it was still too hot to set up camp fully exposed to the sun and sitting exposed on gravel.  So I found a shady place to sit and read by the beach on Yellowstone lake.  

Gradually as the sun started to get lower and lower in the sky I feel the air  getting cooler and I headed back to my camp site and set up for the night. 

Progressively as the sun set it got more and more windy!!! As I watched this amazing orange and mauve sunset I worked at really tying down my mosquito tent securely.  It was still flapping strongly in the wind and the resulting noise kept me awake for the longest time 

Finally the wind settled and I slept soundly with the cooling breeze whispering and keeping me company. 

Renate Dundys Marrello 

Link to the complete photo album

Map of route from Lovell to Horseshoe Bend Campgrounds 

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