Say ‘DEW-boyz’ right and Wyoming’s best small town welcomes you like family

Dubois isn’t on everyone’s radar yet

Fifty miles east of Grand Teton and a 90-minute drive from Yellowstone’s southern entrance, Dubois sits in a wide valley where the Absaroka and Wind River ranges rise on either side like walls. Wooden boardwalks line the main street.

The storefronts look like they belong to another century. And before you ask, locals say it “DEW-boyz.”

Get that right and you’re already halfway to fitting in.

The town draws people who want the mountains without the crowds, and what they find once they get here tends to surprise them.

Sheepeaters, trappers and the men who cut the ties

Long before the town had a name, the Mountain Shoshone known as the Sheepeaters lived in these valleys. They left behind stone hunting traps, tepee rings, and rock carvings you can still find in the area today.

Trappers and explorers began crossing the Wind River Valley in the early 1800s, and by 1914, logging had taken root.

Workers cut railroad ties by hand from the surrounding forests, launching what locals still call the tie hack era.

A lumber mill ran at the center of it all for decades until it closed in 1988, leaving a town that had to reinvent itself around what was always there: the land.

Whiskey Mountain holds hundreds of bighorn sheep every winter

From late fall through March, one of North America’s most well-known wintering herds of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep comes down to Whiskey Basin just outside town.

The herd was once considered the largest wintering concentration on the continent. A disease outbreak in the early 1990s cut its numbers hard, but several hundred animals still make the seasonal move.

During the rut, rams run full-speed at each other and crash their curved horns together, a sound that carries across the valley floor. A big ram’s horns can weigh around 30 pounds.

Elk, mule deer, and pronghorn share the same winter range, so you’re rarely watching just one species at a time.

The Bighorn Sheep Center puts you inside the herd’s world

The National Bighorn Sheep Center on Bighorn Lane opened in 1993 and gives you the full picture before you ever step outside.

Life-size dioramas, full-body mounts, and films walk you through the lives of all four wild sheep of North America.

The real draw, though, runs from November through March, when the center organizes guided van tours out to the winter range.

The guides know where the animals tend to gather and they know their habits, so you’re not just scanning a hillside and hoping.

Staff also keep a running list of recent sightings, which is worth checking before you head out on your own.

Red spires and flat-topped buttes rise right at the edge of town

You don’t have to drive far to find the Dubois Badlands.

They start at the edge of town, a protected Wilderness Study Area covering about 4,520 acres of federal land. Wind and water worked for millions of years to carve the rock into bands of red, tan, pink, and gray.

Spires in the Mason Draw area top out around 400 feet. There are almost no marked trails, which means you’ll want to download a route before you go.

There’s also almost no shade, so bring more water than you think you need and a hat you won’t regret wearing.

Wyoming’s state reptile darts along these rocky ridges

Footpaths branch through the badlands from the Kingfisher Road area, crossing seasonal streambeds and climbing rocky ridges that open up at the top.

From the high points, you can see both the Absaroka and Wind River ranges stretching out across the horizon.

Keep your eyes on the ground too, because the greater short-horned lizard, Wyoming’s state reptile, moves fast along the rocky ground and easy to miss if you’re not watching.

Elk, pronghorn, black bear, bald eagles, and golden eagles all turn up here, and members of the Whiskey Mountain bighorn herd occasionally wander through.

About 175 carvings wait in the canyons near Torrey Lake

A few miles from town, the Torrey Lake area holds one of Wyoming’s significant collections of ancient rock art.

The Torrey Lake Petroglyph District has about 175 carvings and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1993.

The images follow the Dinwoody style, showing human-like figures alongside animals, including sheep, elk, and deer.

Much of the surrounding land is private, and the carvings are fragile, so the right way to visit is on a guided trek booked through the Dubois Museum.

You won’t find these on your own, and that’s part of what keeps them intact.

The Dubois Museum is the right place to start your trip

At the west end of Main Street, the Dubois Museum, also known as the Wind River Historical Center, covers everything that shaped this valley.

Exhibits move through the geology of the upper Wind River, the wildlife, the Sheepeaters, the early homesteaders, and the Scandinavian loggers who swung the broad axes.

The museum also organizes the guided petroglyph treks, which book out, so it’s worth stopping in early or calling ahead. If you walk in without a plan, you’ll leave with one.

Think of it as the orientation your trip needs before you head into the backcountry.

A single World War II tank grew into hundreds of restored vehicles

About eight miles southeast of town, the National Museum of Military Vehicles opened in the fall of 2020. The founder, Dan Starks, bought one World War II tank to drive in Dubois’s Fourth of July parade.

That tank became hundreds. The collection now spans from early conflicts through modern times, with tanks, jeeps, artillery, and aircraft described as the largest private collection of U.S. military vehicles on public display.

Detailed galleries pair each machine with the stories of the people who operated it, so you leave with more than a sense of the hardware.

The tie hacks carved their own monument from Wyoming limestone

A short drive west of town on Highway 26/287, a roughly 14-foot limestone carving stands on a bluff above the Wind River.

The Wyoming Tie and Timber Company raised it in 1946 to honor the loggers, many of Scandinavian descent, who cut railroad ties by hand in these mountains.

The carving shows a rugged worker gripping a broad ax, with other tie hacks working the wood behind him. The bluff also gives you a clear view of the Wind River winding through the valley below.

In fall, when the cottonwoods turn, that view alone is worth pulling over for.

Togwotee Pass leads to volcanic cliffs, alpine lakes and wild trout

West of town, the drive up Togwotee Pass takes you past volcanic cliffs and jagged spires along the Absaroka skyline. Pinnacle Buttes rise above the road, one of the range’s most recognizable landmarks.

Just off the pass, Brooks Lake sits calm beneath those same cliffs and is wide enough for a canoe and quiet enough to hear the water.

Below the pass, the upper Wind River runs clear over riffles and into pools where wild trout hold in the current.

Anglers often have long stretches of it to themselves, which is the kind of thing that’s getting harder to find in the West.

Plan your visit to Dubois, Wyoming

To get there, head east from Grand Teton on U.S. Highway 26/287 for about 50 miles.

The National Bighorn Sheep Center runs guided winter viewing tours roughly November through March, but space fills up, so call ahead before you make the drive.

Petroglyph treks through the Dubois Museum also need advance booking and involve a moderate hike at elevation. The National Museum of Military Vehicles sits about eight miles southeast of town and is open year-round.

For the badlands, bring water, sun protection, and a downloaded route. There’s little shade and few markers, so check BLM road conditions before you go.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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