Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area: Exploring One of Wyoming’s Best Hidden Gems
Sometimes the best travel memories have very little to do with the places you planned to see.
Sometimes they begin with a flat tire.
Ours began on top of White Mountain near Green River, Wyoming, where we were boondocking with an incredible view over the valley below.
We’d come to southwestern Wyoming to explore.
We certainly accomplished that.
But a badly damaged tire, two strangers in a pickup truck and an incredible stroke of luck turned our visit to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area into something much more memorable.
It became one of those experiences that reminded us why we love traveling in the first place.
Camping on White Mountain Near Green River
We’d traveled from Alcova, Wyoming, to Green River, and even the travel day was beautiful.
Our campsite was on top of White Mountain overlooking Green River.
What a view.
We could see for miles across the surrounding landscape, and we spent time watching incredibly long trains making their way through the valley below.
We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
And we loved it.
The next Over the Hills episode would be devoted to the campsite itself, but for this trip, White Mountain became our base for exploring Green River and Flaming Gorge.
It also became the setting for one of the strangest—and ultimately nicest—things that happened to us on the road.
The Flat Tire That Changed Our Trip
One day, Ed headed out alone to explore White Mountain.
I stayed back at the trailer.
He climbed to the top of one of the buttes, took some pictures and started making his way back.
He hadn’t seen another person all day.
Then he got a flat tire.
And this wasn’t a little puncture.
The rocks up there were incredibly sharp, and one of them had sliced through the tire almost as if somebody had taken a knife to it.
Ed wasn’t particularly worried at first.
We carried a hydraulic jack.
We had a four-way lug wrench.
And there was a spare tire under the truck.
No problem.
Except there was one rather important thing we didn’t have.
The special tool required to lower the spare tire from underneath the truck.
Stranded 15 Miles From Our Trailer
Ed was about 15 miles from the trailer.
He hadn’t seen anyone all day.
It was a Saturday.
And now he was lying underneath the truck trying to figure out how in the world he could release the spare without the proper tool.
He tried improvising.
Nothing was working.
Then he heard a vehicle.
A couple came along in a pickup truck and stopped.
“Do you need some help?”
Yes.
Yes, he did.
Ed explained that he had everything he needed to change the tire except the special tool required to lower the spare.
The man looked at his wife.
Apparently, he’d found one of those tools in a storage shed and, for some reason, had tossed it into his truck.
And there it was.
Exactly when Ed needed it.
What were the odds?
Meet Peanut and Janice
The couple who stopped to help Ed were Peanut and Janice.
They were locals who knew the area well, and Peanut was originally from Louisiana.
Not only did they have the tool Ed needed, they stayed and helped him get the spare down and onto the truck.
Ed tried to offer them something for helping him, but he didn’t even have cash with him.
So he asked them to please stop by our trailer later.
Then Peanut handed Ed a local beer to try.
That turned out to be especially appreciated because Ed had been exploring for a couple of hours and hadn’t even taken water with him.
Lesson learned there, too.
Unfortunately, Ed’s tire adventure wasn’t finished yet.
Then Another Tire Started Losing Air
Ed headed back toward our trailer.
Everything seemed fine.
Then the truck’s tire-pressure monitoring system sounded an alarm.
The rear driver’s-side tire was losing pressure.
Apparently, whatever had damaged the front tire had also damaged the rear tire.
Then another alarm went off.
The spare Ed had just installed on the front was losing pressure too.
Now he had two tires losing air and was still miles from the trailer.
Fortunately, we kept a 12-volt air compressor in the truck.
Ed began a rather tedious process of driving a little way, stopping, adding air and continuing.
The rear tire eventually reached the point where he could only get it to around 15 PSI.
The front wasn’t losing air quite as quickly.
This was not looking good.
When Everything Is Going Wrong, Play Star Wars Music
Somewhere around the third stop to refill the tires, Ed decided there was only one reasonable thing left to do.
He pulled out his phone.
Opened Pandora.
Found Star Wars music.
Connected it to the truck radio.
And headed toward the trailer.
Warning lights flashing.
Alarms going off.
Tires losing air.
Star Wars soundtrack blasting.
Why not?
If you’re going to limp a truck down a Wyoming mountain on failing tires, apparently you might as well give yourself a proper soundtrack.
Peanut and Janice Helped Again
Ed eventually made it back to me and the trailer.
We loaded General into the truck and headed toward town because we needed to find a tire shop.
And who should come along again?
Peanut and Janice.
They had been slowly working their way through the area looking for elk and deer ahead of hunting season.
When they saw us struggling with the tires, they followed us toward town.
Every time Ed had to stop and add air, they stopped too.
They stayed with us until we made it safely to a tire shop.
By this point, we were determined to properly thank them.
We invited them back to our trailer.
And this time, they came.
Sometimes Strangers Become Friends
Ed had noticed that Peanut drank Bud Light, so we picked up a 12-pack for him.
They came over to the trailer, and we spent time talking.
And talking.
We discovered that we had quite a bit in common.
We talked about life.
We talked about faith.
We talked about the area.
And by the end of it, these people who had simply stopped to help a stranger with a flat tire weren’t really strangers anymore.
Then they invited us to spend the next day with them.
They wanted to show us some of their favorite places around Flaming Gorge.
Of course we said yes.
Exploring Firehole Canyon
Our new friends took us to the Firehole Canyon area of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.
We parked the trucks near the river.
Peanut did some fishing.
And then he made lunch.
We had barbecued hamburgers and homemade brats while sitting beside the water in one of the prettiest landscapes we’d seen.
It was one of those simple travel days that turns out to be perfect.
Unfortunately, General wasn’t quite as impressed as the rest of us.
There was an algae bloom in the water during our visit, so we couldn’t let him get in and play.
Poor General.
Everybody else was having a wonderful day, and the dog couldn’t understand why the big beautiful body of water was off limits.
After lunch, we continued exploring the Firehole Canyon area.
The scenery was gorgeous.
More of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area
Over the next few days, we continued exploring.
The four of us eventually drove around the southern portion of Flaming Gorge, including the area near the dam, and then traveled back along the western side.
It was spectacular.
Flaming Gorge was one of those places where we kept looking around and wondering why we hadn’t heard more about it before we arrived.
The combination of water, canyon walls, open Wyoming landscape and huge skies was absolutely beautiful.
If you’re traveling through southwestern Wyoming or northeastern Utah, this is an area worth putting on your list.
Wild Horses on White Mountain
White Mountain had another surprise for us.
Wild horses.
Peanut and Janice went out with Ed another day while scouting for deer and elk.
They didn’t have much luck finding those.
But they did find wild horses.
White Mountain is home to a wild horse herd, and seeing those horses roaming the Wyoming landscape was something special.
Even when you’re not inside a national park, this part of the country can deliver some pretty remarkable wildlife experiences.
Pilot Butte and the White Mountain Landscape
One of the landmarks in the White Mountain area was Pilot Butte.
From the information we found during our visit, Pilot Butte had served as an important landmark for travelers through this landscape for a very long time.
Standing up there and looking across that enormous Wyoming landscape, it wasn’t difficult to understand why.
You can see an incredible distance.
It’s the kind of scenery that makes you stop thinking in terms of towns and highways and start imagining what this country must have looked like to people crossing it long before modern roads existed.
Green River, Wyoming, Deserves Some Time Too
We were also fascinated by Green River itself.
It’s not a huge city, but it has a surprisingly interesting history.
The railroad played a major role in the community, and during our visit we learned about Green River’s importance as a Union Pacific railroad division point.
You can still see the enormous freight yard downtown.
The area has also long served as an important transportation corridor.
Long before Interstate 80 crossed this part of Wyoming, travelers were moving west through this landscape.
Later came the railroad.
Today you have the interstate, trains and even a steady stream of airplanes crossing overhead.
Transportation has been part of the story here for generations.
The Geology Around Green River
The landscape around Green River has an equally interesting geological story.
The region is known for its trona deposits, a mineral used in producing soda ash.
Soda ash has a tremendous number of everyday industrial uses, including products involving glass, paper and detergents.
We also learned about the ancient lake environment that once covered this area.
Looking across the dry Wyoming landscape today, it’s strange to imagine it underwater.
But that’s one of the things we love about traveling.
A place becomes much more interesting once you understand a little of the story beneath what you’re seeing.
And Then There Was Gumbo
As if Peanut and Janice hadn’t already done enough for us, they invited us to their home.
Remember, Peanut was originally from Louisiana.
He made us an authentic Cajun gumbo.
And it was fantastic.
Before we ate, he said grace and thanked the Lord for bringing new friends into their lives.
That moment really stayed with Ed.
Whether someone shares those particular beliefs or not, the kindness behind it was overwhelming.
A day or two earlier, we’d never met these people.
Then a tire went flat.
They happened to drive by.
They happened to have the exact tool Ed needed.
They stopped to help.
Then they helped us again.
They showed us around their home territory.
They took us fishing.
They fed us.
They invited us into their home.
And we left Wyoming with new friends.
The People Can Become the Best Part of Travel
When we started full-time RVing, we expected to see beautiful places.
And we have.
We’ve visited national parks, historic sites, mountains, rivers, lakes, tiny towns and cities all across the country.
What we couldn’t really anticipate were the people.
Travel puts you in situations where you meet people you never would have encountered otherwise.
Sometimes it’s just a quick conversation at a campground.
Sometimes somebody helps you when you’re having a bad day.
And every once in a while, two strangers stop beside a stranded truck on a lonely Wyoming mountain and become friends.
Those experiences can end up meaning every bit as much as the destinations.
Is Flaming Gorge Worth Visiting?
For us, absolutely.
The scenery alone made Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area worth the trip.
We loved:
- The incredible canyon and reservoir scenery
- Firehole Canyon
- Exploring White Mountain
- Watching for wild horses
- The views over Green River
- Learning about the area’s history and geology
- Driving through the wide-open Wyoming landscape
But that’s not what we remember most.
We remember Peanut and Janice.
We remember a flat tire that couldn’t have happened in a worse place.
We remember a stranger who somehow had exactly the tool we needed in the back of his truck.
We remember hamburgers and homemade brats beside the river.
We remember exploring Flaming Gorge with people who knew and loved the area.
We remember Cajun gumbo.
And we remember leaving with friends we didn’t have when we arrived.
That’s what this journey has become for us.
It’s not only about seeing America.
It’s about everything that happens along the way.
And sometimes, a really bad day turns into one of the best travel memories you’ve ever made.
We’ll see you down the road…and Over the Hills.
Continue the Journey
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