Centennial Scenic Byway

Legend of the Mountain Man

You might not know his name, but you’ve seen his picture. Scraggly beard, dressed in animal skins, peering out over the landscape with a steely glint in his eye. He is the Mountain Man. His adventures have mostly evolved into folk tales over the years, but there were in fact thousands of real mountain men who hunted, trapped, and delivered pelts to furriers in the mid-1800s. When beaver hats went out of style, these hearty wilderness experts served as guides for pioneer wagon parties, foraging new routes through the undeveloped American West. They lived a rugged life. Winter storms were brutal, grizzly bear encounters were common, and without doctors, they had to set their own broken bones and nurse themselves back to health. Yet, they also appreciated the grandeur of the western terrain. When men like Jim Bridger, John Colter, and David Edward Jackson, reported on bubbling mud pots and spouting geysers in what is now Yellowstone National Park, people back east assumed they were hallucinating. And the height and majesty of the Grand Tetons was not believed. You can see for yourself when the Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway takes you through the country of the mountain man, a 163-mile route, with some of the most dramatic scenery in the world. As terrain shifts from badlands and ranch lands into wild forests and alpine lakes, you can glimpse wildlife against the backdrop of the iconic mountains and exclaim over the very same hot springs and fumaroles that astonished the early explorers.