South Big Horn Red Wall Back Country Byway

The Bighorn Road Less Traveled

The remoteness deep in the southern end of the Big Horn Mountains attracted ranchers as a place to graze their cattle, and they still do. In fact, the 102-mile South Big Horn/Red Wall Back Country Byway traces old livestock trails through a part of Wyoming that’s so remote you’re more likely to see a flock of sheep than another car. As you begin the drive on CR 125 east of Casper, slow, methodical oil field derricks add motion to the otherwise vast, silent prairie. Grazing antelopes will likely ignore you. Slowly gaining elevation as you pass through Fifty Mile Flat, you’ll begin to see a few pines sprouting up and wind-carved rock formations. More red mesas signal you’re close to the Red Wall, a long escarpment of red sandstone and shale – the same wall where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hung out and hid their money in the Hole-in-the-Wall. At the north end of the horseshoe-shaped road, you’ll discover Roughlock Hill where emigrants maneuvered their covered wagons down the steep rocky slope by locking their wagon wheels and skidding the wagons down. Nearby are a few rock cairns with plaques commemorate the old-time sheep herding men and women in the region. Take it easy on this mostly gravel route. Slow down and enjoy a one-of-a-kind journey.