Rising abruptly from the plains of north-central Wyoming, the Bighorn Mountains stand apart from the main spine of the Rockies, an isolated island of high country surrounded by rolling grassland. That separation gives them a character all their own.

The range climbs to more than 13,000 feet at Cloud Peak, its highest summit, cradling a wilderness of granite and alpine lakes at its heart. Lower down, broad meadows and forests offer some of the most pleasant and least crowded recreation in the state, a favorite of Wyoming families who prize it precisely because the tourists tend to pass it by.

Two scenic highways cross the range, climbing through dramatic canyons and past overlooks with views that stretch for a hundred miles across the basin below. Along the way lie campgrounds, trailheads, and the mysterious Medicine Wheel, an ancient stone circle sacred to Native peoples high on a windswept ridge.

The Bighorns reward the unhurried. Anglers fish clear streams for trout, hikers wander into the Cloud Peak Wilderness, and in winter the range fills with snowmobilers and skiers. Overshadowed in reputation by Wyoming's famous parks, the Bighorns offer something quieter and, to those who know them, no less magnificent.