Tongue River Canyon

Tongue River Canyon, about 23 miles east of Sheridan via US-14 and Tongue Canyon Road, is one of the most accessible and rewarding short hikes in the Bighorn foothills. The trail winds for around 11 miles along the river through walls of sheer limestone rising hundreds of feet above the water, past arches, alcoves, and stands of aspen and cottonwood.

The trailhead sits at the canyon entrance where the road dead-ends. You can walk as far as you like and turn around — even the first mile into the canyon gives you the main spectacle. Fly fishing in the Tongue River is good, and the canyon can be combined with a drive up US-14 over the Bighorn range to Cloud Peak Summit, one of the great scenic drives in Wyoming.

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A story
The Tongue River has been cutting through Bighorn limestone for millions of years, and the canyon it carved is disproportionately dramatic for a river of its modest size. The sheer walls, ancient keyholes, and overhangs were formed when the river was far more powerful than it is today — a reminder of how different the Pleistocene climate was from Wyoming's current semi-arid conditions.