Things to do in Riverton
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Riverton
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months, with everything open, every event running and the canyon and reservoir at their best.
Quieter shoulder months with lower prices and some seasonal closures beginning.
Worst for a leisure trip, sub freezing and windy, unless the trip is ice fishing and a winter hot springs soak.
Peak month for the calendar and for heat, with the rendezvous, balloon rally and county fair.
What's on
- Eastern Shoshone Indian Days Usually a weekend in late June
Powwow, Indian rodeo and relay races at Fort Washakie on the reservation.
- 1838 Mountain Man Rendezvous 1-5 July in recent editions
Full reenactment encampment on the original rendezvous site in Riverton.
- Ethete Celebration Powwow Usually July
Northern Arapaho hosted powwow at Ethete, a short drive west of Riverton.
- Riverton Rendezvous Balloon Rally mid July
Dawn balloon launches, a Saturday night glow with music and fireworks, running over 40 years.
- Day in the Park July
Arts, crafts, food and live music in Riverton City Park.
- Fremont County Fair & Rodeo Late July into early August
PRCA rodeo nights, ranch rodeo, livestock and midway, one of Wyoming's big county fairs.
- South Pass City Gold Rush Days July
Festival weekend at the historic site, the best time for mine tours and living history.
- Northern Arapaho Powwow Late August each year
The late summer powwow closing the season.
- Rocky Mountain Rebel Car & Bike Show August
Car and bike show in Riverton in the wider summer programme.
Best things to do in Riverton
Wind River Heritage Center
The best first stop in town, with wildlife mounts and wax figure scenes that explain why this valley mattered.
Castle Gardens Petroglyph Site
Shield figure rock art from about 1300 to 1550 in a remote sandstone basin, sacred and unlike anything else nearby.
Riverton Museum
A small, proper town museum covering the reservation era, the 1906 founding and the Gas Hills uranium boom.
1838 Mountain Man Rendezvous Site
Historic rendezvous ground that fills with period camps, traders and hawk throwing during the summer reenactment.
Wind River Hotel & Casino
Wyoming's largest casino, Northern Arapaho owned, and effectively Riverton's evening entertainment centre.
Northern Arapaho Experience
A tribally presented cultural room in the hotel lobby telling the Arapaho story in art, photos and artefacts.
Riverton City Park
The town's living room, with a splash pad, skate park and summer farmers markets that show Riverton as locals use it.
Fremont Local Market
The stop for Fremont County produce, baked goods and handmade items, and for building a proper picnic.
Where to stay in Riverton
North Federal Boulevard corridor
most visitors, easy departures
The main hotel strip with the Hampton and Paintbrush, well lit with easy parking and exits in every direction.
Downtown / East Sunset Drive
events and restaurant proximity
Nearest the town's restaurants and the convention hotel, and quiet to the point of emptiness at night.
South of town, Wind River Hotel & Casino
a one night stop where the evening is the point
Casino, restaurants and cultural room under one roof, with no need to drive after dinner.
Lander
Sinks Canyon, South Pass and Wind River Range days
An alternative base 25 miles away with a livelier main street, best in a two base split with Riverton.
Think twice about
- Cheapest older exterior corridor motels on Federal Boulevard
Some aggregate near 1 out of 5 in listings. Book a named, well reviewed property, park under lights and take valuables in.
Best restaurants in Riverton
Roasted Bean and Cuisine
The best table in town, a small creative kitchen with serious vegetarian options and proper coffee.
Red Willow Restaurant
The casino steakhouse and Riverton's default special occasion room, best ordered from its steakhouse core.
Perrett's
A cosy, locally loved Italian restaurant for pizza and pasta, where Riverton takes its visitors.
The Trailhead
The town's default family restaurant, with a praised salad bar, biscuits and gravy and big American staples.
Mt Everest Nepalese and Indian Bistro
Ample, well priced Nepalese and Indian dishes, a palate reset in steak and burger country.
Chopstix Asian Bistro
Chinese standards plus sushi in a casual room, one of the easiest light dinners in town.
The Depot
Mexican and Southwestern plates in portions reviewers call huge, in a railroad character room.
Bar 10
The town's best rated bar and grill, a locals' room with knowledgeable bartenders and solid American bar food.
Outdoor things to do in Riverton
Sinks Canyon State Park
A river vanishes into a limestone cave and reappears in a pool of huge trout you can feed but not fish for.
Boysen State Park
A big reservoir famous for walleye fishing, swimming and boating, with spacious campgrounds on 76 miles of shoreline.
Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway
A free canyon drive beside the river through ancient rock layers, with tunnels, pullouts and sheep on the slopes.
Riverton Country Club
A well kept semi private 18 hole course with fast greens, friendly staff and Wind River Range views late in the day.
Ocean Lake Wildlife Habitat Management Area
A quiet walleye lake and major migratory bird stopover with primitive camping and space to spare.
Wind River Canyon
Celebrated trout fishing below Boysen Dam and through the canyon, done guided and on a tribal permit.
Hot Springs State Park
Coloured mineral terraces and a free 20 minute soak in the state bathhouse at the end of the canyon drive.
Wind River Wild Horse Sanctuary
Guided ATV tours out to a herd of some 250 wild mustangs at pasture at the foot of the Wind River Range.
Best hotels in Riverton
Hampton Inn & Suites Riverton
The town's best hotel, a modern Hampton with hot breakfast, an indoor pool and the strongest reviews in Riverton.
Holiday Inn Riverton-Convention Center, an IHG Hotel
The fullest facilities in town, with a restaurant, bar, indoor pool and the area's largest meeting space.
Wind River Hotel and Casino
Stay where the evening is, with the casino, three restaurants and the Arapaho cultural room under one roof.
Comfort Inn & Suites Riverton
The reliable second chain on the strip for nights when the Hampton is full or priced up for events.
Paintbrush Motel
A family owned motel with spotless rooms and rates from about 65 dollars, the best cheap sleep in Riverton.
Sundowner Station
An acceptable budget fallback in Riverton if the Paintbrush Motel is full.
Is Riverton expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $70 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $140 a person |
| Splurge | $250 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Boysen State Park: a few days ahead
- Riverton Country Club: a few days ahead
- Wind River Canyon: weeks ahead
- Wind River Wild Horse Sanctuary: a few days ahead
- Book the Hampton and Paintbrush weeks ahead for fair, rendezvous, balloon rally and powwow dates.
- Book ahead for Wild Horse Sanctuary tours, guided reservation fishing, Carissa Mine tours and summer Boysen campgrounds.
Is Riverton safe?
- Watch for deer, pronghorn, elk and open range cattle on rural highways at dawn, dusk and after dark.
- Carry water on every excursion and watch foot placement for rattlesnakes at rock art sites and rocky trails.
- Check Wyoming DOT conditions before winter drives and carry a real winter kit.
Riverton travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Riverton is not a Yellowstone base, since the park entrances are roughly 3 to 4 hours away.
- The Rise trout pool is viewing and feeding only, not fishing.
- Do not wander off highway on the reservation for photographs without a tribal permit.
Getting around Riverton: public transport and more
- You need a car, and rideshare is thin to non existent, so rent before arriving or at Riverton Regional Airport.
- Download offline maps in town, since signal dies in Wind River Canyon and on most back roads.
- Fuel up in Riverton before Castle Gardens, South Pass and reservation stretches, where services are sparse.
Who Riverton suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Riverton your trip
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