We will be riding eastbound through Wyoming. Anyone with firsthand info of the route from Dubois to Rawlins?
Thanks!

US 287 & 26 are the ACA route. Big highways but scenic & traffic was not threatening.

We had a really good blogger on our 2009 ACA group tour. Here are his CGOAB entries from Rawlins to DuBois E > W

Rawlins > Jeffrey City
Jeffrey City > Lander
Lander
Lander > Dubois

I believe the "motel" at Jeffrey City is (thankfully) now closed. The Baptist church may be hosting bicyclists again. Waaay back in 1983 we camped at the JC Lion's Club Park ...


Jeffrey City WY 1983

The most recent review on Google Maps is from a month ago.
The most recent review of "Jeffrey City Cyclist hostel at the church is seven months ago.

My 2016 ride through Wyoming including between Dubois and Rawlins is here (http not https) - Wyoming - A bicycle ride across the Americas I stayed in the motel.

A big factor for me in this stretch was the wind. A wonderful tailwind from Dubois over the pass. A fight against the wind from Jeffrey City for 23 miles until the turn.

It's 120 miles from Lander to Rawlins.
Most eastbound and westbound riders stop at Jeffrey City.
You usually have tailwinds from Lander to Muddy Gap.
The stretch from Muddy Gap to Rawlins has fairly heavy traffic and bad head/sidewinds.
Prevailing afternoon winds are almost always southwest and strong.

Don't wait for the Split Rock Cafe to open at 9:00a in Jeffrey City.
Leave just after dawn, even if it is chilly.
Even if the forecast predicts northerly winds, try to leave early.
There's a funky C-Store gas station at Muddy Gap.
Grandma's Cafe at Lamont has been closed for a dozen years.

New owners?

then ...



now? ...

Yes. IIRC, a couple bought the place some time ago.

I stayed there in 2000 when it was still the JC. Only motel I have ever stayed in that did not take credit cards. I remember reading a report from a cyclist who stayed there many years later. He wrote that he pulled up a corner of the carpet to discover mold and some sort of toadstools growing.

Jeffrey City actually has an interesting origin if you care to look it up. It was established as a base for uranium mining operations. It began its decline in the early 80s after the end of the Cold War. When I was there some of the former housing units were still standing. They looked like barracks. One was labeled “SINGLE MEN”.

Three Dutch cycle tourists wee in the Lions Club campground when I went there to cook dinner. They warned me about the KOA in Rawlins. Right next to I-80 with no shade. I checked it out myself and opted for a motel in town.

When I headed east the next morning I encountered guy riding to work at the Sinclair facility. He said that sometimes it would take him 15 minutes to get to work and an hour to get home because of the wind.

After reading some Google Map reviews mentioned by mev it looks like they've cleaned up the rooms and current owners are well liked by the guests. Not that I plan to return but good info for Tandem Tom.

4/19/25 status of the JC/Green Mountain Motel.

Only the best accommodations for my wife!

You can't be picky between Lander and Rawlins. Take a look on Google Maps Street View. You can still see one of the old housing units on Coyote Drive. There is one bar/restaurant in town. I had a conversation there with a one-legged woman about the town and antelope meat that her husband had stocked in their freezer. He had worked in the uranium mining industry. They moved there because they had been promised jobs for life. The abandoned store next to the bar was open back in 2000. I remember the mosquitoes being pretty bad when I went to cook dinner at the park. One redeeming thing was that there were pronghorns off in the fields.

Another interesting thing is that when you cross Muddy Gap you won't believe you are crossing the continental divide.

Tom, maybe you and your wife should stay at the church hostel. Quote from current Green Mountain Motel owner who inherited it from his dad ...

“Just perfect scenery for a slasher film… It's what we always joked about. Dad thought it was funny.”

I can just see my (seemingly) blood stained "Motel" photo above in the closing credits!

“A boy’s best friend is his mother.”—Norman Bates

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