Dry Fork Ridge
- 2.9 mi
- round trip
- 314 ft
- climb
- 6,903 ft
- high point
- Out and back
- route
- Jun–Sep
- best months
Is Dry Fork Ridge open right now?
No closures listed
The Forest Service lists no closures for Bighorn National Forest.
As of · Source: USFS · Bighorn National Forest. Agencies don't list every closure — check before you go.
Dry Fork Ridge is an easy out-and-back hike in Wyoming's Bighorn National Forest, on the Tongue Ranger District. The route is about 2.9 miles long, with a low point of 6,586 feet and a high of 6,903 feet, making it a short walk of a few hundred feet of climbing. The Forest Service manages the land, and the trail is open year round. Summer is the most comfortable time to go. July typically averages a high of 71°F and a low of 42°F, based on typical averages from a nearby weather station at Burgess Junction. That station sits about 1,150 feet higher than the ridge, so temperatures on the ridge run warmer than those figures. The trail's natural surface allows horses and bikes, so it works for riders and pack animals as well as hikers. For more time on foot, Bull Elk Cutoff is about 1.4 miles away and West Pass Stock about 1.8 miles. Paddlers can reach the Dry Fork Little Bighorn River, roughly half a mile off.
- Dry Fork Little Bighorn RiverCanoeing0.6 mi
- BULL ELK CUTOFFHiking1.4 mi
- West Pass StockHiking1.8 mi
- Bull Elk ParkHiking3 mi
- MillerHiking3.4 mi
Little Bighorn RiverCanoeingPhoto: Leonard J. DeFrancisci, CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)7.3 mi
North TongueCampingPhoto: Recreation.gov (RIDB) / public domain8.5 mi- Highway 14a PinnaclesRock climbing8.7 mi
Source: Roamze catalog (indexable pages within 10 miles, PostGIS distance)
HUDSON CREEKHiking · ~20 min drivePhoto: Bas van Oorschot, CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)- BULL ELK CUTOFFHiking · ~2 min drive
- West Pass StockHiking · ~3 min drive
Prune CreekHiking · ~22 min drivePhoto: David Haile, CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)- FullerHiking · ~10 min drive
- Bull Elk ParkHiking · ~5 min drive
- Freeze Out Stock TrailHiking · ~15 min drive
- SMITH CREEKHiking · ~16 min drive
- Lake Creek DivideHiking · ~8 min drive
- Tongue River CaveHiking · ~24 min drive
Also worth it near here
- Little Bighorn RiverCanoeing · ~13 min drivePhoto: Leonard J. DeFrancisci, CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
- Tongue River Fishing SiteRiver fishing · ~15 min drive
Pine Island Group CampgroundCamping · ~17 min drivePhoto: David Haile, CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)- Bear Claw Love Number 1 ReservoirLake fishing · ~23 min drive
Best time to visit Dry Fork Ridge
Best months: June–September. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.
Jan
30° / 8°
Feb
29° / 7°
Mar
35° / 13°
Apr
41° / 18°
May
50° / 28°
Jun
61° / 35°
Jul
71° / 42°
Aug
70° / 41°
Sep
61° / 33°
Oct
46° / 23°
Nov
36° / 15°
Dec
29° / 8°
Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Burgess Junction, WY, 9.2 mi away at 8,060 ft. The station sits about 1,200 ft higher than this place, so expect it a little warmer here. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.
