Dry Horse Trail
16.42-mile out-and-back trail in Wyoming with 4,020 ft elevation gain.
- 16.4 mi
- round trip
- 4,020 ft
- climb
- 8,794 ft
- high point
- Out and back
- route
Best time to visit Dry Horse Trail
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, 17.5 mi away at 8,060 ft. The station sits about 700 ft lower than this place, so expect it a little cooler here. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.
Dry Horse Trail is a hard hike in Wyoming, about 4 miles from the town of Shell. It is an out-and-back route of roughly 16 miles, with a one-way climb of about 4,000 feet from a low point of 4,743 feet to a high of 8,794 feet. Summer is the most comfortable time to go. Typical averages from a nearby weather station at Burgess Junction, which sits a few hundred feet lower than the trail's high point, show July highs around 71°F with lows near 42°F. Winters there are severe, with January highs around 30°F and lows near 8°F. The Elkhorn Trail starts just 0.1 mile away, and Beaver Creek, a canoeing spot, is about 3 miles off. Shell Bench and the Sunlight Cutoff are both within about 4 miles.
Keep exploring — more trails worth the drive
Photo: Bas van Oorschot, CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)HUDSON CREEK
~19 min drive
1.58-mile out-and-back trail in Wyoming with 403 ft elevation gain
null
~5 min drive
24.20-mile out-and-back trail in Wyoming with 4,657 ft elevation gain.
Dry Horse Trail
~5 min drive
9.16-mile out-and-back trail in Wyoming with 2,424 ft elevation gain.
Elkhorn
~12 min drive
Elkhorn is a 1.97-mile out-and-back trail in Wyoming with 124 ft gain.
Photo: David Haile, CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)Prune Creek
~34 min drive
1.40-mile out-and-back trail in Wyoming with 256 ft gain.
Shell Bench
~9 min drive
20.99-mile out-and-back trail in Wyoming with 2,716 ft elevation gain.
Fuller
~35 min drive
7.88-mile out-and-back trail in Wyoming with 1,440 ft gain.
SUNLIGHT CUTOFF
~7 min drive
1.36-mile out-and-back trail in Wyoming with 619 ft gain and 8,016 ft max elevation.
Beef
~10 min drive
11.62-mile out-and-back trail in Wyoming with 1,592 feet of elevation gain.
BULL ELK CUTOFF
~37 min drive
2.22-mile out-and-back trail in Wyoming with 2,364 ft elevation gain.
Map and trail data © OpenStreetMap contributors
