One spring day in 1869, John Wesley Powell and his crew jumped into small wooden boats in Green River, Wyoming and began a three month adventure that would lead them on a daring exploration of the Green and Colorado Rivers. As they worked their way downstream, Powell saw the sun reflecting off the red sandstone cliffs and named the area Flaming Gorge. And what a sight it must have been! With towering canyon walls, glistening sapphire waters, and snow-capped mountains peeking out from the distance, the Powell Expedition must have been in constant awe of such powerful scenery. The Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway, a 160-mile route that circumnavigates the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, passes through quaint mountain communities and lush forests as it parallels the first half of Powell’s original odyssey. But Powell’s story is not the only tale this Byway has to tell. The area’s rich paleontological ground has produced an exceptional collection of dinosaur fossils, petroglyphs, and artifacts discovered along the route suggest that Fremont Indians hunted game near Flaming Gorge for centuries. To drive this Byway is to travel through the ages, from the stunning rock formations created by millennia of erosion to dramatic vistas of valleys and the Gorge itself. Enter a land where there is more wildlife than people, and champion trout fishing a daily occurrence. With world-class recreation, abundant wildlife, storied history, and scenic splendor, your drive along the Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway is sure to deliver spectacular landscapes at every turn.