Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Loop — Attraction in Green River

This is one of my favorite places on the planet. With that said, if you are just doing a drive through you may find it a little tricky. Here are some tips & tricks:

The horse bands who live north of Pilot Butte are more likely to be visible from the road early in the morning. The one exception to this is in the late summer and early fall when they will be out in the afternoon more regularly.

Make sure that you also go on County Road 14. This is the road that gets you to the start of the loop on the north end. Take that down to a big alkali draw where you can turn around and then head back to the loop itself. There is a huge group of several colorful bands that like to hang out together - they're inconsistent but if they're by the road you will be highly entertained.

The horse bands who live in the south section tend to be around the road the most consistently, regardless of the time of day. If you are on a time crunch, start on the Green River end and then turn around once you hit the turn off to go to the butte itself.

If you are visiting in the fall and have decent ground clearance (anything but a compact or sedan should be fine) I would suggest taking the road to and around the butte too. That's a popular hangout late morning to mid afternoon in autumn.

Just be mindful of your vehicle type and tires. The main loop road can handle sedans and smaller vehicles, but definitely take your time on them. The rocks can be sharp, especially north of Pilot Butte and there are several large ruts that can spring up on you...

First caveat this isn't a zoo. Don't expect to see a lot of animals if they are grazing somewhere else on the mountains you may have to get off the beaten path or ask locals where they have seen the herd. Also with that said I have yet to drive up here and not see anything. You just may need binoculars or drive a little slower to spot the wildlife. The gravel dirt road is extremely well maintained and pretty tame during the summer months. You can easily take this road in a lower profile car during the summer. However, be aware this is a southern wyoming desert road so conditions can change rapidly day to day. Also while main drag of Wild Horse Canyon Road/White Mountain Road is pretty tame, Gookin-White Mountain Rd that drops into Rock Springs is not. Definitely higher clearance AWD/4WD vehicle and expect to meet someone coming up or down in the narrower sections which may requiring backing up to find a good passing point. There is a lot of informational signs talking about a wide range of topics. Great views and this is also one of the ways out to Pilot Butte. With a little planning and forethought this can be an excellent place to get off the main highway and...

4 stars only because there's a chance of seeing the herd if tour is planned carefully for time of day, we later heard either early morning or late afternoon/early evening hours. Even so, driving thru mid-afternoon we saw two group of horses totalling about 11 animals. Road from Hwy 191 to somewhere about 2/3 of way thru loop is rutted gravel (and we were warned). We found it better to go a little faster (+/-35) than creep. At 2/3 of way, road changes for a lot better - must be in a different county. As far as we are concerned, most of the "scenery" occurs on the horizon and we took many photos but the tour pleasantly whiled away about 2 hours. Another thought - can start loop from either Hwy 191 or from Green River. We had dinner planned off Exit 102 in Rock Springs and started from Hwy 191 which meant we had to pass our camp site to get back to Exit 102 and then drive back to Exit 99 to get to campsite. Not a big deal - except that my husband absolutely hates to waste time...