Boondocking At The Gorgeous Green River Lakes In Wyoming

I believe the three days we spent boondocking on the Green River in Wyoming was our favorite camping location in all our time traveling so far.

The Green River Lakes area is located in the Bridger Wilderness of the Bridger-Teton National Forest and is part of the northern Wind River Range.

It’s an absolutely breathtaking place and one of Wyoming’s most scenic and popular summer and fall destinations for good reason.

This boondocking destination is located 52 miles north of Pinedale, Wyoming. Be sure to have a full tank of gas, because there are no gas stations close by. Actually be sure to be stocked up on all supplies you may need for your stay.

The GPS coordinates I provided above are for the entrance to the area which is where the dirt road begins.

This dirt road is 19 miles of complete washboard.

It is the worst washboard road we have ever encountered.

You have to go slow the entire way and that 19 miles will, no joke, take you nearly an hour to drive. The road ends at the shores of the beautiful Lower Green River Lake with amazing views of Square Top Mountain.

There are a ton of places to camp on that 19 mile drive down to the lake.

There are plenty of already established boondocking spots scattered on both sides of the road. The Green River flows on your left and you can camp right on the banks of the river.

This free camping area is run by the National Park Service and has a 14-day stay limit.

Campsites are on a first come, first served basis and I believe it’s open year round.

Considering the winter conditions though it may only be opened seasonally. I know other places in the area are.

Though there are no designated sites try to camp in areas that seem to have been used before. Any size rig will fit here and there’s room for a ton of rigs in the area. If you’re looking for privacy there are plenty of spots with no one around.

This is boondocking so no water or hook-ups can be found here. There are no trashcans so whatever you pack in make sure you pack out. There are also no bathrooms located near the boondocking spots.

Pets are allowed, but please be sure to pick up after them. Also, there is a ton of wildlife here (more on that later) so if you have your dog off leash here be sure to keep an eye on him.

In most of the sites, you are able to get all the sun you need if you’re powering up your rig with solar.

If you’re looking for some shady spots, there are some trees that can provide some shade for your rig. The shady spots are not located by the river though so keep that in mind if you want waterfront property.

There were homemade firepits at most of the spots, but this area does have fire restrictions throughout the year.

The Wind River Range gets its name for a reason so be sure to contact the local ranger station (number above) to see what restrictions are in place.

I know when we were there you could have a fire, but a ban went into effect the next week.

Always make sure every spark is out before going to bed or leaving camp.

Let’s talk cell service…there is NONE!

No AT&T, no Verizon, no T-Mobile no nothing, even with boosters, was available here. Maybe when Starlink is common for RVs there will be service here, but even then I doubt it.

It was the reason we only spent three nights here because we work from the road and that’s about the max we can go without service.

Now the farther down the road you go the better the views get of the mountains

. I think the last boondocking spots are available about a 1/4 mile away from the lake. The views from anywhere on the Green River though are pretty great.

We found a very remote spot about five or six miles down the road right on the bank of the river. This particular spot had a couple of bends in the river and the beautiful blue water was surrounded by lush green grasses.

It was just magical!

The green river is very popular for kayakers, canoers, and fishermen and we saw many float down the river during our stay. I even jumped in the river once, but only lasted about five minutes. That water was cold even at the end of June!

The amount of wildlife we saw while sitting in our chairs at the river bank astounded us.

We saw mule deer, pronghorn, muskrats, more birds than we could count, and our very first moose!

The moose was on the other side of the bank and even crossed at one point. It was very cool. We also saw a baby mule deer and a badger while driving around.

There are ranchers in the area so you will see and hear some cows.

This is also bear country and there were multiple signs in the area warning visitors to be bear aware. The US Forest Service has a page on bear safety you can check out here.

I’m gonna warn you now about the insane amount of mosquitos that are present in this area. I mean they are pretty darn awful. They usually bother the hubby a lot more than me, but even here I was getting eaten alive.

Be sure to have plenty of bug spray on hand for you and your pets and apply it liberally.

Also, if you’ve ever considered picking up the Thermacell Portable Mosquito Repellers before I highly recommend doing it. They are a bit pricey at first to purchase, but completely worth the money.

I don’t think we would of been able to sit outside without it.

Besides fishing and kayaking down the river, you can also fish and kayak at Lower Green River Lake.

We had a great time kayaking the lake. There are a couple of smaller lake/ponds you can spend time on as well located off the main road.

There are also multiple hikes here if hiking is your thing.

Take a seven mile loop around the lake as we did or one of the longer hikes that start at the trailhead nearby. Many people use this area as a starting point for backpacking trips.

The Continental Divide Trail even passes through here if you wanted to spend some time on it. We met a thru-hiker I follow on Instagram during our visit which was super exciting.

There is a campground located near the lake. It has restrooms and trashcans and I believe it’s around $12 a night to camp. The spots are small and close together though with no views. It did not look well maintained either when we drove through.

Boondocking, I believe, really is the better option for this area.

There are also restrooms near the trailhead parking lot as well as a water spigot to fill up jugs. We filled up a couple of jugs here during our visit. The campground had some water spigots too, but we didn’t test them out.

Did I forget to mention the sunsets here, because we were blown away by their beauty every night!

I mean, breathtaking just breathtaking to behold.

We absolutely loved our stay here (minus those pesky mosquitos) and can’t wait to go back.

Next time we will make sure we are more caught up with work so we can stay longer. We would also love to have a friend tag along so we can kayak down the Green River as well. That looks like a lot of fun.

The hiking, kayaking, wildlife, and beauty of this place just cannot be beaten.

We have been to multiple spots in Wyoming and they have all been incredible, but Green River Lakes is just an unbelievable location that we completely fell in love with.

If you ever get the opportunity to visit this place just do it.