Lander, Wyoming: NOLS, Sinks Canyon, and the East Slope of the Wind Rivers

Lander sits in a pocket valley on the east slope of the Wind River Range, where the Popo Agie River drops out of the mountains and onto the high plains. Population about 7,500. The town grew up around the Army post established here in 1869 and soon named Camp Brown, and is named for Frederick Lander, the Massachusetts-born engineer who built the Lander Cutoff of the Oregon Trail in the late 1850s.

What makes Lander worth a visit: it is one of the most outdoor-focused towns in Wyoming, anchored by NOLS (founded here in 1965), surrounded by some of the most accessible wilderness terrain in the state, and small enough to absorb in a couple of days without effort. The downtown is genuinely a working downtown with multiple outfitter shops, real saddlery, and the kind of cafe-and-coffeehouse scene that small Mountain West towns often achieve only when there is a serious outdoor-industry employer in residence.

For visitors planning to spend time in the Wind River Range, Lander is the right east-slope base. For visitors interested in the modern American outdoor-education tradition, NOLS is the right destination.

What to do

Sinks Canyon State Park

Eight miles southwest of Lander on Wyoming Highway 131. The Middle Fork of the Popo Agie (pronounced “po-PO-zha”) flows through a dramatic canyon and abruptly disappears into fractures in the Madison Limestone at The Sinks. About a quarter-mile downstream, the water re-emerges at The Rise, in a pool full of large trout that visitors can feed but not fish.

A U.S. Geological Survey dye test confirmed the connection, and the dye took a couple of hours to make the underground trip (a later study timed it at 2.8 hours). More water comes out at the Rise than goes in, and it comes out warmer; why is still not settled.

The state park includes the visitor center (open May through September), multiple short hiking trails, the Sinks themselves, the Rise viewing area, and campgrounds. There is no day-use fee. Allow 2-3 hours, more if you hike further into the canyon.

NOLS Headquarters

At 284 Lincoln Street downtown. NOLS, founded by Paul Petzoldt in Lander in 1965 (it dropped the name National Outdoor Leadership School in 2015), runs wilderness expeditions across the world, from Wyoming to Alaska to Patagonia, and is one of the best-known outdoor leadership schools anywhere. Its published curriculum (especially NOLS Wilderness Medicine by Tod Schimelpfenig, NOLS Cookery, and the NOLS Wilderness Educator Notebook) is widely used.

NOLS doesn’t run public day programs out of the headquarters; its courses are multi-week wilderness expeditions that require advance enrollment. For the town, the school is the reason so many guides, instructors and outdoor businesses live here.

Popo Agie Wilderness and the Wind River east slope

Lander is the gateway to the Popo Agie Wilderness (101,870 acres on the Shoshone National Forest), and farther north the Fitzpatrick Wilderness (198,525 acres) covers the central east slope of the Wind River Range. Standard access:

Sinks Canyon State Park trailheads for day hikes on the lower slopes.
Loop Road (FR 300) continuing past Sinks Canyon to higher elevation trailheads at Worthen Meadow, Frye Lake, and Bruce’s Bridge.
Trail Lake Trailhead (about two hours north of Lander, near Dubois) for the Glacier Trail into Dinwoody and the foot of Gannett Peak (Wyoming’s highest summit).

For multi-day backcountry trips, the Wind River trails article covers the broader east-slope routes. For day hikes, the Sinks Canyon and Loop Road areas are the easy access.

The Wind River Range viewed from the east slope, with snow-capped granite peaks above a high meadow and a creek winding through the foreground. — The Wind River Range from the Lander approach, the east slope that NOLS courses have been working since 1965. Gannett Peak, Wyoming's highest point at about 13,800 feet, is a long multi-day trip in from Trail Lake trailhead. *Photo via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA.*

The Lander Museum (Museum of the American West and Pioneer Museum)

On West Main Street. The Fremont County Pioneer Museum covers the overland trails, Native American culture, agriculture, gold mining, military history, mountain men and cowboys, and shares its site with the Museum of the American West’s pioneer village of historic buildings. The village is open May through October. Worth an hour or two.

Wind River Indian Reservation (adjacent)

The Wind River Indian Reservation, home to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho, covers about 2.3 million acres immediately north and west of Lander. Reservation visits should be made with cultural awareness; the Eastern Shoshone Tribal Cultural Center at Fort Washakie (about 25 minutes from Lander) is a good starting point. Sacajawea’s gravesite (probably; the historical record is contested) is near Fort Washakie. Always defer to tribal protocols and respect the boundaries of areas not open to the public.

Lander Brewing Company

The town’s local brewery.

Where to eat

Lander’s food scene is small but solid for a town this size, supported by the NOLS-and-outdoor-industry workforce. Check current hours before you go.

Cowfish. On Main Street, steaks, ribs and fish; named Wyoming’s best small-town restaurant by Tasting Table in 2026.

Gannett Grill and the Lander Bar. Side by side on Main Street: pub food, local beer, and a summer courtyard shared with Cowfish that works as Lander’s living room.

Where to stay

In town: chain and independent motels along US-287 and Main Street, plus a handful of B&Bs.

Camping: Sinks Canyon State Park has campgrounds in the canyon. Shoshone National Forest campgrounds sit along the Loop Road higher up, and dispersed camping is allowed on national forest land at higher elevations.

When to visit

Summer (June-August): all access open, peak season for Wind River backcountry. Lander stays small enough that crowds are not a real issue.

Fall (September-October): the strongest window. Cottonwoods turn gold along the Popo Agie. Lodging cheaper. Wind River backcountry season ends in late September.

Winter (November-March): Loop Road closed at Sinks Canyon, no high-elevation access. The town stays open and quiet. Ice climbing is excellent for visitors with skills (Lander hosts the International Climbers’ Festival in summer and is a major climbing destination year-round).

Spring (April-May): mud season for the high country, lower-elevation hiking opens up.

What’s around Lander

Dubois, WY (about 1.5 hours northwest): smaller town, Wind River east-slope alternative gateway, the National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center.
Riverton, WY (about 30 minutes northeast): larger sister town; the Wyoming Honor Farm near Riverton gentles BLM wild horses.
Casper, WY (about 2 hours 45 minutes east): Wyoming’s oil and energy town, I-25 hub.
Pinedale, WY (about 2.5 hours southwest over South Pass): the west-slope Wind River gateway, accessing the Bridger Wilderness via the Big Sandy trailhead and the Cirque of the Towers. Both ranges share the same Continental Divide country, but the two sides plan differently: Lander’s Glacier Trail and Sinks Canyon trailheads work the east slope, Pinedale’s Big Sandy trailhead works the west.
Wind River Indian Reservation (immediately north and west, as covered above).

Why Lander matters

Lander is Wyoming’s outdoor-industry town. The presence of NOLS for 60 years has shaped it: more guides and instructors in the bars, more outdoor know-how across the population, and a cafe-and-coffeehouse scene that supports the workforce.

It is also an easy east-slope Wind River base for visitors who do not want to drive deep into the mountains to reach a trailhead. Sinks Canyon is about 8 miles from town and Worthen Meadow about 20; the more remote Trail Lake trailhead is about two hours.

For visitors specifically interested in outdoor education or wilderness recreation, Lander is the right Wyoming destination. For visitors interested in the broader range of Wyoming experiences (Western history, working-cowboy culture, fine dining), Cody, Sheridan, or Jackson are stronger choices.

A two-day Lander visit pairs cleanly with a longer Wind River backcountry trip for visitors with the time and skills.

Gear for Lander and the Wind Rivers

Klean Kanteen insulated 20 oz, non-negotiable for Wind River Range trips; altitude + dry air dehydrates fast
Smartwool Hike Heavyweight Crew socks, for the approach trails into the Cirque of the Towers or the Lakes Basin
Leatherman Wave Plus, for field repairs on the approach and in camp
Pendleton wool blanket, for the cold nights above 10,000 ft
Merrell Moab 3 Mid Hiking Boot, a comfortable choice for Wind River approach trails, out-of-box comfort, Vibram sole

The granite spires of the Cirque of the Towers rising above Lonesome Lake, with a boulder-choked outlet stream in the foreground and conifers along the shore. — The Cirque of the Towers above Lonesome Lake, in the southern Wind River Range. The basin sits inside the Popo Agie Wilderness on the Shoshone National Forest, the wilderness Lander gates, although the shortest walk in comes from the Big Sandy trailhead on the west side of the range. The rock is granite the whole way up, which is why climbers plan entire summers around it. *Photo by DuckWrangler97, via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.*

Crowheart Butte, a flat-topped bluff standing above sagebrush flats behind a weathered wooden fence, Fremont County, Wyoming. — Crowheart Butte, north of Lander in Fremont County. An 1866 fight here settled which people held the Wind River hunting grounds, and the name comes from the account, carried down as legend, of a duel between Chief Washakie of the Shoshone and Chief Big Robber of the Crow. Washakie won it, and the butte has held the name since. *Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress (LCCN 2017688172). Public domain.*

Lander, Wyoming: NOLS, Sinks Canyon, and the East Slope of the Wind Rivers