Greybull Wyoming Tourism

Greybull is a friendly community nestled near the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains at the confluence of the Big Horn and Greybull Rivers and Shell and Dry Creeks. The Big Horn River joins with the Greybull River and runs around the east side of town below the beautiful stone bluffs. Friendly Greybull is captivating to many, including geologists, archaeologists, rockhounds and people who just love the outdoors.

Greybull is said to have received its name from the Greybull River. How the river got its name is different depending on whom you ask. Local legend says it was named after a great white buffalo that roamed the valley long before the coming of the railroad that was building a route from Denver, Colorado to Billings, Montana. A local historian group says, no, it was named after the great Crow Chief, “Grey Bull” (Chiilap Chiilas) whose family lived in the valley long before the coming of the railroad. Either way, this agriculture based, river bottom town is home to a 1,500-year old pictograph of the great grey bull; said to defy death and held sacred by the American Indians and made by those who lived in the area that long ago.

Greybull has a great recreation program with an Olympic-sized community swimming pool, intramural sports, several ball parks, roller skating, golfing, and a City Park with large shade trees, picnic areas with grills, skate/skateboard park, handicapped accessible restrooms, volleyball area and extensive children’s play area. Greybull also has an interesting local free museum and public library with a caboose display and large metal buffalo for photo opportunities. There is ample motel space, an historic hotel and two campgrounds in Greybull.

In the fall Greybull is a hunter’s paradise both for big game and bird hunters. Local attractions also include Sheep Mountain, which is rated as one of the world’s most classical examples of erosion and Devil’s Kitchen, which contains colorful, eerie rock formations of Badland spires, and weathered multi-colored hills of the Cloverly (Jurassic) formation. One of the largest fossil ammonites in the world was found near Devil’s Kitchen.

Situated just east of Greybull is the BLM’s Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite. The discovery of the tracksite in 1997 attracted significant media coverage with special segments airing on ABC/Discovery channels and CNN. The Smithsonian also did a special on the tracksite. The area that includes Red Gulch contains hundreds of three-toed theropod (meat eating) dinosaur footprints, which are at least 1.654 million years old. The site is considered one of the largest dinosaur tracksites in North America.

The beautiful Big Horn Mountains are only 20 miles east on U.S. Highway 14. You will see these majestic beauties long before you begin the climb on the east side of the small town of Shell. Here you will see the famous volcanic red dirt and the Chimney Rock, originally called White’s Monument for the trapper/prospector who was mysteriously killed and buried at the base. Once in the Big Horns, you can enjoy camping, fishing clear trout streams, hiking, wildlife watching, hunting and Shell Falls. The drive over the mountain is a scenic byway. In the winter, there is snowmobiling and cross-country skiing.