Jeep trails?Hoping to move to Wyo (Sheridan, Cody: real estate, house prices)

[NancyJo]

We spend every vacation looking for a place to move in Wyoming. Out of the places we loved (which are so many its going to be hard to choose!), I wonder if anyone here can tell us which places would be closest to fire roads and jeep accessible roads. We keep finding snowmobile, mountain biking and hiking roads...which are also neat, but we want to make sure that we can also take a jeep up some of these roads. So, our hope is also to build a home on some acreage wherever we go, and be within close proximity to a river, or lake...small town feel is what we crave. Our first choice so far is Dubois (but then we heard that Jackson folks are moving down to Dubois, and worry that it will build up too much/quickly), and then we really liked Hulett/Sundance/Newcastle and Buffulo (where I drove through my first cattle herd....and boy do I prefer THAT to large city traffic anyday!!) and Ucross area, and Ten Sleep, and then we fell in love with the Encampment and Savery/Baggs areas. Sheridan is very pretty, but the house prices - at least online - are really high! I also noticed an online Dubois site mentioned that it is the same distance from Dubois to Cody as it is from Dubois to Lander...did they cut a new road, or something to Cody?? We didnt notice one last time we were there.
Any information about the access to jeep trails, or the difference in life between all of my (I know there are too many!) choices to move to would be appreciated.
We met a real estate agent from Saratoga on one of our trips who already had a card made up describing what we are looking for...he had us pegged - looking for close (but not in) to a mountain, close to water and elbow room!
I really enjoy those that post answers here, and it helps to get an insiders view!

[j-mail]

If you're looking for jeep roads you may want to look to Utah. You can pretty much drive every square inch of Utah. There are a couple of wilderness areas which prohibit motorized travel. But I would much rather live in Wyoming if I had the choice, but I know they have a lot more rules, regulations and areas closed to motorized travel.

[MagpiesMagpiesMagpies]

Originally Posted by NancyJo

We spend every vacation looking for a place to move in Wyoming. Out of the places we loved (which are so many its going to be hard to choose!), I wonder if anyone here can tell us which places would be closest to fire roads and jeep accessible roads. We keep finding snowmobile, mountain biking and hiking roads...which are also neat, but we want to make sure that we can also take a jeep up some of these roads. So, our hope is also to build a home on some acreage wherever we go, and be within close proximity to a river, or lake...small town feel is what we crave. Our first choice so far is Dubois (but then we heard that Jackson folks are moving down to Dubois, and worry that it will build up too much/quickly), and then we really liked Hulett/Sundance/Newcastle and Buffulo (where I drove through my first cattle herd....and boy do I prefer THAT to large city traffic anyday!!) and Ucross area, and Ten Sleep, and then we fell in love with the Encampment and Savery/Baggs areas. Sheridan is very pretty, but the house prices - at least online - are really high! I also noticed an online Dubois site mentioned that it is the same distance from Dubois to Cody as it is from Dubois to Lander...did they cut a new road, or something to Cody?? We didnt notice one last time we were there.
Any information about the access to jeep trails, or the difference in life between all of my (I know there are too many!) choices to move to would be appreciated.
We met a real estate agent from Saratoga on one of our trips who already had a card made up describing what we are looking for...he had us pegged - looking for close (but not in) to a mountain, close to water and elbow room!
I really enjoy those that post answers here, and it helps to get an insiders view!

Here's hoping you never find that place.

Magpies

[bshgeo]

Ther are jeep trails all over Wyoming - they are called two tracks and mostly are located on BLM land which is most of the state anyhow.

[bravofx]

Hey there,
I moved to Jackson Hole 14 years ago... I LOVE IT! I just moved to Alpine about 40 minutes south down the Snake River canyon. This is a sportsman's playground. You have BLM access in every direction literally just 5 minutes from downtown. I am going mudding right now as a matter of fact. I drive a 97 TJ, my second Wrangler. There are 4x4 trails all over the place around here. We usually up Misquito Creek, Munger Mountain, Curtis Canyon and a couple of other "secret" spots we found. We like to play with our guns too when we're out and almost all of these areas are low key all the time without much traffic if any.

I am a realtor in Jackson with Windermere. There are substantial price differences between all of the areas you mentioned; Jackson being the most expensive of course, but also the most sought after. This is just one of the most beautiful places in the world. I personally enjoy living in Wyoming above any other state because it is now the #1 state to incorporate and has incredible tax benefits. So from that perspective if you need to decide on a place to call home "first" and having 4x4 trails would just be the sweetest bonus, then by all means hang your hat somewhere in Wyoming.

I really like most of the places you mentioned. Cody, Jackson, Dubois; these are all great places to set camp because of the econmic opportunities in the area but you still have sprawl. You may want to look in the Star Valley area too (Alpine, Thayne, Star Valley Ranch, Etna, Freedom, etc.). It's absolutely gorgeous here and definately still undeveloped enough you could land yourself a nice chunck of land. It is growing quickly though, like every other part of NorthWestern Wyoming. Like i said its just becoming a hugely popular place for city folk to move because of the business benefits and western charm.

Hope that helps you. Shoot me an email if you want more info on any area of the state or just want to talk shop on 4X-ing.

Cheers!

Richard Bravo

[NancyJo]

Thank you for your responses! We just got back from NE wyo, cody, dubois, star valley, thermopolis. We really like the small town feel of these places over Jackson...just the growth in the last few times we visited Jackson is mind boggeling. We noticed alot of road construction between Moran Jct. and Dubois, and got a little nervous about ITS growth so we emailed the wyo hwy dept, and they assured us that they are not expanding the 287/26 to 4 lanes, just adding passing lanes.
I appreciate all of the info, and helpful advice. Oh yeah, we have ANOTHER wish...since we are restoring an MGA, it would be nice to have a closeby paved and windy road that is fun for sportscars....know any?

[Seckley]

Ok, here's hoping you are still looking for info! I was born & raised in Cody WY. Just north of there is the Clarks Fork Canyon. Running up the northside of teh canyon where the regular road ends is the Morrison Jeep trail. It's mostly, if not all, on public land and accessed by the publc all the time. I know it has become a "multi-use" trail since hikers, hunters, mountain bikers and atv's and jeeps all use it. It can be shut down when the conditions get too bad or the fire season picks up. But other than that it is goreous. And the paved road that leads to it.... is located in what locals (I still consider myself one even though I haven't lived there for over 6 years) consider one of the windiest places around - the mouth of the canyon! I love the area. Eveyone worries that Cody is becoming the next Jackson - which it definately has the possibility of doing. But just out of Cody are Powell & Meeteesee, both of which are still small town. Hope this helps.
Shaz