Numinous Simplicity: Bighorn Mountains, Medicine Wheel and Connors Battlefield

The Bighorn Mountains lie centered in the northern part of Wyoming and include public lands managed by the Bighorn National Forest. The goal of our trip was to camp and to visit Medicine Wheel, a National Historical Landmark.

We choose Connors Battlefield State Historic Site as our campsite because of its location, on the east side of the Bighorns, and its lower elevation. This campsite is located in the town of Ranchester just a few blocks off of Hwy 14. The historic site has 20 campsites at $6 a night that are either adjacent to the Tongue River or under large cottonwoods.

Connors Battlefield campsite with fire pit and picnic table.

Tongue River adjacent to campsite

The campground also includes a bouldering buffalo with climbing holds for kids located in the playground

Medicine wheel is a 55 mile drive from our campsite so we included a scenic stop at Prune Creek Campground on National Forest Lands. The campground is around 35 miles west of Ranchester and is actually located on the South Tongue River, tucked under ponderosa pines.

Tongue River view from campsites at Prune Creek Campground

Throwing rocks is a great way to entertain ourselves.

Wyoming State Preservation office describes the Medicine Wheel as "The 75-foot diameter Medicine Wheel is a roughly circular alignment of rocks and associated cairns enclosing 28 radial rows of rock extending out from a central cairn. This feature is part of a much larger complex of interrelated archeological sites and traditional use areas that express 7000 years of Native American adaptation to and use of the alpine landscape that surrounds Medicine Mountain. Numerous contemporary American Indian traditional use areas and features, including ceremonial staging areas, medicinal and ceremonial plant gathering areas, sweat lodge sites, altars, offering locales and fasting (vision quest) enclosures, can be found nearby. Ethnohistoric, ethnographic, and archeological evidence demonstrates that the Medicine Wheel and the surrounding landscape constitute one of the most important and well preserved ancient Native American sacred site complexes in North America. The Bighorn Medicine Wheel is considered the type site for medicine wheels in North America. Between 70 and 150 wheels have been identified in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, and Saskatchewan."

From Hwy 14 turn right onto Forest Road 12 and follow until you reach a parking area. There is a vault toilet and often an interpreter located at the trail head. From here you hike along a road to the Medicine Wheel for 1.2 miles. This was a nice, easy hike for kids and adults but the elevation is above 9,000 ft so lack of oxygen or frigid temperatures might slow you down.