Make Lovell
Your Most Loved Wyoming Adventure
Come Explore
MUSTANG COUNTRY
A rare gem for travelers exploring the West can be found nestled in northern Wyoming –a two-hour drive east of Yellowstone National Park: the small, friendly community of Lovell-the Rose Town of Wyoming and the gateway to the stunning Big Horn Canyon and the beautiful Big Horn and Pryor Mountain ranges.
At the foot of the Big Horn Mountains and just 15 minutes from the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, you will see acres of green farmland surrounding the small community, home to myriad opportunities for outdoor activities and stree-free living. The peaceful surroundings contribute to a highly desireable and much sought-after quality of life for residents of the area, and make for a pleasant stop for visitors.
Just a stone’s throw to the east of Lovell is the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. The vast wild landscape, including massive canyon walls and great boating lake, allows visitors to experience the wonders of nature and spectacular vistas. Big Horn Canyon, one of America’s most spectacular canyons, is a deep and winding chasm with vertical limestone walls towering as high as 1,000 feet above the lake. The lake, backed up behind Yellowtail Dam in Montana, stretches for 70 miles and offers thousands of acres of flat water for boating, waterskiing, wakeboarding, tubing, fishing, swimming, a scenic narrated boat tour-Hidden Treasure Charters, sightseeing and relaxation.
Also within the recreation area, a unit of the National Park Service, is the 19,000-acre Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management Area, a riparian and wetlands area with waterfowl and game bird hunting and wildlife viewing. Managed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Dept. in cooperation with federal agencies, Yellowtail has perhaps one of the largest cottonwood riparian systems in Wyoming and supports one of the richest concentrations of wildlife species in the state. More than 160 species of birds can be observed in the Yellowtail management area.
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area contains four historic ranch/town sites, a playground, picnic areas and a marina with shopping and a restaurant. Bighorn Canyon offers opportunities for hiking and camping, viewing a wide array of Wyoming wildlife and photographing dozens of spectacular vistas. Devil’s Canyon Overlook can be reached by car and is a must see while driving to Lovell. There are some fun, short hikes during which the hiker is rewarded with amazing views of the canyon. It is also home
Wild horses may be seen in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range to the north of Lovell, an area established in 1968 as the first public wild horse refuge. Wild mustangs have long roamed the Pryor Mountains, descendants of the Colonial Spanish horses ridden by the Spanish Conquistadors and brought to the area by local Native American tribes. The Pryor Mountian horses, seen in the grandeur of their natural setting, preserve a segment of our historic heritage for future generations and are a living symbol of the American dream of freedom. This tough little horse has been present in this rugged mountain area for nearly 200 years. If lost, the herd cannot be restored and so its biological viability, together with its history, must be preserved. It is the purpose of the PRYOR MOUNTAIN WILD MUSTANG CENTER to do just that. The Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center is a public, nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational institution, unique in purpose and location. The Center is working towards becoming the foremost wild horse educational instituion in the world. Your donations can help!
More than 170 wild horses with their unique markings roam the range, and many can be seen throughout the summer in the lowland areas, especially in the national recreation area. Watch for wild horses along the road! The horses share their range with deer, Bighorn sheep, black bear, many species of birds, including raptors, and other animals.
To the east, the gorgeous Big Horn Mountains, home to the ancient MEDICINE WHEEL NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK and the Bighorn National Forest, sit right in Lovell’s backyard. Visitors traveling U. S. Highway 14A are struck by the breathtaking beauty of the steep walls, rugged canyons, green meadows, and rich forests of the Big Horn Mountains. It is one of the most spectacular pieces of highway in America with turnouts and scenic vistas that look out over the entire Big Horn Basin. On a clear day, a traveler can see for 100 miles or more.
The Big Horns not only offer endless beauty but year-round recreational opportunities, lodges, and a chance to enjoy the best of what Mother Nature has to offer. The Bighorn National Forest provides entertainment for everyone–the hiker, fisherman, hunter, camper, horseback rider, ATV rider and sightseer. Hikes take visitors to spectacular waterfalls and scenic lakes.
The pretty town of Lovell has much to offer visitors: friendly people, small-town shopping, beautiful murals with a veterans memorial, colorful rose gardens, a nine-hole golf course, newly remodeled motels, a vaiety of dining options, the Lovell-Kane Area Museum, three town parks with picnic pavilions and playground equipment, free and full-service camping facilities, multiple places of worship, an eight-lane bowling alley, a public Olympic sized swimming pool, and the Queen Bee Honey Candy factory and store.
The 70 year-old Hyart Theatre, on the National Register of Historic Places, boasts perhaps the largest screen in Wyoming and nearly 1,000 seats. Current movies are shown on weekends with digital projection and sound.
Lovell is also home to the Bighorn Canyon Visitor Center and the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center, along with the state-of-the-art North Big Horn Hospital and New Horizons Care Center. Award-winning public schools can be found in Lovell and nearby Cowley.
Discover Lovell. Take your time and enjoy Mustang Country!
Visitor Links
- Big Horn Mountains
- Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
- Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark
- Pryor Mountain Mustangs
- Travel Wyoming
Photo Gallery
View some of the photos of our area!
