Pine Island Group Campground

As you drive into the campsite at Pine Island Group Area in Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest, you’ll notice the bubbling Tongue River winding its way along the back side of your meadow. You’ll notice a wall of rock on the other side of it, and your head will tilt back...and back...and even further back, taking in the granite crag rising 13,000 feet above sea level. This wall of ancient rock forms the backside of your campsite, surrounded on all sides by spruce, pine, and fir, to boot.

The group area has a volleyball court within it, as well as a fire ring with five full-size benches (which will totally expedite the mallow-roasting process). There’s also a charming three-side log shelter with stone fireplace for those chilly nights (and they’re all pretty chilly at 8400 feet), and nearby you have Shell Falls and Sibley Lake for the anglers in your group. On your way out, check out the Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark—27 miles from your site, this geoglyph is an ancient tribal wheel representing the earth, sun, moon, and life cycles throughout days and seasons. It’s essentially an homage to all creation, something a big group of camping fiends should be able to get down with.