The Cloud Peak Skyway Scenic Byway is the southern-most route across the Bighorn National Forest in the Big Horn Mountains. This scenic byway is a 47-mile portion of U.S. 16 in Wyoming and shares its boundaries with the National Forest. The route can be reached via Ten Sleep from the west or Buffalo from the east.

The Cloud Peak Skyway is a US scenic byway that has much impressive geology along its route. To, this scenic byway provides the only view of Cloud Peak, with an elevation of at 13,167 feet, and is the highest peak in the Big Horn Mountains.

Awake early, start the jammer engine, drive out of the d-mart parking lot, north on SH 59 to the interstate highway and then left on IH 90 during which time I cross both the Powder River and the Crazy Woman Creek and continue west through the remainder of what I will cross of the Northwest Great Plains until I arrive in Buffalo, Wyoming.

In Buffalo, Wyoming, I exit IH 90, stop for some coffee and an egg wrap. Then, I drive out of Buffalo west on US 16 which also is the Cloud Peak Skyway Scenic Byway over Powder River Pass at 9666 feet in elevation and also puts me back into the Middle Rockies ecoregion of the Rocky Mountains Region.

At first, land is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and there are several turn outs for BLM sites.

I had not been driving very long when I see the sign for the Bighorn National Forest.