Summer
The 18-mile-long Palisades Reservoir offers great opportunities for water skiing, with a variety of picnic spots and at least six boat docks dotting the shores. You can also bike around the reservoir. Or hike up one of the creeks draining into the reservoir--trails take you high into the mountains, where you might spot mountain goats and other wildlife. For hiking a bit farther from Alpine, hike to the abandoned fire lookout on Elk Mountain for views of several mountain ranges. For those who enjoy whitewater rafting and kayaking, the Alpine section of the Snake River offers class 2 and 3 waves.
Fall
Take some final hiking and backpacking trips in early to mid-September, when the maples, aspens and cottonwoods start changing into hues of reds, yellows and oranges. Or bike around the reservoir and enjoy the signs of autumn. The national forests also offer excellent opportunities for hiking and biking--mountain bikers head out of Alpine to give the moderate-to-difficult nine-mile Bailey Lake trail a try.
Spring
While snow still covers the higher elevations of the mountains, hiking and biking at lower elevations gives you the opportunity to watch the first signs of spring make their appearance. Keep an eye out for birds and other wildlife as they forage for the first spring greens. In late spring, hiking and biking trails start to open up, featuring colorful wildflowers and even more birding and wildlife action.
Winter
During the winter, visitors to Alpine enjoy cross-country skiing and snowshoeing on hundreds of national forest trails so peaceful and quiet you're bound to encounter some of the area's wildlife. Budget-conscious visitors or those who prefer the small-town feel of Alpine also use it as a base camp for downhill skiing in nearby Jackson Hole, less than 50 miles away. For a different sort of attraction, check out the elk-feeding grounds less than a mile south of Alpine, where about 800 elk get fed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department every winter.
Article Written By Nancy Wagner
Nancy Wagner is a marketing strategist and speaker who started writing in 1998. She writes business plans for startups and established companies and teaches marketing and promotional tactics at local workshops. Wagner's business and marketing articles have appeared in "Home Business Journal," "Nation’s Business," "Emerging Business" and "The Mortgage Press," among others. She holds a B.S. from Eastern Illinois University.
