lodging, restaurants in lander or dubois
 

I'm planning a June trip to Yellowstone via 287 and will spend one night in either Lander or Dubois. Does anyone have recommendations for reasonably priced lodging or restaurants in either location? Thanks!

We stayed in the Pronghorn Lodge in Lander--your standard (decent) motel. Its AAA rate was $56 last summer. We liked the price. 1-800-BUDHOST.
As for restaurants, if you're in the mood for steak, you absolutely must go to El Toro in nearby Hudson. Terrible name for a excellent dining experience. I did not believe the size of the portion! It's a real local favorite that provided a fun experience. Make sure you call first, as we were told it wasn't open every day....something about switching days with another Hudson restaurant!
Coming from the east, we truly enjoyed the experience in the Lander/Dubois area.

If you wish to try something unique I recommend "The Bunkhouse" in Lander. Located about five minutes from main street "The Bunkhouse" is a single-room lodging on a working llama ranch. You didn't mention how many people you're traveling with, however, if it's four or less the BH is great. It's private, quiet and features a kitchen, one queen-sized bed and a small loft with twin beds. (The loft is ideally suited for kids but when we stayed there two of us adults slept in it).

The kitchen is equipped with everything from pancake mix, to cereal and yoghurt (and fresk muffins everyday) so you could cook your own breakfast if you wanted to get an early start. Goto http://www.landerllama.com/landerllama/fbunkhouse.html and take a look.

As for restaurants, Lander Bar/Gannett Grill is a great place for pizza, burgers, salads, etc. Also Cow/Fish has steaks, seafood, pasta and is quite good.

BTW, the Pronghorn Lodge is also fine and is walking distance to many restaurants in Lander.

Hope this helps,

Strive

Thanks so much for the replies. There are six of us traveling together-- the youngest 16. I have been reading up on the area and it seems like it will be a nice stopover.

We really enjoyed our two days in the Wind River Mountains area.
We recommend stopping at Brooks Lake. Beautiful setting. (It's worth the ride on the dirt road to get there.) We also found the near-ghost-town Atlantic City interesting, as well as the South Pass City historical site. In Lander, Sinks Canyon is worth a stop.
But perhaps the most interesting sight were the original tracks from the settlers' wagons traveling west. After all these years, the tracks are still visible.

Howard,

About how far out of way from 287 were the ghost towns?

I've never been to Lander but can comment on Dubois which is near Brooks Lake.

Several small motels, three bars (two have restaurants attached - Rustic Pine and Ramshorn, I believe), some shops, drugstore, etc. Interesting things include the town overlook, a small museum, and Torrey Canyon - beautiful for hiking, seeing petroglyphs, and -sometimes- ramshorn sheep. Ask someone in town how to find the petroglyphs.

I agree the Wind River area is beautiful. And be sure to pronounce it "DOO BOYS" with the accent on the first syllable."

Atlantic City is about 25 miles from Lander and about 20 from 287, with South Pass City about another 5 miles away. Lest I mislead you, Atlantic City is interesting because it's such a small, almost nonexistent place! Its population is about 50 people. We had a most interesting time chatting with Walda, the owner of the general store there. It was one of those little things that add a lot to the enjoyment of a trip.
South Pass City, on the other hand, is an interesting historic site, a recreation of sorts, consisting of 30 actual old buildings from the 1860s.

HowardR, Strive, and togowest:

Thanks so much for all this great information. I think we'll have more than enough to see and do on a one-night stopover. Any other comments on Highway 287 either east or west of the Dubois/Lander area? We'll be coming from Denver, stopping in Lander or Dubois, then driving to Yellowstone the next day.

Hi there! I live in Lander, so admittedly am biased in favor of staying here. It's much bigger than Dubois with more restaurants and lodging choices. For B&B's, someone recommended the bunkhouse - that's a good one, as is the Blue Spruce (right in town, an elegant old house). Both have fairly reasonable rates - the Pronghorn is clean and reasonable (don't eat at the Oxbow if you're a gourmet - locals call it the "crisco cafe") The Best Western Inn at Lander is also clean, but more expensive. For restaurants, our best is the "Cowfish" with excellent nouvelle cuisine, but higher priced. Sanfords has decent food (kind of like Bennigans or Chilis if you're familiar with those chains).
Sinks Canyon is beautiful and only 5-7 miles out of town. There is alot to do here. Dubois is a cute little western town - the Cowboy Cafe has good, hearty, plain food (not low on the calories or fat grams, but tasty) Make sure you try their deserts. More restaurants in Lander: The Gannet Grill (good pizza and sandwiches), Tony's (good pizza, italian), Wildflour Bagles (good for breakfast, lunch bagel fare). We also have the usual fast food assortment (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Arctic Circle) etc. Enjoy your stay in our area!

dindle: Thanks for all the great info on Lander, especially restaurants. We really try to eat one "real" meal per day and we want it to be good! Do you have an special recommendations for restaurants with great fresh fish?

If you are in the Jackson area any evening, I strongly urge you to have dinner at Nora's Fish Creek Inn in nearby Wilson. Excellent fish at a reasonable price at this spot favored by the locals.

Fresh fish - hmmm - you're talking Wyoming here, but the Cowfish in Lander has excellent Sea Bass and Halibut if you happen to hit it on the nights they are offering it. I've never had a "bad experience" there. The fish is always delicious. The Blue Lion in Jackson is also good. Trout and freshwater species are the only ones that are truly "fresh" in this area, but some restaurants do a good job of having other types flown in.

When I said fresh fish, I was thinking about any types that are caught locally. I know it's a big fishing area, so I assumed there might be some good places to get the "Catch of the Day."

Howard,

for lunch? We might be driving through there early in the day. How far is Jackson from the Lander/Dubois area?

OK, I think Lander is the place for us to stop for the night on the way to Yellowstone. Cowfish sounds good for dinner. My final decision is lodging. You've mentioned the Pronghorn and the Best Western. There are six of us and I'd love to stay somewhere inexpensive enough to get three rooms. It doesn't have to be fancy, just clean and pleasant enough. Checking the Lander Chamber site, I found these places in addition to the others mentioned above. Any suggestions/opinions?
Downtown Motel, 569 Main
Holiday Lodge, 210 McFarlane
Maverick Motel, 808 Main
Silver Spur Motel, 1240 Main

P.S. There's also a lodging listing for the Atlantic City Mercantile in Atlantic City, which just made me curious... I wondered if this was the general store Howard mentioned.

I'm topping this message hoping to get some help on this last posting before we leave in less than two weeks. Looking for opionion on lodging. (See previous message)
Thanks!