The small towns of Encampment and Riverside, Wyoming, rest at the base of the Sierra Madre Mountains, and are the gateway to the Medicine Bow National Forest. Near Encampment and Riverside, approximately 45 miles of the CDNST pass through relatively undisturbed areas of the forest, climbing above 10,000 feet, and offering some of the best views in southern Wyoming.

Located in the ancestral homelands of Eastern Shoshone and Tséstho’e (Cheyenne) peoples, Encampment was first named “Grand Encampment” in 1838 by fur trappers for their mountain trading fair (or Rendezvous) which occurred by the river. Copper was later discovered in the Sierra Madres, and both towns boomed at the turn of the century. Riverside, formerly known as “Doggett,” was established as the ranching headquarters of the area in 1897, and became a town in 1902.