Holy parking maze. Holy gobs of people. It's a must stop, but be prepared to fight the crowds. The visitors center is extremely well done and educational. To fight the crowds a little, I recommend doing the short hike that goes through the forest and right under the rock face. There are still lots of people, but most of the older folk and younger babes are going to stay up near the visitors center.
We didn't have time to do the tour, but just stopped in the visitors center. They had an interesting video running, but there was very little information otherwise about the area and this site. We were disappointed by the quality of the visitors center (basically just a stationary trailer) - I think we totally missed out by not doing a tour.
LOVE THIS PLACE. Endless hiking, phenomenal landscape, and some of the best camping we have ever experienced. We camped two nights: the first at Sage Creek Campground. This was hands down the coolest camp ground. Bison were wandering RIGHT up to the tents, you could hear them grunting all night. The stars were AMAZING and coyotes were howling as you fell asleep. It was beyond magical. The second night was up at Cedar Pass right next to the visitors center. It was not so good, super busy, and very noisy. The showers were DISGUSTING. Save yourself the heart ache and head out to the primitive campgrounds!
Cave tour was standard.
Quiet campground. Showers were decent - not enough space to set things down without getting wet, however. Being right next to the zoo we were worried about noise/smell - but you couldn't tell at all! We would stay here again.
What a lovely B&B. The breakfast was AMAZING and there are a few cats floating around. The rooms are impeccable and the owner is incredibly sweet. We arrived very late at night and everything went smoothly. My only complaint is that they were out of cookies by the time we got there (midnight) - I'm know it's petty, but I was really hankering for a homemade cookie!
VERY clean showers, quiet camp ground, and great location to just hop on and off the highway.
Some of the best rock climbing anywhere. The rock formations are out of this world. We didn't camp here, but we TOTALLY wish we had. We met a guy at an RV park in Cheyenne that told us about this place - he said that he wants his ashes to be scattered here when he dies (yes, it is that cool). Go drive around, hike around, and get a little lost.
Interesting visitors center. The trails around in the visitors center are nothing to write home about. Fossil Butte over in Kemmerer, Wyoming was MUCH more interesting and better laid out. Overall, worth the stop if you are in the area.
We were pretty disappointed that there wasn't a good trail that went out to the Chimney. There is a visitors center with a view, but it's not great. If you keep driving down the road, there is another gravel lot with some better views (especially at sunset) next to the old Pioneer Cemetery. There is a very faint trail that takes you across a ravine and out into a field, but then you have to cross a barbed wire fence. If you look at an aerial map on Google, there is clearly a trail, but it is VERY difficult to elucidate on the ground (especially with all the warnings about rattle snakes everywhere). Overall, stop if you are passing, but probably not worth a trip out to it just for the scenery.