Wind River Canyon, Natural canyon in Wyoming, US.

Wind River Canyon is a gorge on the Wind River between Shoshoni and Thermopolis, cut up to 2,500 feet deep through Wyoming rock strata. From south to north it passes faulted ground, narrows into Precambrian rock at three road tunnels, then runs beneath cliffs of Madison Limestone, Bighorn Dolomite and sandstone, ending in red sandstone of the Chugwater Formation. U.S. 20/Wyo 789 runs through it, at times level with the canyon floor.

A major highway was cut through the canyon in the early 1920s, replacing an older mountain pass route that travelers had used before. This new road made the area far more accessible and changed how people moved through the region.

The canyon's southern mouth lies about half a mile east of the Wind River Indian Reservation boundary, near Boysen Dam in Boysen State Park. The river that runs through it keeps the name Wind until the Wedding of the Waters at the north end, where it becomes the Bighorn.

The canyon road is U.S. 20/Wyo 789, which runs between Shoshoni and Thermopolis and at times lies level with the canyon floor. Roadside signs mark many of the rock strata exposures, so pull off at marked spots to read them. The route passes three tunnels where the canyon narrows into Precambrian rock.

The canyon's northern end is called the Wedding of the Waters, where the Wind River becomes the Bighorn River. The name refers to this confluence, and the Scenic Byway continues past it through Thermopolis to T Hill in Hot Springs State Park.